Bowing/Buldging Walls
I'm noticing some bowing of the walls inside my Bigfoot. I spent Dec-Mar living in the camper while it was off the truck and never had this issue (though I did notice some gaps where the floor meets t...
Forum Discussion
RamblinAnne if you could check with the camper on the truck for several days, look along side of the camper from the rear drivers side jack and look forward towards the truck, just above the electrical cord door or external shower door, is there a long arching bulge about 2 feet long. You can use a 2x4 or straight edge to help see it.
My camper had a bulge and delamination in this area so I removed the external shower door, city water fill door frame so on and injected a sikaflex polyurethane adhesive and also laminated a 1/2" plywood on the inside, on the outside I fabricated aluminum plates that went around the door frames, then ran 1/4 bolts trough to sandwich everything back together. It really didn't work I still had some bulging, I came to realize this was not the root cause of the issue and the delamination was just a symptom of a different issue. Once I replaced the cut out section that external bulge went away. I also laminated 1/2 inch plywood along an internal basement wall ( if you can call 1/4" luan, stapled to some 3/4" x 1 1/2" a wall), it's the wall between the grey tank and the fibreglass basement (hope that makes sense). This new plywood acts as truss between the floor you walk on and the basement floor as the floor you walk on has also been mostly cut away to make room for the black tank (upper tank)and plumbing. Your 10.6' my be somewhat different than my 9.6'.
I don't believe Bigfoots suffer from the same issues of external basement walls crushing under the weight of the camper as some Northernlites had issues with, I believe member coveredwagon had a issue with this at one time. The Bigfoot external basement walls are fiberglass then 1/2" plywood, expanded polystyrene, 1/4 luan, and then a light coating of fiberglass chop.
I had the dinette separation like yours with the camper on the truck, the small wall from the tub to external wall my camper doesn't have. Two years after doing the work I still get 3/16 inch separation even after installing the plywood inspection plate however it is based on hot and cold expansion. Overnight with freezing temps and heated inside the gap closes up tight, then during the day if sun shines on that wall it will open up again a little, before it would always remain a big gap and continue to get bigger the longer it sat on the truck.
My camper had a bulge and delamination in this area so I removed the external shower door, city water fill door frame so on and injected a sikaflex polyurethane adhesive and also laminated a 1/2" plywood on the inside, on the outside I fabricated aluminum plates that went around the door frames, then ran 1/4 bolts trough to sandwich everything back together. It really didn't work I still had some bulging, I came to realize this was not the root cause of the issue and the delamination was just a symptom of a different issue. Once I replaced the cut out section that external bulge went away. I also laminated 1/2 inch plywood along an internal basement wall ( if you can call 1/4" luan, stapled to some 3/4" x 1 1/2" a wall), it's the wall between the grey tank and the fibreglass basement (hope that makes sense). This new plywood acts as truss between the floor you walk on and the basement floor as the floor you walk on has also been mostly cut away to make room for the black tank (upper tank)and plumbing. Your 10.6' my be somewhat different than my 9.6'.
I don't believe Bigfoots suffer from the same issues of external basement walls crushing under the weight of the camper as some Northernlites had issues with, I believe member coveredwagon had a issue with this at one time. The Bigfoot external basement walls are fiberglass then 1/2" plywood, expanded polystyrene, 1/4 luan, and then a light coating of fiberglass chop.
I had the dinette separation like yours with the camper on the truck, the small wall from the tub to external wall my camper doesn't have. Two years after doing the work I still get 3/16 inch separation even after installing the plywood inspection plate however it is based on hot and cold expansion. Overnight with freezing temps and heated inside the gap closes up tight, then during the day if sun shines on that wall it will open up again a little, before it would always remain a big gap and continue to get bigger the longer it sat on the truck.
