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Topic: Has this happened to anyone? (Read 1262 times) previous topic - next topic

Has this happened to anyone?

We left NAC and traveled north to I20. We stopped at a rest area just east of Monroe to walk the pup. As I walked back to the coach I noticed that the front looked a bit weird. When I opened the bay door I panicked. Drove slowly to the next exit and had a welder weld 2" angle iron to hold up the front end of the fuel compartment floor. My question is what about the other end? How do I get a look at it and is it necessary. We drove from LA to ME without any further issues with the compartment but not knowing how these coaches are constructed makes me a bit nervous not knowing what the other end looks like. The collapsed end was rusted out and the bolts holding the thing together and snapped. Ideas anyone? I have attached some before and after photos.

Re: Has this happened to anyone?

Reply #1 –
Roland,

Image #3 is very concerning.  Difficult for me to get a perspective on it, though.

Please take more photos of that area of the front bulkhead-- it is possible that it has failed and that the welding was a fix for the evidence of the failure, not a real structural correction.

Bulkhead Repair-- A Comprehensive Look

Brett

Re: Has this happened to anyone?

Reply #2 –
It is not hard to pull that diesel tank out. I did it by myself. The tank itself is fairly light once emptied.

Re: Has this happened to anyone?

Reply #3 –
Holy Moly - that would scare the %$^p out of me too!  Glad you were able to get a quick fix on it anyway. Whew.

Re: Has this happened to anyone?

Reply #4 –
Brett

I will take more photos of that area and post them. Not sure what you are looking for. Photo three was taken before they welded the 2" angle iron. The angle iron was welded to the frame after they jacked the tank back into position. Right now I am relying on the angle iron to support the thing. There were bolts in there that were sheared off, and the metal was quite deteriorated, rusted out actually. I am wondering what is going on at the other end and if there is any way to get a look at it. I am at a cummins dealer right now trying to get the business end of this coach straightened out. Seems there were some previous owners who THOUGHT they new everything about cummins engines, Looks like they may have messed up the head. Exhaust manifold is leaking have yet to see if the head is messed up. There is evidence that SOMEONE had the exhaust manifold off and pieced it back together.

Re: Has this happened to anyone?

Reply #5 –
Quote from: Roland –
Not sure what you are looking for. Photo three was taken before they welded the 2" angle iron. The angle iron was welded to the frame after they jacked the tank back into position. Right now I am relying on the angle iron to support the thing. There were bolts in there that were sheared off, and the metal was quite deteriorated, rusted out actually.
He is concerned about the condition of your bulkhead.  Bulkhead Repair-- A Comprehensive Look

Re: Has this happened to anyone?

Reply #6 –
Sorry to see that kind of damage.  From what I see you have had the bulkhead failure that Brett has warned us can happen.  I had looked at my bulkheads, and knew I was missing some bolts, and had Wayne at FOT look and advise me.  He suggested rear bulkhead service, estimated repair time 8-10 hours labor plus parts.  For about 8 hours and parts, the job was as estimated.

Wayne supported the bay floors with two long loose bolts, removed the old bolts, or cut them, opened up the joints, cleaned, and de-rusted the joints, and then reassembled the joint.  He drilled and installed 16 Hucks bolts, new weather strip, and undercoating.  I had looked at doing it myself, and had some of the parts rounded up.  I had read about how easy it was to do, talked to Don Hay about the fun of doing his.  He suggested he would let FOT do his next time for the bid I had received.

I would suggest you might want to head back to Nacogdoches for a more complete repair.  You coach is too nice to not get repaired correctly.  But wait, I just read that you are in Maine, not in TX, or at your SKP place on the map in NM.

Either you need to follow Brett's suggested repair, or get it done, and check the rear bulkhead as well.  Wayne started early AM, handed back the coach about 3, and then needed a couple of hours the next AM for pulling the outer rear wheels to finish the job installing the last Hucks bolts.

Re: Has this happened to anyone?

Reply #7 –
Interesting... so they used huck bolts instead of the Roloks on your repair?
Don
Quote from: Dave and Dolly Cobb –
Sorry to see that kind of damage.  From what I see you have had the bulkhead failure that Brett has warned us can happen.  I had looked at my bulkheads, and knew I was missing some bolts, and had Wayne at FOT look and advise me.  He suggested rear bulkhead service, estimated repair time 8-10 hours labor plus parts.  For about 8 hours and parts, the job was as estimated.

Wayne supported the bay floors with two long loose bolts, removed the old bolts, or cut them, opened up the joints, cleaned, and de-rusted the joints, and then reassembled the joint.  He drilled and installed 16 Hucks bolts, new weather strip, and undercoating.  I had looked at doing it myself, and had some of the parts rounded up.  I had read about how easy it was to do, talked to Don Hay about the fun of doing his.  He suggested he would let FOT do his next time for the bid I had received.

I would suggest you might want to head back to Nacogdoches for a more complete repair.  You coach is too nice to not get repaired correctly.  But wait, I just read that you are in Maine, not in TX, or at your SKP place on the map in NM.

Either you need to follow Brett's suggested repair, or get it done, and check the rear bulkhead as well.  Wayne started early AM, handed back the coach about 3, and then needed a couple of hours the next AM for pulling the outer rear wheels to finish the job installing the last Hucks bolts.

Re: Has this happened to anyone?

Reply #8 –
Yes, as they have the 60,000# puller tool.  Wayne showed me the hucks bolt, that looked like a pop rivet.  He explained how he would do the repair, and that he had schedule to borrow the puller from Production.  He drove the coach up on a 4 piece stack of 2x10's, to jack up the rear to work on the coach without floor jacks.  He did all the drilling and then the pulling he could with the duals in place.  The next time he drove the coach up on the inner duals only to remove the outer duals to finish the pulling part of the job.

I had sourced another brand of bolts from Fastenal, and had them and the bits, was looking for the plugs.  I had not thought to use a couple of long bolts to keep the floor up and aligned while cleaning and sealing the open joints.  Wayne used the long bolts to draw the parts back together, and used two plugs in the bay floor.  Would have figured that out seeing the bay floor sagging I would have hoped.  Hated to spend the money, but so glad it is done.

Re: Has this happened to anyone?

Reply #9 –
Quote from: Dave and Dolly Cobb –
Yes, as they have the 60,000# puller tool.  Wayne showed me the hucks bolt, that looked like a pop rivet.  He explained how he would do the repair, and that he had schedule to borrow the puller from Production.  He drove the coach up on a 4 piece stack of 2x10's, to jack up the rear to work on the coach without floor jacks.  He did all the drilling and then the pulling he could with the duals in place.  The next time he drove the coach up on the inner duals only to remove the outer duals to finish the pulling part of the job.

I had sourced another brand of bolts from Fastenal, and had them and the bits, was looking for the plugs.  I had not thought to use a couple of long bolts to keep the floor up and aligned while cleaning and sealing the open joints.  Wayne used the long bolts to draw the parts back together, and used two plugs in the bay floor.  Would have figured that out seeing the bay floor sagging I would have hoped.  Hated to spend the money, but so glad it is done.

Interesting as I was on the original visiting salesmen tour to see how they made the unihome.  Don shipe and charlie Meyers and roger Tischendorf and I  were in the chassis area and James showed me the rotolok bolt they were using.  I remember being skeptical about the self treading bolt going through the thin wall tubing and that  was the entire retention of the bulkhead.

This was oct 1987.  The huckbolt is interesting as I used to work for Douglas aircraft prior to foretravel and any permanent large attachment was a huckbolt.  I remember safety screens setup around an area when one had to be drilled out as the part flew out very hard.

Pull the bolt hard then crimp the retainer. 

Did they have to reinforce the area on the other side of the tubing for the huckbolt installation?

Like a doubler plate?

Bob

Re: Has this happened to anyone?

Reply #10 –
They did not reinforce the thin wall tubing, as that would have meant drilling up thru the fiberglass bottom of the bays into the foam like Brett's info shows.  I only have two plugs where Wayne did the bottom up drilling into the foam.

No question that the repair as shown by Brett, is better with the backing plates and the bolts.  Wayne seemed to think that the repair might last way longer than the original Rolox on my 1993.  Way past my ownership, or the next couple of owners hopefully.