Proper wood for trailer repair

[Richandtd]

Ok I believe that I still got a good deal on my TC but now I get to experience repairing the drivers side front corner where the support jack is. While my torklift fastguns were fastened down I noticed that where the tie down I bolt is attached that about a 1/2" gap appeared. This is right where the refrigerator vent is. Taking the access cover off I and see where a leak has caused some wood rot. I plan on removing the support jack take off the fiberglass around the area of the refrigerator access vent and replace the wood in that area. Also putting in an aluminum 3"x 2" angle support 8' along the bottom edge with both tie down I bolts going thru it with additional lag bolts attaching it to the bottom corner area. Then weld a flat aluminum 3" by 2' piece that the bolts that attach support jack with 1/4" longer lag bolts securing it to the corner since the aluminum will be 1/4" thick. I'll post pictures as I get into this project but the question is what kind of wood do I use for wood framing that I have to replace?

[Richandtd]

Phase 1 investigation and just as I expected got some wood rot to deal with but the corner wood post looks to be in good shape. As I get further into the repairs I'll take more pictures of the process

[Kayteg1]

Pine is expensive.
They used fir most of the time and often I am under the impression they got the fir from pallet recycling yard.
Go to Lowe's or Home Depot and pick up few 2x4 with no knots and high density.>>> "weight" them by hand.
Let them dry-spaced in your garage or better in warm place for at least couple of weeks before use.

[phillyg]

I doubt the mfgr. used anything more than dimensional pine, so yes, Lowes is your friend.

[joe_b_]

On our previous TC, a 2001 Lance 845, I had to replace the passenger side rear wing due to wood rot. In this part of Florida, coastal, we have many marine supply stores, some of which sell hard woods, suitable for a damp environment. I am sure I could have gone to Lowes or Home Depot and bought soft construction grade wood from either for $50, give or take.

But I enjoy wood working and wanted my repairs to last for the next 25+ years on the TC. So I probably spent closer to $200 for marine grade woods that would last. It I was still living in a dry climate, such as western Colorado, where we moved here from, I might have gone the big box store route. My local Home Depot has started selling cypress boards. Cypress is a nice hardwood to work, very resistant to all sorts of insects and other wood destroying organisms. They didn't have cypress when I was fixing that Lance.

So I used Africian mahogany, not to be confused with the much softer, cheaper Asian mahogany and South American Sepele wood. I enjoy working with Sepele wood, looks a lot like cherry, but much more rot resistant. Most of the marine wood dealers sell by the board foot and some by the pound. I saw my first $100 1x6 the other day, being sold by the pound. It was one of the exotic hard woods I had never used, and probably never will at that price. Was either Ipe or Cumaru.

I had planned to keep that TC after the repair but another RVer wanted it more than I did so I sold it to him. So I was glad I fixed it to last since that TC still lives here in South Florida. Found a 2008 Lance 845 in Sarasota a couple of weeks later and bought it. It is metal framed so less to work on. LOL

Have some photos and a brief write up on our web site. Scroll down on the home page to Lance Repairs.
http://www.pajbcooper.com

[Richandtd]

Lots of great information I'll post pictures when the repair gets started. But a lot of good info thks

[Grit_dog]

OP, listen to Dave Petes reccomendations.
Without picturing your situation, you're into the structural part of the camper.
Hardwoods, BB plywood and proper connection techniques are your friend.
You're reworking an area that presumably sees a lot of stress and load with restrictions on splicing, overlap and size of the members you can use. Use the strongest stuff possible.

[Grit_dog]

RoyB wrote:
I do all of my RV repairs with wood, plumbing, and electrical items from the LOWEs store. They seem to have all I need when something needs to be repaired...

Roy Ken

Yeah that helps! Lowes wood is the best you can get, lol!

[rwiegand]

If you have the capability to weld aluminum as you indicate I'd get rid of the wood and the rot potential once and for all by replacing it with aluminum framing instead.

[Artum_Snowbird]

I used a lot of Git Rot epoxy based soaker, sealer, and joiner when I did the same repair. Every piece of wood was soaked in the product for several applications, then epoxied, clamped, and screwed together to reform the three directions of the corner. Each piece was formed to add structure, and they were all carefully fitted before final assembly. It took quite a few days as it dried each time before the next piece was put in, but in the end it was rock solid. Good luck.

[Dave_Pete]

Hi Rich. You'll probable find many benefit arguments to both hard and soft woods, and dimensional lumber or plywood.

I like soft woods due to less weight and more forgiving, easier to work, (hard wood can split easily when not pre-drilled correctly). Even so, in parts of my resto-mod I chose hard wood over soft in some places for cleats (where I wanted more of a steel-like strength feature - back wall to floor region).

I like to cross-cut and rip my own soft wood pieces. If I need a "1 by" I generally will rip it from quality 2 by, for example. That way I can choose the portion for good grain and no knots, splits etc.

In many applications, the cris-cross pattern of plywood is a much better choice than the "potential failure along the grain" of a solid board. More strength in a smaller dimension, often required by the camper realities. But plywood edge might be a lousy choice for lags, where splits can start and the board separate. Personally, I will never follow the manufacturer example of putting lags into the edge of walls 1.5" and smaller. And I don't think campers come bigger than that. And probably 99% of campers are this way, so I'm in a minority there.

I don't preach the benefit of marine plywood over regular good structural (sub-flooring) plywood, but again, cut your pieces from good portions of the sheet. Reject crushed corners, voided edges, etc.

In your corner rebuild you want non-existent voids; pieces cut to fit right and to fill fully.

Don't be afraid to beef it up. The extra wood won't add much weight, but it will give strength and support to the arguably weakest areas designed into a camper.

I prefer interior access to the corner, so I can use bolt/nut fasteners instead of lags. There are also flush mount "capture nuts" available at the hardware stores. The interior just has the visual, but it's flush. Then you cut your bolt to length for flush. In that case, don't use a hardened bolt. Unless you have magic cutters. And thread-locker can be added if it feels like the connection looses over time, but lock washers would probably suffice.

Once the front/side/bottom (wing) wood is all firmly attached to each other (and I'm finding staples are maybe preferable because there are lots of fastening points with little damage or removal of wood), try and get the tie-down mount location supported into all three surfaces, like you are describing with the aluminum, and perhaps with small fitted brackets that connect stuff in much the same way a Happijac system ties the front tie-downs to the truck frame. Brackets, bolted or welded someway.

But you are on the right path I think. For the corner like that I'd probably use 1 by or 2 by (depending on your structure depth and existing materials) on both front and side walls with the plywood for the wing. You can even sister the build, add (where available space) interior wood that supports the existing structure. Good luck.

[mkirsch]

The camper manufacturer uses the cheapest wood they can source. Certainly not fine oak. Anything you use from the local big box dimensional lumber piles will be as good or better than original. Just try for straight grain knot free wood.

[RoyB]

I do all of my RV repairs with wood, plumbing, and electrical items from the LOWEs store. They seem to have all I need when something needs to be repaired...

Roy Ken