ToyoGuy Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 Hey All, I need to compare the lateral bracing under my 18' Sunrader to someone else's to figure out what I'll do with it. See photo. For reasons unknown to me, the ends of the 2"x5/8" steel tubing cross-supports terminate about 6"-8" short of the edge /perimeter of the coach. Can one of you guys take a peek and tell me what you see ? I don't have any examples nearby and there's no working drawings of the structurals of these things that I can find. Thanks, ToyoGuy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yostfmx Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 Yea, mines the same way. Don't know way they made it that way. We made some metal frames to go out to the edge. My whole thing was sagging out at the ends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToyoGuy Posted March 24, 2008 Author Share Posted March 24, 2008 Yea, mines the same way. Don't know way they made it that way. We made some metal frames to go out to the edge. My whole thing was sagging out at the ends. Hey Keith, Thanks man. Are your supports sitting "on top" of the main frame rails like mine, or welded off the sides ? Also, how did you build your frames ? (maybe you got a picture ?) I'm thinking to run them out all the way to the edge and weld crossbars between at the end/edge to stiffen them up. From your picture of your rader,(we're pretty close as far as being gutted out and all) really like the gusto with which you are approaching the project ! I am looking at complete floor replacement and am considering using fiberglass rails sandwiched between outer coverings. I'm looking at all new everything inside and checking out all sorts of material. Oh yeah,... how'd you get your shower stall out ? I'm an inch short of space through any of the windows or door. If I have to, I'll put it up in the cabover while I'm working on the floor etc. But,.... try as I might, I can't figure out how they got it in unless it was before they dropped the lid on the coach. On the door handle, Ive been looking too, but so far no avail. Mines beat, but rebuildable probably. Someone overtightened it and crushed the cutout in the door, so I have to do glasswork anyway, if I decide to put in something else, I'll check with you. Cheers, ToyoGuy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yostfmx Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 I think we have the same motorhome haha! My door handle is over tightend too and cracking the fiberglass to the inside and outside (a bit) of to door. How can no one have info on here about the door handle fix? I don't get it? I think I'm going to put a dead bolt for a house in and cut half the bolt off to let it clear all the way inside. Only lock fix I can think of? I'll take pictures of the bottom of mine today. I think is bolted on top of the frame. Haha the shower, I cut the crap out of it and through it out the door. Don't think you can get it out in one piece... part of my shower is going to become 8' sides, to my roof raise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToyoGuy Posted March 25, 2008 Author Share Posted March 25, 2008 Hey yostfmx, you got a brother out there ? Here is a shot I came upon from somewhere on the web from months ago, is this you ? Yeah, the lock reciever on the stock lock is in the door, and the bullet-shaped striker is mounted to the frame (totally backwards of the normal ). The thing is, that with a door that small, the stock striker plate is sticking out into the left side of the doorway on this wierd 2x4"carpet monstrosity about 1-2" on mine. It's one of the first things I looked at and thought, "c'mon" . I think for the beach, or anywhere "on the set" that you're keeping a board or "stuff" inside, I'd go with the bolt-on deadbolt you're talking about. Either way there's glasswork, but once you go to standard lock hardware, you got a better lock all together. By the way, I took the whole door and frame outta mine and essentially the whole aluminum frame was only held in by silicon caulking anyway. Yeah, no foolin ! On mine the door had such a big gap at the the bottom, (1 ") that the wind noise drove me nuts. Gonna fix that too now. Anyway, I looked for a looooong time to locate the door hardware, and it seems futile, especially in light of the kluge setup. Another by the way, the marketing tech drawings show the floor as a sandwich of aluminum sheet (1/64" or less in reality), then 1/8" plywood, then styrofoam, then 3/8" plywood. Like this: Lo and behold, mine was built on Friday, and ... tada!!! no lower 1/8" ply ! Oh well. Guess that shower'll have to stay put up in the cabover, shucks. BTW, great input of yours on the fiberglass patch thing ! Man, I LOVE learning that kind of stuff !! Tell your old man thanks too. I'm out. TG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yostfmx Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 Here are the pictures of my frames, some scrap we have laying around. We put two jacks on the frames and jack them up till the motorhome was starting to come off the ground, to try to get the sag out and make sure it was good and tight up in there. Then had my dad weld them on to the main frame of the truck (I don't weld). Hope it didn't add too much weight! http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v322/Yostfmx/DCP_2819.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v322/Yostfmx/DCP_2820.jpg Sorry I took so long to post, have dialup so its a pain to post pictures... Not thats not my motorhome. Why he cut it off right were he did I don't know? I cut the whole 3'' raised up lip thing in right down the middle all the way around (top 8' by 6'). Then raised 8'' more. Picture before glassing> http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v322/Yostfmx/DCP_2835.jpg and crazy blocks had to made to hold it! http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v322/Yostfmx/DCP_2841.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToyoGuy Posted March 29, 2008 Author Share Posted March 29, 2008 Sorry I took so long to post, have dialup so its a pain to post pictures..." Hey Yostfmx, Thanks for taking the time to shoot me the photos, it's helpful to see how you and your old man did it. It looks like we pretty much had the same idea, right down to the materials / steel. Did you get the right and left sides of the floor up high enough to straighten out or level the tops of the wheel wells ? I don't know if they ever were straight across, even when new, and i'm wondering if it'll fracture the walls if I push too hard to bring them into level. I got almost all the stuff out except for the ceiling panels, A/C (rooftop), and top galley shelves. Since my floor is worse, I am taking out the side windows (2nd time), and using a a 4x4 thru the windows braced against the top, (front and back), will lift the whole coach off the frame. (4 tall hydraulic jacks @ Harbor freight for $30 apiece )That way I'll be able to adjust and fine tune angles get all new floor in. My current plan is: 1/16" aluminium (underfacing), 3/4" foam filler with cross-bracing and perimeter bracing, then 3/8" marine ply with glass-coved sides and corners and 1 layer of glass cloth on top to strengthen / seal it. Whew huh ? Man, your shop is sweet ! I really like the cool spacer-blocks, they almost look like they belong there permanent. Are you going to put any windows in the sides or front while you're at it ? Also, was wondering if you're only leaving the shower in. BTW, have you considered putting in any bracing in the roof ? Someone told me if you want to carry a reasonable amount of stuff on top, it's the right thing to do. Here's a closeup of the end bracket a guy sent me: In your picture of the side, on the inside, there are wooden rails along the roof and in the sides near the windows. Did you put those in ? If so, how, and if not did they just "gunk" them on with some resin and solka flock, or with a layer of glass over the top ? My '84 has nothing to mount stuff to on the sides and I need to do that. Thanks, ToyoGuy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yostfmx Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 Thats pretty crazy about taking the whole thing off the frame. Hope it doesn't fall apart haha... 30 years old. When I jacked it up nothing moved. Only thing that happend was the whole side of the motorhome came off the ground. Yea the wheel wells are made kicked down like that I think?... You have an 18'er right? I think the 21'er do have a brace like that on the roof from some other picture I've seen of them. Yea I would brace the crap out of it if you have an A/C on top. Yes I did do all new framing on the inside (not that they had any). The only place there is bracing in on the roofs, 5/8 ply strips. Looks like they flipped it over and resined it up and slapped them on! Holds strong... Me, I Bonbo-ed them on, Works good, pretty strong. The walls are way stronger now!!! For the roof I'm going to brace it with three 1 3/4'' x 3'' wood beams over the real wood paneling like an open beam ceiling. Should be very cool looking inside. I've got a 45 watt solar panel from Harbor Freight $179 on sale! 30lbs thats going on top and thats it. Really good quality too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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