I have not had the opportunity to work on the trailer in over a month now. Temperatures reached the 70s today, so this late January gift was not wasted. The aft belly skin is removed this afternoon.
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Started by removing the access and closeout panels. The 'access panel' in the pics below is a skin repair to patch damage from a blown tire.
The rear axle wheels must be removed to drill out skin fasteners at the aft wheel well.
The LP gas line to the water heater enters the trailer at this panel/cutout.
Fasteners must be drilled along the three cross members supporting the skin.
Removed the trim and closeouts from the dump valve recess.
Aft frame closeouts removed....
All that remains are a couple of blind fasteners at the aft section of the wheel wells.
At this point, the only thing holding the skin to the frame is the "C" channel. The skin is wrapped around the outer perimeter of the "C" channel (see December 19, 2010 log entry). The skin edges are released from the "C" channel and the skin is removed.
The insulation is removed to expose the subfloor and frame.
Cracked shower drain pipe....
The bottom flange of this cross member is in sad shape.
Typical frame corrosion otherwise. Lots of work to be done once the frame has been stripped.
That's all for today.