Covering under belly

[Elk4me]

I am considering purchasing a 2001 Sunnybrook TT. It doesn't have a covered under-belly. Has anyone ever done a retrofit and installed a covering for the under-belly and added tank heaters. How hard would it be. This TT is in pristine condition, one owner. 27ft., one owner. They have ever used the stove or oven or cooked inside. Probably no more than 4,000 miles towed. It will need new propane tanks, tires and bearing pack. I will be using it for cold weather hunting. $4500.

[bobndot]

Click 'THIS ALBUM' in the last post, for the pics of his project. http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/25851028.cfm

spike99 shows pics of his project .
https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/26409724.cfm

more pics of underbelly mods through this thread.
https://forums.goodsamclub.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/28711624/print/true.cfm

[nvreloader]

If your tanks do not hang below the main frame rails,
you can get coroplast plastic (comes in 4x8' sheets, same stuff a most elections signs are made of), to cover the bottom from each side of the frame rails, attach with self drilling screws and large washers etc.

Could add extra insulation before the corroplast sheeting,
well worth the effort, IMHO.

Tia,
Don

[Elk4me]

BillyW wrote:

Huntindog wrote:

BillyW wrote:
I would suspect that the 2001 Sunnybrook trailer the OP is asking about already has an insulated floor with the tanks suspended beneath.

What we are talking about is additional insulation, under the tanks and above the underbelly, creating a warm zone that will keep the plumbing from freezing in colder temps. This area will not be as warm as the interior, but is designed to stay above freezing. There are different approaches to doing this. The best one is likely to be different depending on the individual TT being modded.

Exactly. That's what my first post was about. The floor is insulated. The tanks hang under the floor, between the I beams. I described how I heated and insulated mine. It was simple, straight forward, and reasonably inexpensive. The way I read Westend's post was that he was adding comfort by insulating the floor.

You are all correct here. Open underneath with the tanks suspended. I just like the idea of having the under-belly covered with the heat ducted to it like the newer models. It is definitely better for cold weather.

[Elk4me]

Thanks for the replies. I thought I had subscribed to this to get notifications, but evidently not. Finally got back. I haven't decided on the purchase or not. It would be a pretty good buy if I can get them to come down a bit more.

[GordonThree]

Carpet fixed cold floors for me, oh and slippers.

Electric trace and pads keeps the plumbing liquid

I have a hot water recirculation system for the plumbing that is inaccessible.

overall I'm good to about -30 C

[Oaklevel]

westend wrote:
Here's the Brochure for 2000. It states R-7 in the floors and that some trailers have tank heating standard. The OP should look underneath and see what he has.

Back to my body work project....

Never had an enclosed underbelly our 2013 has the insulation in the floor & while we live further south the floors are not cold when we winter camp.

[westend]

Here's the Brochure for 2000. It states R-7 in the floors and that some trailers have tank heating standard. The OP should look underneath and see what he has.

Back to my body work project....

[TurnThePage]

Huntindog wrote:

BillyW wrote:
I would suspect that the 2001 Sunnybrook trailer the OP is asking about already has an insulated floor with the tanks suspended beneath.

What we are talking about is additional insulation, under the tanks and above the underbelly, creating a warm zone that will keep the plumbing from freezing in colder temps. This area will not be as warm as the interior, but is designed to stay above freezing. There are different approaches to doing this. The best one is likely to be different depending on the individual TT being modded.

Exactly. That's what my first post was about. The floor is insulated. The tanks hang under the floor, between the I beams. I described how I heated and insulated mine. It was simple, straight forward, and reasonably inexpensive. The way I read Westend's post was that he was adding comfort by insulating the floor.

[Huntindog]

BillyW wrote:
I would suspect that the 2001 Sunnybrook trailer the OP is asking about already has an insulated floor with the tanks suspended beneath.

What we are talking about is additional insulation, under the tanks and above the underbelly, creating a warm zone that will keep the plumbing from freezing in colder temps. This area will not be as warm as the interior, but is designed to stay above freezing. There are different approaches to doing this. The best one is likely to be different depending on the individual TT being modded.

[TurnThePage]

I would suspect that the 2001 Sunnybrook trailer the OP is asking about already has an insulated floor with the tanks suspended beneath.

[westend]

Yeah, like Huntingdog states, adding insulation to the underbelly area will greatly increase comfort in the cold.

FWIW, I added 1 1/2" extruded foam and sheets of Luan plywood to my hunting partner's old travel trailer under the floor. We were hunting in MN, a stones throw from Canada. In Nov., it can get as low as -20f up there. Insulating the floor made a heck of a difference and our boots didn't freeze to the floor anymore. One year, in the back storage area underneath a bunk, everything liquid froze. After the insulation, that area remained tolerable. Insulating the floor makes a huge difference in comfort and lowers the propane consumption.

[TurnThePage]

Mine was simple to do. My tanks hung underneath, exposed. I added AC/DC heat pads (I used Eternabond tape on the black tank to secure the pad that just wouldn't otherwise stay stuck). Ran wiring to the fuse box and separately to circuit breaker panel. Glued foam boards around the tanks. Filled the gaps with expanding foam. Finished it off with sheets of coroplast between the I frames. I also added several small angle strips between the frames to support the coroplast. It took a weekend to do, with lots of breaks. It's been in place about 10 years and continues to function perfectly.

[Huntindog]

At the factory, this is done before the TT Box is built. They flip the rolling frame upside down... That is the easy way to do it.
A retrofit will be much harder. If you are gonna go to this much effort, consider going all the way. I used 1" polisocroyante (sp?) insulation from Home Depot to insulate the inside of the frame rails, and to rest right on top of the underbelly. Think of making a large insulated coolercontaining all of the tanks and plumbiing. Before sealing it up, put a hole or two into the heat duct so some heat will get into the new ice box. If you are really serious (I was) install heat tape and insulation on all plumbing.
The money to do all this wasn't bad, as I bought the heat tape on ebay.
An electrical circuit/outlets will need to be installed as well.
With this setup, 40 below should be doable with running water as long as a generator is running. An EU 2000 works well.

Although I not encountered such extremes yet, the floor stays warmer, and propane use and heater run time has be cut in about half.

The underbelly by itself will only help a little. Doing the additional mods will make a BIG difference.
It just depends how far you wanna go.

[GordonThree]

I've only repaired my underbelly after cutting it to access plumbing so I could install heating cable.

I used landscaping fabric, the extra thick heavy duty kind. It's a woven nylon fabric. My factory underbelly is woven fiberglass.

For a big project like you're looking at, investing in a roll of the real deal might make sense... However landscaping fabric is much less expensive.