Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2017 18:23:57 GMT 10
Hi All,
This is my first post here, however I have read many threads as research for my first van purchase - a 14ft Grand Tourer. This does have the solid chassis and leaf springs, not the aerolite chassis.
The plan was to basically gut it and make room for a queen bed at the back and a portacot at the front, as we're upgrading from a camper trailer in preparation for our first baby. In the process of doing this I've noticed that the rails that hold the walls of the van up outside of the chassis rails (outriggers?) are approx 10mm lower than the actual chassis. The rivets holding the floor ply to these outside rails had all broken and the C section that connects the outside rails to the chassis visibly run downhill. All of this is most noticeable in the middle of the van of course, at each end of the van the floor joists and main chassis are joined by a continuous C section running across the van. With a piece of the floor now out I can run a straight edge over it and see it is obviously lower at the walls. I'm guessing this could be due to the rooftop air con running extra weight down the walls but not extra support to bring that load back to the main chassis. Its worst on the solid wall side, as the door side has an extra support to hold the step in place which also helps support the wall/roof/air con.
I'm curious as to whether others have noticed this in their vans? Is there any camber built into the floor of these or are they supposed to be dead flat from outside to outside? My expectation is that I'll have to cut the C sections linking the outside Z section back to the chassis, relevel and reweld, however I thought I'd better ask the gurus on here in case I was wasting my time. I fabricobbled something together this arvo to more or less level one side up and it put a thin 10mm or so long vertical split in the bottom wall sheet, so theres not much give in the walls to allow it to pull back up into place if indeed it is supposed to be level with the main chassis.
My build is at a bit of a stand still because of this unfortunately. On the plus side, the main chassis rails and joists seem as good with the floor off as they did from underneath, and it towed pretty well. I've also learned that staples must be cheap, because I lost count at about 6 million of the little suckers!
Thanks in advance,
Shaun
This is my first post here, however I have read many threads as research for my first van purchase - a 14ft Grand Tourer. This does have the solid chassis and leaf springs, not the aerolite chassis.
The plan was to basically gut it and make room for a queen bed at the back and a portacot at the front, as we're upgrading from a camper trailer in preparation for our first baby. In the process of doing this I've noticed that the rails that hold the walls of the van up outside of the chassis rails (outriggers?) are approx 10mm lower than the actual chassis. The rivets holding the floor ply to these outside rails had all broken and the C section that connects the outside rails to the chassis visibly run downhill. All of this is most noticeable in the middle of the van of course, at each end of the van the floor joists and main chassis are joined by a continuous C section running across the van. With a piece of the floor now out I can run a straight edge over it and see it is obviously lower at the walls. I'm guessing this could be due to the rooftop air con running extra weight down the walls but not extra support to bring that load back to the main chassis. Its worst on the solid wall side, as the door side has an extra support to hold the step in place which also helps support the wall/roof/air con.
I'm curious as to whether others have noticed this in their vans? Is there any camber built into the floor of these or are they supposed to be dead flat from outside to outside? My expectation is that I'll have to cut the C sections linking the outside Z section back to the chassis, relevel and reweld, however I thought I'd better ask the gurus on here in case I was wasting my time. I fabricobbled something together this arvo to more or less level one side up and it put a thin 10mm or so long vertical split in the bottom wall sheet, so theres not much give in the walls to allow it to pull back up into place if indeed it is supposed to be level with the main chassis.
My build is at a bit of a stand still because of this unfortunately. On the plus side, the main chassis rails and joists seem as good with the floor off as they did from underneath, and it towed pretty well. I've also learned that staples must be cheap, because I lost count at about 6 million of the little suckers!
Thanks in advance,
Shaun
