As with all things new its really about learning as you go and expect somethings to change as you learn more. With that said I have learned to expect a lot from our Shasta its 58 years old and it needs some real love. My last post was me replacing the outside floor framing rails. These are the ones you actually mount the exterior wall framing to. Replacing those not so bad. What I did find out is that our trailer is really sagging down on the street side. Anywhere from 1 to 2 inches. Most of that is from the skirting being all rotted out and not holding the framing up at all. Really not that big of a deal. All the skirting needs replacing and some of the framing so thats what will do.
Street side rear. Notice how much the wall has dropped. This is because the skirting is rotted and not attached to the wall anymore
This is the cargo door on the street side. Again you can see how much lower the tin is than the floor of the trailer is
What I hadn’t noticed was that the street side wall was shifted back about a 1/2 inch as compared to the curb side wall. Most would say the frame is bent. The main frame is straight, I would describe that as the frame that is attached to the tongue of the trailer and the other two main rails outside of the tongue. Now some but not all of the outriggers (they are ones mounted across the main frame) are bent and yes they are the ones attached to the framing you attach the walls to. But in my measuring I found that they are bent backward towards the rear of the trailer and if I just straighten them out it will only make the offset worse on the street side. So I will adjust my wall during the rebuild and get the two of them to match as close a possible. What Im really hoping for is once I remove the roof and the metal siding I will see what shifted the wall back and correct it.
front of trailer on the street side. See how the metal siding is equal to the floor. Well its not the same as the curb side. Thats not good.
curb side front. The siding is about a 1/2 inch forward of the floor. One side of my siding is off.
So what did I learn from just trying to replace the floor/wall framing rails. I learned that I have a lot more work to do. I was hoping to have just replaced the damaged rails and be on my way to repairing the walls. Well our Shasta has a few years on me and will continue to teach me a few things.
