Going belly-pan free

[Nelsonpharmd]

About ready to take the plunge and purchase a 1988 30P that is about 8 hours away from me (I know...risky). We currently have a 1971 airstream and I remember one of the first things we did when we purchased that trailer was completely remove the belly pan. Talk about eye opening - the amount of dust, dirt, and who knows whatever else that had accumulated over the course of 40+ years was mind-numbing. Needless to say, I ended up not reinstalling it after I did some major frame/subfloor repair and I can honestly say that I don't think I ever suffered any ill-effects from it. I know many say that it keeps your belly gear more protected and makes the carriage more aerodynamic, but I don't think I ever really noticed a difference,

Now that we're buying the avion, I'm wondering has anyone removed their belly pan and kept if off? More importantly, have you regretted it? I always liked the fact that I could peek under the airstream and take a quick look at all the system and I figured the same would go for the Avion. We never camp in sub-freezing temperatures, so temperatures aren't really a concern.

Any thoughts?

[Rostam]

One problem I see is a rock hitting your water tanks and cracking them -- belly pan protects against that. Also, if you are going up/down a very steep road (say, a steep driveway), scrapping the belly pan is ok (as soon as you hear the sound, you stop). But damaging the tanks, etc is going to be more serious. Finally, driving in rain/snow and your frame/subfloor is exposed with no bely pan and you will have frame rust/floor rot. I think you'd be better off keeping the belly pan. If you can modify it (say add sliding doors) so you can access the tanks, etc easily, it'd be the best of both worlds. But IMO having a belly pan is mandatory.

[Nelsonpharmd]

That was my initial thought too. I know on the Airstream side there's a large debate about keeping the bellypan on versus removing it. Luckily for us, we never drive in the snow (we stick to the SE). I was just curious if anyone had done it on a more permanent basis and what their experience had been. Thanks for the input!

[Rostam]

You bet!

[silverloaf]

There are a number of good reasons to retain the belly pan. At the same time, there are several improvements that can be made to improve its function.

[Overdrive]

What I would do is use separate panels secured with Riv-nuts instead of rivets. But I would keep the belly pan.
It keeps the water mud snow from rain or inclement weather off the bottom, make it so the wind doesn’t pull on everything under there and imo just no reason not to have it. Not to mention you’ll have a ell of a tie keeping the floor warm or getting decent heat in cold weather through the ducting, and moisture/condensation will collect when it’s stored and start corroding stuff.

[silverloaf]

Not to mention keeping insects, mice or snakes from setting up residence.

[farvernugen]

Not to mention keeping insects, mice or snakes from setting up residence.

100% on this one! We have not seen a mouse in ours since the trailer has been in the driveway for renovations. Yet when our motorhome is parked in the same spot we do have to evict..... So I would say this is an important critter ridder! Cheers, Scott

[Overdrive]

Not to mention keeping insects, mice or snakes from setting up residence.

Yes absolutely. I didn’t mention it as I assumed everyone who has a trailer dealt with those freeloading guests