I recently had something fly up and hit the under side of my aluminum trailer. First place to be hit was the frame just under the spare tire, then it hit in the middle of the floor in the living quarters. The floor has a huge bump in it, the flooring has cracked and the cabinets on both sides of the trailer have been pulled away from the wall. The aluminum I beam under the living area is pushed up. How do I flatten the beam out? The sub floor and flooring will have to be repaced, what is the easiest way to do this as the original floor was layed first and there are a dozen corners in the kitchen and the bathroom! Will the I beam need to be replaced because of metal fatigue? If anyone has had this happen I'd appreciate hearing what you did to fix the problem. Thankyou.
Posted 2011-04-26 9:39 AM (#133551 - in reply to #133526) Subject: RE: Trailer Floor Damaged
Expert
Posts: 5870 Location: western PA
To properly repair your trailer's damage, will involve some money and time. The damaged frame structure (s) will have to be cut out and replaced. If you have a good fabricator, this may be able to be effected from underneath, without having have to remove the interior flooring.
Once the framework is replaced, it may be possible to weight the displaced flooring and reweld it to the new structures. The localised cracked metal flooring areas will still have to be cut out and replaced. If the damaged area (s) cannot be pressed into place, the LQ most likely will have to be gutted and the flooring exchanged with new. If you have a plank flooring, each piece can be cut at a different area, and a new piece can be spliced into place. By staggering the joints and welding each plank to the joists, a strong repair can be made. It will end up with random joints as a wood flooring is installed.
You can't just attempt to bend things back into place and hope it will suffice. Stop drilling a crack and welding it closed is not a good repair for the framework. For the LQ flooring it may be enough.
Posted 2011-04-26 11:30 AM (#133561 - in reply to #133526) Subject: RE: Trailer Floor Damaged
Expert
Posts: 3802 Location: Rocky Mount N.C.
Originally written by betchasister on 2011-04-25 9:20 PM
I recently had something fly up and hit the under side of my aluminum trailer. First place to be hit was the frame just under the spare tire, then it hit in the middle of the floor in the living quarters. The floor has a huge bump in it, the flooring has cracked and the cabinets on both sides of the trailer have been pulled away from the wall. The aluminum I beam under the living area is pushed up. How do I flatten the beam out? The sub floor and flooring will have to be repaced, what is the easiest way to do this as the original floor was layed first and there are a dozen corners in the kitchen and the bathroom! Will the I beam need to be replaced because of metal fatigue? If anyone has had this happen I'd appreciate hearing what you did to fix the problem. Thankyou.
Sounds like you must have run over a spare tire.....
Posted 2011-04-26 12:18 PM (#133562 - in reply to #133526) Subject: RE: Trailer Floor Damaged
New User
Posts: 3
Location: englehart, on, can.
It is the I beam that has me worried!I wondered if another aluminum beam could be fabricated and spliced to it so that the bent portion could be cut out? At this point I think the floor repair will consist of replacing the aluminum base and the under layed plywood. The raised up area is in the centre of the floor, the bottom cupboards, fridge and sofa will have to be removed to do the repairs.Gutting the living area would be a huge expense. Unfortunatly to go to a reputable repair centre I would have to take it back to the U.S and that would be at least 2 days travel, so not really an option. Yes I thought it might have been the spare tire too but went and looked and it is still attached.Thanks for your input I have gotten a lot of good advice from all you folks and enjoy the site very much.
Posted 2011-04-26 9:38 PM (#133591 - in reply to #133526) Subject: RE: Trailer Floor Damaged
Expert
Posts: 3853 Location: Vermont
Originally written by betchasister on 2011-04-25 8:20 PM
I recently had something fly up and hit the under side of my aluminum trailer. First place to be hit was the frame just under the spare tire, then it hit in the middle of the floor in the living quarters. The floor has a huge bump in it, the flooring has cracked and the cabinets on both sides of the trailer have been pulled away from the wall. The aluminum I beam under the living area is pushed up. How do I flatten the beam out? The sub floor and flooring will have to be repaced, what is the easiest way to do this as the original floor was layed first and there are a dozen corners in the kitchen and the bathroom! Will the I beam need to be replaced because of metal fatigue? If anyone has had this happen I'd appreciate hearing what you did to fix the problem. Thankyou.
What ever you drove over was NOT SMALL...are you saying the truck did NOT drive over the same object?...If the truck didn't travel over the object, then it sounds like you HIGH-CENTERED the trailer on something and then dragged it off... Like retento said...have you contacted your insurance company?
Posted 2011-04-27 7:34 AM (#133600 - in reply to #133526) Subject: RE: Trailer Floor Damaged
New User
Posts: 3
Location: englehart, on, can.
This happened last fall and I did have insurance on it but here in the great white north I dont use the trailer in the winter so took the insurance off for the winter. I didnt go into the living quarters until this spring and discovered the damage. Some how I dont think the insurance co. would come to my assistance,
Hubby speculates that the wooden block I use under the jack when I disconnect may have fallen out of the truck box as the tail gate was off at the time.
Thanks for the help, I will let you know how I make out.
Trailer Floor Damaged
Like retento said...have you contacted your insurance company?