I am hoping that those of you with experience repairing bulkhead issues can help clarify what I need to do. If I am understanding the information I have read here on the forum, the most serious issues involve separation between the angle iron and the box tubing at the front and back, which are attached using Rolok bolts installed horizontally. When I inspected the bulkhead on my 2004 U270, I did not see separation between the angle and the box beam, and while I do not currently have access to a torque wrench, I was not able to budge any of the bolts (I unspectacular I applied more than 250 inch pounds).
What I did see was extensive rust on the bottom of the box beam where the fiberglass underbelly overlaps it. A layer of rubber undercoating had been applied previously, but in places it had separated. I scraped a substantial amount of rust from between the beam and the fiberglass. My question is what I need to do to fix the,problem. If the Roloks are OK (I will get a torque wrench to test them),do I just need to address the rust? If so, how do I get access to it? Can the fiberglass panel be removed? Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.
Dave Bennett
2004 U270
Sounds like a previous patch job.
Yes, the fiberglass "underbelly" needs to be dropped to see the extent of the damage.
You can get a pretty good idea by the amount/distance forward of the bulkhead with RUST JACKING. If rust jacking, the box beam grid will be more "proud" of the surface, pushing down on the fiberglass. Compare middle of the coach (front to back) which is less likely to suffer rusting with the box beam structure closer to the bulkhead in question.
Dave,where are you located?
I am in central Texas.
How difficult is it to remove the fiberglass underbelly panel? I searched the forum but was not able to find any discussion of removing it. There appears to be a large number of bolts and screws, but I am wondering if there are any tricks or problems that are not obvious.
If you get through Nacogdoches, they can inspect it easily at MOT, the have seen a lot of them and many (including mi e) were repaired there.
Mine damage was "average" involved the rear bulkhead and first sections of the basement structure forward that were replaced. A little less than $3,000 18 months ago.
Jeff,
Sometimes posting a combo reply/question in a 6 month old thread will not get a response cuz the other member never checks back.
Try sending Dave a PM (link to his personal profile page below). Better chance of them seeing it.
https://www.foreforums.com/index.php?action=profile;u=6589
Jeff, sent you a PM