Dreaded bulkhead repair

Topic: Dreaded bulkhead repair (Read 2301 times) previous topic - next topic

Dreaded bulkhead repair

November 09, 2017, 08:48:09 am

Does anyone know any places that do bulkhead repairs in the south Fla, Ga, AL, or in the south west? Nac is not anywhere near where we are going. Mine needs repair but it's not an emergency.

Re: Dreaded bulkhead repair

Reply #1 – November 09, 2017, 09:24:19 am

...Bruce, not sure if Paul does 'em, but just sent you a PM (per your request) with his number....might have another idea if he can't...just found that other place, very highly recommended by FT friends who have been going there for awhile, when they couldn't get into Paul's... Truck Fleet Maintenance | Clearwater, FL

Re: Dreaded bulkhead repair

Reply #2 – November 09, 2017, 10:05:17 am

This would not be something most "mechanical shops" would tackle.

Really a job for a welder with specific experience with the basement structure of Foretravels.

Re: Dreaded bulkhead repair

Reply #3 – November 09, 2017, 10:14:50 am

I agreed Brett, it's a welding job, they also need to deal with tanks and such as well as the materials needed to close up the job. I would imagine I'll end up in Nac getting this done in the spring or fall.

Re: Dreaded bulkhead repair

Reply #4 – November 09, 2017, 10:26:10 am

MOT uses a welder named Brandon at Thomas Welding. I had the rear bulkhead done there this year and it was very well done.
Jim

2002U320

Re: Dreaded bulkhead repair

Reply #5 – November 09, 2017, 10:34:39 am

Quote from: bbeane – November 09, 2017, 08:48:09 am

Does anyone know any places that do bulkhead repairs in the south Fla, Ga, AL, or in the south west? Nac is not anywhere near where we are going. Mine needs repair but it's not an emergency.

How bad is it Bruce?

Re: Dreaded bulkhead repair

Reply #6 – November 09, 2017, 11:42:32 am

I know the sewer side is shot, it's all been wet more than once. I have drilled and bolted the rear bulkhead several years ago its fairly solid, I pull the plugs and looked at it yesterday it's rustey. Once it's wet unless you drop the bottom it stays wet .

Re: Dreaded bulkhead repair

Reply #7 – November 09, 2017, 01:48:20 pm

Get a jug of ospho and put it in a small pump sprayer rig a small hose to the spray wand and feed it into the box tube and spray away. The ospho will at least neutralize whats in there if it can get to it. Still have to fix it but it might buy you some time.

Re: Dreaded bulkhead repair

Reply #8 – November 09, 2017, 04:21:33 pm

Quote from: stump – November 09, 2017, 01:48:20 pm

Get a jug of ospho and put it in a small pump sprayer rig a small hose to the spray wand and feed it into the box tube and spray away. The ospho will at least neutralize whats in there if it can get to it. Still have to fix it but it might buy you some time.

You may be able to treat the INSIDE of the box beam, but it is the outside, exposed to WET insulation where the rust forms most quickly. No easy "treatment".

As Bruce said, once the insulation is wet-- it stays wet and in direct contact with untreated thin-wall box beam steel.

Re: Dreaded bulkhead repair

Reply #9 – November 09, 2017, 07:00:16 pm

We measured, used a magnet and found end of side to side beams. We drilled a round hold up through fiberglass, forward of beams. Ace hardware had plugs to fit our round hole. We then found a garage with a pneumatic drill to cut bolt holes from back of bulkhead beam to our hole in fiberglass bottom. We put bolts in and tighten things up. This is the main repair to hold a bulkhead together, and prevent a more serious separation. If a garage has not worked on previous Foretravel bulkhead repairs, they will not know what is going on and what to do to fix it. The coach owner will have to manage project. Many previous posting with photos to guide you are available.

Re: Dreaded bulkhead repair

Reply #10 – November 09, 2017, 07:16:30 pm

Barry,

That fix is just fine, IF (ya, big IF) the box beams are not compromised.

Real world-- what you will find is that if there is separation between the angle and FG, the beam is usually compromised.

Re: Dreaded bulkhead repair

Reply #11 – November 09, 2017, 07:29:55 pm

Ditto Mr Wolfe.

I seen a number of these and so I may thus be overly cautious, what looks simple and limited in most cases was not minor

Re: Dreaded bulkhead repair

Reply #12 – November 09, 2017, 07:44:18 pm

My bulkhead joint is through bolted not separated and looks good But I know there issues on the wet bay side as water has intruded in due to leaks some time ago. That and some other issues are indications of problems.

Re: Dreaded bulkhead repair

Reply #13 – November 09, 2017, 08:18:49 pm

The brite side of it is, even if you had to have the whole basement floor frame rebuilt front to back. The total cost still comes in way less than replacing the coach with something else that has no comparison to a Foretravel.

Re: Dreaded bulkhead repair

Reply #14 – November 09, 2017, 08:54:25 pm

Quote from: stump – November 09, 2017, 08:18:49 pm

The total cost still comes in way less than replacing the coach with something else that has no comparison to a Foretravel.

We had a couple that came into the campground where we were at this summer that had a "newer coach." We were talking to them about one thing and another. Come to find out there previous coach had been totaled due to the basement floor rusting out. They weren't happy with the 2014 that they had got to replace it with. He was impressed with the fact that the basement/bulkhead area is a bolt together part and the basement floor can be unbolted and replaced in a FT. Yes it does cost $ but you can get it fixed.

Pamela & Mike

Re: Dreaded bulkhead repair

Reply #15 – November 09, 2017, 09:41:45 pm

Quote from: bbeane – November 09, 2017, 11:42:32 am

I know the sewer side is shot, it's all been wet more than once. I have drilled and bolted the rear bulkhead several years ago its fairly solid, I pull the plugs and looked at it yesterday it's rustey. Once it's wet unless you drop the bottom it stays wet .

It's a Catch 22 in that keeping the water out keeps the water in.
Sorry to hear. Don't forget to file an insurance claim ALA Jerry Rubin.

Re: Dreaded bulkhead repair

Reply #16 – November 09, 2017, 09:50:18 pm

My insurance did not cover as it was not a sudden incident but was related to long term maintenance

Re: Dreaded bulkhead repair

Reply #17 – November 10, 2017, 01:16:19 am

Um, why not replace the oem thin wall rectangular tubing with something more durable or substantial, seems to me there are many intelligent people here, not to find a great solution, instead of A another reoccurring bandge

Re: Dreaded bulkhead repair

Reply #18 – November 10, 2017, 07:29:21 am

Quote from: Old phart phred – November 10, 2017, 01:16:19 am

Um, why not replace the oem thin wall rectangular tubing with something more durable or substantial, seems to me there are many intelligent people here, not to find a great solution, instead of A another reoccurring bandge

Several HAVE upgraded to thicker wall box beams.

But, the real formula for continued long life is not thicker walls (though not a bad idea at the rear bulkhead) but KEEPING IT DRY.

Re: Dreaded bulkhead repair

Reply #19 – November 10, 2017, 07:40:53 am

Brett, just a thought. (or 2)
Has anyone tried using a heavier wall box beam, putting another, slightly smaller, solid bar inside, then, with a pipe plug hole near each end, pump the remaining cavity full with grease? Drill & tap for the bolts (twice as many as came with the coach), install the bolts and then pipe plugs in the fill holes. Obviously the outside box beam holes would be clearance and the inside solid bar would be the "nut bar". Location and grease making it highly unlikely to rust.
Might be overkill but would hold things together "pretty well".

Re: Dreaded bulkhead repair

Reply #20 – November 10, 2017, 07:56:34 am

Norm,

That would help some, but the majority of the rust is on the OUTSIDE of the box beams. The insulation becomes soaked and thebeams rusts from the outside in.

Re: Dreaded bulkhead repair

Reply #21 – November 10, 2017, 08:08:58 am

I think a repair like that would be a labor of love kind of thing. I mean I'm 57 and to do that much to my basement on a 27 year old coach. I don't think it would be worth the effort. When I could repair with box tube or whatever, and now knowing that water entry is the culprit it would never do it again in my lifetime. Education and prevention is the key to it. I think a lot of coaches taht have rust issues had previous owners that did not know about water intrusion and maybe had faulty water connections etc at times. But Foretravel should have Built that area so water had a way to escape and for the area to dry out. I think the design engineers did not think of enough What If's when they designed certain areas of the frame,like the wet bay areas for instance. But then again They probably figured these would be in the RV Junk Yard now and everyone would be ordering a new one. It says something o have a 20 year old coach still running the roads in my opinion,You don't see that many other than old gassers.

Re: Dreaded bulkhead repair

Reply #22 – November 10, 2017, 08:20:22 am

The original design is plenty strong enough, with the exception of the Rolok fasteners. The issue is keeping the water out. At some point all of these coaches have had water in the basement due to
Leaks, bay door left open in the rain who knows.

Re: Dreaded bulkhead repair

Reply #23 – November 10, 2017, 08:40:04 am

IMO the only way to definitively determine the extent of corrosion is to uncover the section(s) and perform a visual inspection.

The effective inspection can vary based on the experience of the person performing the inspection and the experience of the person/shop performing the repair based on the extent of the corrosion in direct relation to the materials used. This issue must be considered by every FT owner from time to time and the frequency of future inspection(s) must be considered to control this issue.

If I recall the wall thickness of the square Electric Resistance Welded tubing that was removed from our coach was .059"+/- - 16 gauge - and replaced with .119"+/- - 11 gauge - 1/8". I would presume that the steel used to produce the tubing was of the SAE 1010 type - hot rolled commercial quality.

The extent of our problem could not have been seen without removing a section of the pan/covering for a complete visual inspection.

It is the responsibility of each owner to determine the extent of their "inspection" and determine what the repair should entail. All corrosion is not created equal. All of our Rollocks appeared to be well seated.

Our coach was born in 2001 and the repair was completed in 2017. Having the assembly replaced/repaired in 2017 should see it live to around 2033. I hope that I am still able to enjoy our Ol Girl Too when this repair again becomes necessary. Our repair was somewhat less than the cost of replacing one set of tires.

I can not say that we were pleased to experience this issue but feel confident that the repair was effective.

coulda, shoulda, woulda.

Re: Dreaded bulkhead repair

Reply #24 – November 10, 2017, 09:10:39 am

Those that have had repairs done did the pull the tanks or just support them?

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