maybe add some heavy duty pressure treated lumber?

[gitpicker2009]

I recently had to remove the bottom of my AF1150 in order to find a small water leak. In doing so, I was surprised at how little there actually is between the outside and inside. Basically there's an 1/8 sheet of black painted wood, similar to a good grade of wall panel, painted black (maybe some sort of water proof paint?) and that's it. the next thing is standard insulation sort of stuffed between wooden slats. I was really surprised. The weight of the coach therefore seems to be supported by the aluminum frame, which I've notice has some minor deformity where it reaches the edge of the truck bed.
When I reassembled the TC, I replaced the wood with the same and painted it with the best waterproofing paint I could find. But still I was thinking that when it rains, this this is basically sitting in the water until the bed drains.
I'm still not happy and was thinking that maybe I would just add some pretty thick pressure treated plywood under the entire coach. That would keep the TC slightly out of water and would distribute the weight so as to not put the load at the edge of the truck bed. I wouldn't even bother to paint it probably.
Any opinions or advice? Has anyone ever done anything like this?
I realize it's maybe another 75 lbs of weight but I'm driving a 2008 Sterling 4500, which is a beast.

Thanks for any input.

[zcookiemonstar]

If anything you could just screw wood strips front to back to the bottom of the camper. If you leave space between each strip water can drain and air can get in to help things dry. If the strips of wood get water damage it will be easy to replace them.

[Kayteg1]

Lance actually has holes in bottom floor.
Maybe not design for drainage, but water tank drain fittings go into the floor holes and all is covered with flashing hold by couple of screws on the bottom side.
Can't say I am in favor of this design, but it works for most.
x2 on composite decking not only being heavy, but extremely slippery.
Not much structural strength in it neither.

[jimh406]

I'm not sure why you expect to have lots of water in the bed. Doesn't it have grooves? BTW, it's typical to have untreated wood in trailer floors. Better to dry out than keep water in for mold.

I'd go with simple and light and replace easily if needed. After all, it made it years with the original design.

[deltabravo]

ticki2 wrote:
The plastic decking would be better

Except for the fact that it's really heavy and would require eleventy billion screws to install it since that type of decking mimics the size of a 2x6.

[deltabravo]

Kayteg1 wrote:
Don't use PT wood on TC.

Installing it on the bottom of the truck camper is not installing it IN the truck camper.

[ajriding]

PT wood is nasty stuff, wear gloves always, and it is nasty stuff and will give cancer if you live long enough and it will off-gas so you breath the nasty.

I'm not sure "getting back in" is the goal, but fiberglas can be infinitely cut and re-epoxy'd

I missed that you need more bed rail clearance. Lots of post about using plywood to make two X's as both to lay under the camper and increase height and to give you a mobile platform to lower the camper onto for storage or extra stability at the campground. I like to have something under the floor when it is out of the truck as when I rebuilt the bottom I used foamboard, not plywood so it is less rigid already.
My Dodge has high rails so 3/4 plywood and a rubber mat give me enough height, and I always have the bases with me.

[Grit_dog]

ticki2 wrote:
The plastic decking would be better . Even pressure treated would has capillary action .

^This, if you insist on adding structure to the bottom. It's slippery stuff though

[Grit_dog]

Have fun getting back in there if you glass in the bottom of the camper. That's a horrible idea. Like screwing the door shut on your house. Why?

And a layer of PT lumber on the bottom of your camper is not going to give you cancer...more paranoia. But not sure it's needed.

But bottom line, how long has it lasted until now? Do you really think it will fall apart in the near future? And if your truck bed is pooling water ( it's not becasue it's a flatbed and if it is, drill a couple holes in the bed).
I just saved you a weekends worth of work!

[ticki2]

The plastic decking would be better . Even pressure treated would has capillary action .

[Ron_835]

Kohldad, did you attach the frame to the camper? If so how? I need to do something like you did.

[kohldad]

To gain clearance to the bed rails, I made a perimeter frame with interlocking notches out of 3/4" 1x6 treated wood. Painted the top side of the wood with a can of undercoating I had laying around to provide a little protection to the metal. In the center of the frame, I put 3/4" rigid foam board. The wood prevents crushing of the foam when I load the camper, the foam board provides support and insulation under the rest of the floor. Been using it for 5 years with the camper sitting on it for 500+ nights with no problems.

[Kayteg1]

x2 on fiberglass with resin.
I had water damage under the slide on my Lance, so 3 years ago I reinforced the beam and laminated the top floor edge with fiberglass.
Now I am parting Lance for other project and just uncover the repair part.
It is rock solid.


Click For Full-Size Image.

[ajriding]

My TC is all fiberglass, so is almost a boat, but I have worked on it making repairs using fibers and resin.
You can use plywood, just no reason for PT wood even if it were not toxic. PT last a little longer, but not significant.

Coat your entire plywood floor with resin (can get a home depot cheap) and some fiberglass fabric. Attach it to the TC then fiberglass and epoxy over the seam so water running down the side stays outside.
This will be very durable and waterproof.

The Homedepot resin is resin, not epoxy resin, so is a lot cheaper. not as strong as epoxy resin, but for what you are doing you do not need ultimate strength.
Good luck finding a respirator mask during this "outbreak" frenzy, but MAKE SURE YOU USE A PROPER MASK, the fumes will shorten your life.

I have heard people using cotton cloth or whatever they have on hand, like a fabric drop cloth. All you are doing for the surface of the wood is coating it, so fabric should be fine, or even just the resin, but for the seam you will need fiberglass cloth.

Use 2 or 3 layers depending how much strength you need.

It is amazingly strong.

So, if you have already done a repair, then just apply the resin and cloth over what you have done to make it waterproof. you can go right over the paint. Work with small batches as it will cure fast. Using a lot of harnder makes it cure quick and dry hard, less hardner will make it cure slower, giving you more time, but will not dry as hard, or may never fully cure. But for just waterproofing you will be hard pressed to mess up.

You will need to compress the fiberglass/resin composite to get air bubbles out and squeeze out as much resin as you can from the cloth. I used non-stick aluminum foil over the fibered seams and pressed. The aluminum foil peeled off easily for the most part, just a few little bits were left stuck, but under the TC who cares….

You will be working upsidedown, so nothing will be easy.

CRITICAL that temps are 70 or above. high 60's might be OK. I did work and made a tent and used a heater to help keep it warm in winter. Read the label for specific working temp

[JimK-NY]

Regardless of the amount of rain, the bed of my truck and the bottom of the camper remain totally dry. When the camper is off the truck, the bottom also remains dry except for maybe a few drops which might be blow in with a heavy wind and rain storm.

[anutami]

Check out this thread

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