Underbelly, reuse or replace?

[marcindy]

I have an Open Range Light, 310BHS. The cable that opens/closes the grey dump valves has broken (on both grey tanks), and I need to get access to the underside of the trailer to replace. Like many trailers, there is a plastic material/sheet covering up the bottom.

I have read up on this site about how to remove, however, mine (of course) has nails into the frame vs rivets or scews holding it up. I tried to remove a couple and it doesn't look like fun, especially considering how many are there.

Instead of spending a Saturday trying to pull out nails, should I just cut the old Coroplast out, and install new sections from HomeDepot? The material doesn't seem expensive. I'm not doing the full length of the trailer, maybe 15-20ft.

Thanks in advance on opinions on folks who have done this.

[allen8106]

stripit wrote:
I used to have to crawl up into the belly a couple of times for various repairs. I would cut a 3 sided opening, about 2 feet square. The uncut side was at the front facing edge, so the cut flap would hinge down and let me crawl inside. I then used 1x2 wood, laying the 2 inch piece on a edge and screw 1 inch screws into the uncut bottom and the cut pices, It held the cut flap in place after I was done working up inside.I then used some Gorilla tape to tape up the 3 cut pieces to keep any water from entering. Should you need to re-enter the bottom, pull the tape, unscrew the screws and your back in. Fast and easy with no mess.

Same here.

[MountainAirMan]

marcindy wrote:
Any concerns using regular pine 1x2, or should it pressure treated (or whatever they call it now)? I suppose, in theory, it shouldn't get wet on the top side of the Coroplast.

Hoping to get to see the trailer today and get another look at the area I need to access.
thanks for the ideas so far

If you use the treated materials, you'll also need compatible fasteners.
Otherwise the chemicals will slowly corrode the contact area and fall apart going down the road.
Lowes and Home Depot have decking screws for treated lumber.

[westend]

If the nails holding the coroplast have small heads, pull the coroplast down from the nails and frame. Use a grinder to grind the nails flush. Replace with new nails, screws, or staples.

[shum02]

marcindy wrote:
Any concerns using regular pine 1x2, or should it pressure treated (or whatever they call it now)? I suppose, in theory, it shouldn't get wet on the top side of the Coroplast.

Hoping to get to see the trailer today and get another look at the area I need to access.
thanks for the ideas so far

Surprisingly enough the belly of my rig does not get as wet and dirty as you'd think.

[Community Alumni]

The first time I needed to access the underbelly I popped out all of the nail fasteners and replaced them with self taping screws with a washer. I also added additional self tappers to help prevent sagging.

Use the claw on a hammer or a pry bar to pop them out. A few times I had to use a set of pliers to wiggle and twist a few out. A few rusted ones snapped flush so I just left it in there and placed a self tapper next to it.

If you do need to make a cut anywhere, Gorilla tape works really well. To get max adhesion, make sure the area is cleaned before putting the tape on.

[marcindy]

Any concerns using regular pine 1x2, or should it pressure treated (or whatever they call it now)? I suppose, in theory, it shouldn't get wet on the top side of the Coroplast.

Hoping to get to see the trailer today and get another look at the area I need to access.
thanks for the ideas so far

[shum02]

stripit wrote:
I used to have to crawl up into the belly a couple of times for various repairs. I would cut a 3 sided opening, about 2 feet square. The uncut side was at the front facing edge, so the cut flap would hinge down and let me crawl inside. I then used 1x2 wood, laying the 2 inch piece on a edge and screw 1 inch screws into the uncut bottom and the cut pices, It held the cut flap in place after I was done working up inside.I then used some Gorilla tape to tape up the 3 cut pieces to keep any water from entering. Should you need to re-enter the bottom, pull the tape, unscrew the screws and your back in. Fast and easy with no mess.

Except for the wood I did the exact same thing. Still holding using Gorilla tape. Just make sure to give the coroplast a good cleaning before taping.

[bjlakatos1]

Scrimshield tape will work too. If you are having trouble with tape the 1x2 frame suggestion works to provide a surface to screw into. In either case plan to reuse the existing coroplast.

[campigloo]

There is a tape made specially for Coroplast. It even has a matching texture for whatever that’s worth. Use that and it is not will not come loose.

[marcindy]

Thanks Stripit for the reply. I have done as you suggest when I was running wire for my solar setup. I should also note that the back has ripped (the 50A wire is resting on the underbelly cover), and the gorilla tape isn't holding anymore. So I'm looking at this as an opportunity to fix that, the dump valves, and seal up the holes in the floor where wire and pipes are running through to help keep the mice out.

Marc

[stripit]

I used to have to crawl up into the belly a couple of times for various repairs. I would cut a 3 sided opening, about 2 feet square. The uncut side was at the front facing edge, so the cut flap would hinge down and let me crawl inside. I then used 1x2 wood, laying the 2 inch piece on a edge and screw 1 inch screws into the uncut bottom and the cut pices, It held the cut flap in place after I was done working up inside.I then used some Gorilla tape to tape up the 3 cut pieces to keep any water from entering. Should you need to re-enter the bottom, pull the tape, unscrew the screws and your back in. Fast and easy with no mess.