I finally removed and replaced the rest of the bolts that hold the coach frame to the frame of the chassis. Yay....!!!
That means that all 12 have now been replaced.
Here are the front 4, and 3 of them I had to tack weld the washer to the floor joist, and then the bolt head to the washer, to hold it when I tightened the nut on the bottom, from under the coach.
And here are the rear 8 that were replaced. Only had 1 of these that I had to weld fast, because I couldn't reach top and bottom at the same time.
Inching my way toward being able to replace some of the aluminum sheeting on the bottom of the floor joists. Yee....Haw....!!!
That means that all 12 have now been replaced.
Here are the front 4, and 3 of them I had to tack weld the washer to the floor joist, and then the bolt head to the washer, to hold it when I tightened the nut on the bottom, from under the coach.
And here are the rear 8 that were replaced. Only had 1 of these that I had to weld fast, because I couldn't reach top and bottom at the same time.
Inching my way toward being able to replace some of the aluminum sheeting on the bottom of the floor joists. Yee....Haw....!!!
Ok, here is a pic of one of those bolts I had to weld an angle to in order to remove it, because my arms are not 4 feet long, each.
Hey, it worked well.
Hey, it worked well.
Here is something that I haven't talked about much. This is the passenger side behind the entry door.
In this pic you can see that there are 3 green lines at the bottom. Those 3 lines indicate the wall studs that are attached to the floor framing.
To put things into perspective, at the top, the yellow line with arrows show 2 of the wall studs, and are over 5 feet apart, actually close to 5 1/2 feet.
The red lines with arrows, are showing that these studs are about 4 1/2 feet apart. So, we have about 10 feet of wall, with only 3 studs holding up the roof.
Obviously, Fleetwood deemed this to be sufficient to hold up the roof. With all due respect, the roof consisted of a few 1" x 1.5" x about 8 foot long rectangular steel, with 1/8" plywood glued on top, and a thin piece of fiberglass on top of that.
Just as with the sidewalls, the plywood was glued to 1.5" blue board rigid insulation, and then paneling glued to the inside, so that made a roof "sandwich".
Overall, there wasn't a huge amount of weight up there, so it did work.
In this pic you can see that there are 3 green lines at the bottom. Those 3 lines indicate the wall studs that are attached to the floor framing.
To put things into perspective, at the top, the yellow line with arrows show 2 of the wall studs, and are over 5 feet apart, actually close to 5 1/2 feet.
The red lines with arrows, are showing that these studs are about 4 1/2 feet apart. So, we have about 10 feet of wall, with only 3 studs holding up the roof.
Obviously, Fleetwood deemed this to be sufficient to hold up the roof. With all due respect, the roof consisted of a few 1" x 1.5" x about 8 foot long rectangular steel, with 1/8" plywood glued on top, and a thin piece of fiberglass on top of that.
Just as with the sidewalls, the plywood was glued to 1.5" blue board rigid insulation, and then paneling glued to the inside, so that made a roof "sandwich".
Overall, there wasn't a huge amount of weight up there, so it did work.
This final pic shows a better shot of how this joint went together. The top two pieces are the pieces being joined, and the bottom piece is the one holding them together.
They were put together by just folding and pressure to hold them. As you could see in the earlier pics, it was not a flat fold, but crimped to help hold it together.
The way they did this, allowed them to keep their 4' wide seams. They did a nice job with this.
They were put together by just folding and pressure to hold them. As you could see in the earlier pics, it was not a flat fold, but crimped to help hold it together.
The way they did this, allowed them to keep their 4' wide seams. They did a nice job with this.
This is an end shot of one of those joints. The pic isn't very good, but the sides of the two pieces of aluminum have been folded over.
Then there is an extra piece on the bottom, also with the ends folded over.
Then there is an extra piece on the bottom, also with the ends folded over.
This is a close up of the top side of one of those joints.
And here is a view of the bottom side.
And here is a view of the bottom side.
Fleetwood used aluminum on the bottom of the flooring of this motor home. They used 4' wide sheets, and ran them crosswise under the joists.
Because it was only 4' wide, it needed to be spliced, every 4 feet. Here are some pics of how they did that.
The first pic is of a splice in the floor.
Because it was only 4' wide, it needed to be spliced, every 4 feet. Here are some pics of how they did that.
The first pic is of a splice in the floor.
All you need is a piece of angle iron and a welder. Take your angle iron and weld it to the top of the bolt.
Note that the angle iron will not turn, as the nut begins to loosen on the bottom. Problem solved.
The same thing will work on wood, assuming you don't light the wood on fire with the welder. Lol. Be careful.
Note that the angle iron will not turn, as the nut begins to loosen on the bottom. Problem solved.
The same thing will work on wood, assuming you don't light the wood on fire with the welder. Lol. Be careful.
And now, for the tip of the day.
Ever have a bolt that you needed to remove, and you need to get under the vehicle to get to the nut, and there is no one around to help hold the head on the top side?
Or maybe like mine, they were carriage bolts, and they have no head. Those can be ugly to remove with or without help.
Here is a way, to perform this duty by yourself. Certainly not the only way, but it works.
Here is a pic with the head of the carriage bolt, and the beginning of the solution. A piece of angle iron.
Ever have a bolt that you needed to remove, and you need to get under the vehicle to get to the nut, and there is no one around to help hold the head on the top side?
Or maybe like mine, they were carriage bolts, and they have no head. Those can be ugly to remove with or without help.
Here is a way, to perform this duty by yourself. Certainly not the only way, but it works.
Here is a pic with the head of the carriage bolt, and the beginning of the solution. A piece of angle iron.
Ah, another rainy Saturday. Off to the box store for some more cutting wheels. 3 of em.
Add another $11.07 to $523.31 = 534.38.
Add another $11.07 to $523.31 = 534.38.
Here's a picture I forgot to post. I was removing some insulation from the floor, and it was stuck very well to the aluminum sheeting underneath it.
In this pic, you can see inside the red circle, where I first jammed the screwdriver in, to help lift the insulation off of the aluminum.
The yellow circle, above the screwdriver head, shows where the glue (pink) stuck to the insulation, and where it did not (white-ish), and stuck to the aluminum under the screwdriver.
This pic is a little washed out, as I had to adjust it before posting it, as it was a little dark.
Just in case you are wondering, I have been doing my photo adjustments /manipulation with a free program called paint.net. The web address is ... https://www.getpaint.net/
It is a download for Windows, and just does a nice job, and hey, it's free. I have no affiliation with them, just a satisfied user.
In this pic, you can see inside the red circle, where I first jammed the screwdriver in, to help lift the insulation off of the aluminum.
The yellow circle, above the screwdriver head, shows where the glue (pink) stuck to the insulation, and where it did not (white-ish), and stuck to the aluminum under the screwdriver.
This pic is a little washed out, as I had to adjust it before posting it, as it was a little dark.
Just in case you are wondering, I have been doing my photo adjustments /manipulation with a free program called paint.net. The web address is ... https://www.getpaint.net/
It is a download for Windows, and just does a nice job, and hey, it's free. I have no affiliation with them, just a satisfied user.
IT'S ALL GONE!!!!!!
It's all gone........
There is nothing left inside to take off. Yay..!!!....!!!
On a bright note, I did get to replace 6 of the 12 bolts that hold the coach flooring to the chassis frame.
The yellow circles are where I put the new ones in. Yes, I took the easy way out today, and replaced ones that were easy to get to. .... Lol...
It's all gone........
There is nothing left inside to take off. Yay..!!!....!!!
On a bright note, I did get to replace 6 of the 12 bolts that hold the coach flooring to the chassis frame.
The yellow circles are where I put the new ones in. Yes, I took the easy way out today, and replaced ones that were easy to get to. .... Lol...
And finally, we add plywood, and yes, glue that to the blue board insulation, and also to the top of the 1.5" square steel tubing.
So, we have a floor, that is glued together, and then bolted to the frame, on the bottom.
That does make for a solid floor - at least for a while, and that is why they can get away with using 1/2" plywood on the floor. Eventually, from walking on it, some of the glue will loosen and then the floor gets spongy.
So, we have a floor, that is glued together, and then bolted to the frame, on the bottom.
That does make for a solid floor - at least for a while, and that is why they can get away with using 1/2" plywood on the floor. Eventually, from walking on it, some of the glue will loosen and then the floor gets spongy.
