Re: [VAL] Grey tank

["C. Hyde" <brownhyde@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Charlie & all,
Sorry it's taken me so long to reply.
The chassis on our project 65 Caravel was very rusty.  The main longitudinal
frame rails are made from 3" structural steel "C" sections and were in very
good condition. All of the crossmembers needed to be replaced along with all
of the outriggers. The original crossmembers were formed from 1/16" thick
steel sheet. They were formed in the shape of a "C" with the top leg being 1
1/2", the vertical leg, 3" and the lower leg of 1/2". The top leg was used
as the surface to fasten the plywood floor with "elevator bolts" and the
lower leg was used as the surface to rivet the bellypan  to.  We fabricated
new crossmembers out of 2" X 2" X 1/8" structural steel angle. A "C" was
created by using two angles that overlapped & were welded together which
gave a final sizing of 2" top leg, 3" vertical leg & 2" lower leg. These
crossmembers are substantially stronger than the originals. All of the
original longitudinal stringers were formed from 1/16" sheet steel and had
legs of 1 1/2". We used the same 2" X 2" steel angle to replace the
stringers. The original outriggers were formed from 1/16" sheet steel with a
1 1/2" top leg, 3" vertical leg & 1/2" lower leg. We fabricated new
outriggers out of 1/16" sheet steel with a 2" top leg, 3" vertical leg & a
2" lower leg. These outriggers are also substantially stronger than the
originals. The complete chassis was painted with POR15  prior to installing
the floor. The custom fabricated tandem stainless steel gray tanks, with a
total volume of approximately 25 gallons were designed to fit within the
bellypan cavity directly above the axle & below the floor. This positioning
should have the least effect on potential overloading of the chassis or
possible sway issues resulting from adding to much weight to one end of the
trailer as done on the later Airstreams equipped with gray tanks. A
completely new floor was fabricated out of 5/8" plywood, as was the
original, and bolted to the chassis with new "elevator bolts". The body was
refitted to the uprated chassis & floor & re-bolted. If the trailer was
towed with the new gray tanks full, it would add about 200 lbs to the
trailer weight. The original axle was rated @ 3,000 lbs. We sourced a new
one through Axis Products with a rating of 3,500 lbs in order to take into
account the added gray tanks, chassis upgrades and other options we are
adding to the trailer to meet the clients requirements. Basically, our frame
is original in the configuration of crossmembers & stringers, however
significantly more rigid as a result of the uprated sizing of the members.
Hopefully this clears up any concerns. We will have more pictures &
discussions about these issues on future episodes of theVAP.
Colin Hyde
GSM Vehicles Inc.
www.theVAP.com