First let me say thank you to Limoges for the excellent posts and photos.
SWMBO and I went and looked at an Aerolite Cub a few weeks ago and liked it but the floor was shot. I read these posts before deciding to buy it anyway. I thought I could easily fix it.
Got it home and realized it was so far gone only a complete new floor would save it. So I had to lift the camper off the floor. What I did was first gut the interior, everything except the wall cabinet over the sink. Then I pulled the wheel wells so I could run a 4x4 straight across to lift the back. In the front I was hoping to just remove the access doors and run a 4x4 through there. Problem was there is no framing in the walls except a metal frame around the water heater opening. I created lifting brackets out of plywood with bolts running through the aluminum frame at the bottom of the wall and ran the 4x4 through a hole cut in the plywood. The last thing I did before lifting was fit 2x8s across the interior down low to stiffen up the walls so they didn't flare out while the camper was in the air.
Here you can see how much the sidewalls sagged below the trailer frame. A little over an inch.
Here are the lifting brackets I came up with. The 3/8" bolts go through the aluminum frame at the bottom of the wall. The gold headed screws go into the 2x8s I ran across to stiffen the walls for lifting.
Between the wheels another 4x4 with a 2x4 used to distribute the weight across the upper part of the wheel opening.
Camper up on sawhorses and trailer/floor pulled out from under it.
Most of the flooring stripped off the trailer. Notice the complete lack of joists. There were actually 2 joists right in front and behind the wheels but they are so thin they do nothing.
To rebuild the floor I needed to keep the floor thickness at about 2" because that is all the sidewall you have that extends below the wall frame. Any thicker and then I would have had to create some new angle trim at the bottom to wrap around the bottom of the floor. I went from bottom to top:
Heavy plastic sheathing
1/8 plywood
2x4 'joists' laid flat
3/8 BC plywood
Linoleum
I filled in between the joists with the extruded green styrofoam. And the floor is more than sturdy enough. I finished the floor, backed the trailer under and lowered the body back down. All of the cabinets are back in, electric reconnected and plumbing leak tested. A few pieces of trim and a new gas line for the fridge and I'll be done.
Good to be almost finished but I would absolutely advise against trying this. If I had known I would have had to lift the body off I would have never bought this thing. Maybe if you get one for free it would be worth it. This was a huge amount of work!
Update: Sold this in late summer 2016 for $3,000
Just picked up our new TT, fingers crossed for no leaks.
