Re: [VAL] Frame Seperation

["Mr. Joy H. Hansen" <joytbrew@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

William,

I have a '69 Safari and the condition you describe had more to do with
water/corrosion than anything else.  If  you notice considerable rust on the
skid rails, feel the floor around the holding tank.  It's my opinion that
the condition is caused when NO seal is between the plate on top of the
bumper frame allows water to run back onto the wood floor.  Any rivet, etc.
would fail under continual soaking with water and the rotting floor
exacerbates the problem.  If your Airstream spent it's entire life in a high
desert, then none of my experiences are applicable.  Or, the Sovergn is in
the 30 foot class and didn't have reinforcing plates mounted aft of the
axles, the sag is most likely from bad engineering.

You asked if you could use the Airstream without damage.  I would say that
the structural damage you will do could ruin it.  All the structural
components act to gather to make a sound structure.  Remove one, and it's
like a house of cards.  Broken skin rivets loose stringers, bows, and
buckled skin, etc.  Like damage from running with sagging axles.  '69 is the
last year that the Henchen axle torsion rubber deteriorates.  Sometime in
'69 there was a change.  Mine happened to have the trashy wimpy torsion
rubber.  The new axle is waiting to be installed.  It's a Dexter axle with
the large brake drums, oval magnets, and a parking brake mechanism.  Bad
axles, like unbalanced wheels will destroy the Airstream structure.

Most likely, you'll find that the floor is rotted across the entire rear.
The floor is sandwiched between the iron cross brace on the bottom(welded to
the frame at both ends) and an inverted aluminum "u" channel on the top.
When the floor is gone, it's possible for the rivets to prevent total
separation.  With the amount of separation, you should be able to feel the
rivets.  There are also bolts that protrude through the lower cross brace.
These do not have anything to do with holding the body to the frame!  The
floor is bolted to the bottom cross brace as it is on all out riggers.  The
inverted "U" channel is "screwed" to the floor in most areas.  Across the
front and rear, clinch rivets through the entire sandwich were used.  The
frame was installed in sections.  Where these sections join on the floor, I
found huge gaps that allowed vermin to enter the monocoque insulation
through out the trailer. :(

Another common construction failure is when the trim strip around the bottom
of the trailer hides the fact that the skin stops just above the floor and
the banana curves direct the drips to the floor.  More continual rot.  I
added a splash shield to prevent this kind of damage to my replacement
floor.

My fix was to remove the bathroom and replace the floor.  Had to drive it
between the upper "U" and a new brace I welded below.  Found a similar
situation around the water heater and at the front and rear of the wheel
wells.  You might guess that I removed the guts of the trailer to effect
these repairs.  Most restorer's would have trashed a unit in as bad shape as
mine was, but I was new to the scene and went ahead anyway.  Also, I removed
the interior skin by cutting about 6 inches off the floor to get at the two
types of fasteners.  Those that bolt the floor to the frame and those that
screw the monocoque to the floor.  At one time I had drawings and pictures,
but that was a couple of years ago and a couple of computer crashes.

If  you don't have rust, haven't lost or replaced the holding tank housing,
and there's no evidence of floor rot, disregard all of my experiences.

My '74 Argosy has an entirely different means to attach the monocoque to the
floor and the frame in the front and rear.   Airstream engineers must have
learned something. Much easier to replace the floor in the front and rear.
Yet, the same conditions caused much of the rotting floor damage.  Like the
banana curve directing the water inside the belly - causes a lot of rust to
the out riggers, etc.  Soggy insulation holds the water for a long time and
compromises rivets, etc.

Unfortunately, I tend to ramble.  Hope you get something out of my writings.
Much of it is worth about 2 cents.  Then, I have two units undergoing
continual restoration and I have and continue to learn a lot.

Harvey Barlow helped me immensely when I started, but I haven't seen a post
from him for a couple of years.  Looks like there are lots of mentors on the
valist to keep the restorations on track.

Regards,
                                                         '69 Safari, Joy