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Finishing Sub Floor Removal, Underbelly cleanup and Frame Grinding

January 15th, 2017 by Chris Taulborg (SoSimple Support)

Today started off a bit cold and icy:

But we were undeterred. Before I could remove the rest of the subfloor, I had to remove the two battery covers near the front of the trailer. The required removal from the outside:

There was about 4 inches of caulking/sealant surrounding these covers so it took a bit of effort, but they did eventually slide out.

Next, I removed the last third of flooring, which proved to be the toughest - the middle section was in pretty decent shape and as a result it took a bit of cursing and effort to get fully removed.

We start working on cleaning out what was left of the pink fiberglass insulation and sweeping/scooping/shop vacuuming out the dirt and debris that had accumulated in the last 30 years in the belly pan, and in the light of day were finally able to get a good look at what we were dealing with regarding to the frame condition:

Lots of surface rust, but nothing super substantial. Our neighbor came and gave his blessing on the structural integrity of the frame and said we didn't have to do anything, but because we had come this far we decided to grind off what we could and then give it a coat of Rustoleum Rust Reformer:

While my lovely wife had the lucky job of running the drill and grinding away, I started in on the pleasant task of removing the leftover stripped elevator bolts that had held the subfloor down, which required removal by means of vice grips and grit. Luckily I had help:

As the day progressed we were all at it together to get over the final hurdle:

Only a bit more grinding to do:

But finally, all done and cleaned out:

Next steps:

1. Holding Tank Inspection – while everything is open I will probably replace the drain valves as they’ve always been a bit stiff/janky.
2. Wiring/Electrical - thanks for the tip Chris (Minno) on bestconverters.com, I will be calling them on Monday
3. Floor Insulation - I probably will be going with rigid foam and Reflectex
4. Subfloor - I can get 5/8 plywood locally and am assuming this will be perfect given it’s the same thickness as what was in there, but somebody please do tell me if I am incorrect in this assumption.