Installing New sub floor on 34wb

[alcoaroller]

First off, my model is a 34WB not xb lol. Sometimes I get confused. Speaking of which, I have a question that I hope someone can answer.

What is the overall width of the floor from outer skin to outer skin? I tore out all of the wood from under the wall before I measured. I would assume The outer skins may have deflected a bit after I removed the belt line. Currently after measuring I am coming up with 93.5 inches total width of floor, outside skin to outside skin. Does anyone know what the factory spec actually is ??

Thanks in advance

Ken

[pbsled]

Sounds like you are making progress. I never measured the width of the shell, except to the fit the floor as is. I did notice that nothing in the OEM construction was very precise (meaning parallel to walls). The doors, walls, cabinets are all just set in place (as-built) - so you have some leeway to eyeball things I would say. Maybe use a 7’ machinist level horizontally along the exterior shell just to identity any bows in the shell?

I did try and make a centerline down the center of my camper with a laser line when doing new floors and bathroom stuff and worked off that line, which was reassuring at least.

[alcoaroller]

Thanks Psled. I realize its not exactly a lunar module as far as tolerances go I mean 1/2" one way or the other over 93" can be cheated of course with the skin at 1/4" per side but was just curious if anyone knew what it was really supposed to be.

YEs I am making progress. I pulled the sheet metal from sub floor as it was showing some bad corrosion, galvanic mostly. Got some new stuff cut today. Was able to pull the corner metal out and use as templates for the front curves. I am using 2 x 10 material to form the curves which of course will be sandwiched by the plywood on both sides. I am hoping once everything is tied down that the 2 x 10 doesn't start trying to warp on me.

Started mock up of the front section with curves.

[silverloaf]

When you created the corner pieces for the floor, did you take into account the vertical curve to conform the exterior skin? I didn't and had a difficult time re-aligning the skin to fit the original curvature of the corner when installed.

[alcoaroller]

Thanks for the heads up Silverloaf. In the case of basement models, what you are referring to doesn't seem to be an issue. Apparently the basement models are truly vertical on the front and rear and no compound curve is needed. I have added a photo I found on the web to illustrate.

Thanks again for the input.

Alcoaroller

[alcoaroller]

Well kids I thought I would give an update on my progress. Its been a bit slow of late. I finally got around to drilling out all of the rivets and screws from underneath that have to do with the basement attachments. Finally got all that nitpicky crap done.

On a good note I now have the front curves in. You couldn't get a tick whisker between the outer shell and the floor. I even put a bit of oil on the inside of the outer skin and placed a few shims between the outer skin and the aluminum floor pan to make sure I didn't get hung up when I dropped the jack that was holding up the shell.. It went off like a moon landing.

So now that I have the new floor in the curved end I now have room to move all my tools and get busy with the rest of it. Its been difficult trying to work around everything still in the camper. Unfortuantely I dont have a big barn to offload all the stuff inside so I have to move and shuffle everything as I progress. It sux but you do what you got to do I suppose.

Putting in the insulation

Getting the top cap on

Victory...well a small one :)

[alcoaroller]

More progress. The street side half down to the kitchen cabinet is in. Just need to put top layer of plywood. down then get the curb side in . The complete curbside is still a mystery. I know I have rot to at least the door and a bit further but just not sure how much further because I havent torn in to that section yet. Too much stuff in the way of discovery at the moment.

[pbsled]

Great progress! Looks like the heating duct runs under the floor on the basement models?

[alcoaroller]

Good morning PB. Yes the ducting for heat is all in the basement and comes up through the floor. The actual vent for the den is on the streetside up in the curved area. The vent you see in the picture is an access point for the furnace which sits below. From here you can get to wiring connections and the backside of the furnace to connect the ducts. There are 3 ducts that come off the unit. in my case I have never even tried to fire these furnaces up due to their age. i was a bit affraid of carbon monoxide off these old units. Truthfully i have never had a need to use a furnace and have full timed in some pretty cold locations with my work. I have found that a Big Buddy propane heater and an electric oil filled heater as well as a small ceramic heater in the bathroom suffice in the coldest of temps. Im talking single digits occasionally. Sure there is some moisture with the Big Buddy but a little venting keeps it at bay.

When I bought the camper it had a smell of a dead critter which I was aware of. I didnt play too much attention to it since this can happen to any of them and I knew it would eventially subside or I would find the source. Well I never found the source and it did subside. I did highly suspect that a rat had gotten into the ducting though due to a strong odor I detected in that area. Since I didnt use the furnace I just stuffed the duct with a wad of paper and plastic to block the duct opening and the problem was solved.

When I got into the floor repair I had access to the ducting and sure enough found where the critter had chewed through the duct and created a hole. I assumed he was dead in the duct somewhere and and removed the duct and tossed it . When I got around to inspecting the furnace further I found this.

Glad I didnt use the furnace.

[Salty]

Nice progress on the XB.
Regarding Furnaces, on my 34V, I found the NT series furnaces to be reliable. First with an NT30 and now an NT40. Just think it would be less hassle than the three heater option you described earlier.