Bulkhead issues in Florida

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Bulkhead issues in Florida

February 13, 2019, 04:38:17 pm

Looks like I have a bulkhead issue to address. The rear bulkhead will need some major work. Has anyone had Paul Yasbeck repair their bulkhead?

Re: Bulkhead issues in Florida

Reply #1 – February 13, 2019, 05:41:40 pm

Rather than showing up as a separation in the bulkhead, the vertical extrusion in the utility bay with the rubber sealing gasket is bowed outwards overlapping the horizontal extrusion along the lower floor. I initially thought that something must have hit it but there are no marks anywhere and nothing is dented.

Any suggestions.

Re: Bulkhead issues in Florida

Reply #2 – February 13, 2019, 06:03:48 pm

Your photo underneath is out of focus. How about a couple from under from different angles?

Pierce

Re: Bulkhead issues in Florida

Reply #3 – February 13, 2019, 07:19:08 pm

The pic where we can see your tires. Can you take another one, only a little more to the left?

Re: Bulkhead issues in Florida

Reply #4 – February 14, 2019, 06:37:43 pm

I had to pull back the bulkhead seam cover to expose the bulkhead seam. The cover was installed by MOT when they repaired it. It doesnt appear to be separated. I couldnt get a scrapper between the angle iron and the box beam. Also a shot of the nut inside on the end. There is rust in there. I thought this was a unique way the the bulkhead issue showed up so I thought I would see if anyone else had seen it before.

Talked with MOT about it. they seemed willing to stand good on their last repair but that leaves me with a 1000 journey on a dodgey bulkhead. Also talked with Paul Yasbeck(who is 75 miles away).

as far as cost goes, it all depends on how far they have to go to find good steel that they can weld the new frameing to. anywhere from 2-8 CB.
Rick

Re: Bulkhead issues in Florida

Reply #5 – February 14, 2019, 07:04:17 pm

Quote from: AncloteJoe – February 14, 2019, 06:37:43 pm

....as far as cost goes, it all depends on how far they have to go to find good steel that they can weld the new frameing to.
Rick

Rick,

THIS is the critical info. This is not complex work-- any skilled welder can do it (with your guidance). But, until the "under-skin"/bottom is peeled back all we can do is guess.

You have exactly the correct approach.

Re: Bulkhead issues in Florida

Reply #6 – February 16, 2019, 09:53:17 pm

What advice has Paul given you? I've been toying with having him do my engine fuel lines and work on the bulkhead. Mine has one bolt head popped. All others held torque and the situation hasn't changed during my ownership negatively. I did redirect the overflow through the floor of the water tank.

Re: Bulkhead issues in Florida

Reply #7 – February 17, 2019, 01:15:38 pm

Paul didnt really give any advice as such. He said he has done about 10 of these repairs, the worst being replacing almost the entire sub floor. One recommendation he did mention was the rerouting of the overflow which my coach already has. Paul says he does the entire repair himself whereas MOT subs out the welding part of it.

As far as the fuel lines, Red Tractor(Ron Reinsche) also does those. He is in the Tampa area and did a great job on mine.

Rick

Re: Bulkhead issues in Florida

Reply #8 – February 17, 2019, 03:47:08 pm

Im not an expert on this subject. Are your batteries in front of the right rear tire? All that rust right kind of tells me your battery box isn't doing its job. I had a new battery box bottom built out of aluminum. Its just a thought?

Re: Bulkhead issues in Florida

Reply #9 – February 17, 2019, 04:07:44 pm

Very likely you will need the box beams replaced from front of the wet bay aft to the rear bulkhead.

You will know very quickly once it is opened up and you see how far forward you need to go to get to good, rust-free metal.

Re: Bulkhead issues in Florida

Reply #10 – February 17, 2019, 08:33:36 pm

Quote from: MT Ted – February 17, 2019, 03:47:08 pm

Im not an expert on this subject. Are your batteries in front of the right rear tire? All that rust right kind of tells me your battery box isn't doing its job. I had a new battery box bottom built out of aluminum. Its just a thought?

Unfortunately, the problem goes a lot deeper than that. To begin with, the whole design was poor, the choice of materials with the unsuitable Roloks was bad and depending in what conditions the coach has been driven will determine the length of time before repair is needed. Overfilling the water tank, a leaking wet bay, or even driving the coach in the wet can do a lot of damage especially once road chemicals have started to work. As the coaches age, it will show up in more and more coaches on the forum.

The good news is that if repairs are necessary, it does not take a rocket scientist to make an excellent repair and if the replacement materials are upgraded and made rust resistant both on the outside as well as the inside, it will be many times better than when the coach was new. This includes getting rid of the Rolocks and using a galvanized or stainless fittings.

Damage can also occur at the front bulkhead for a couple the the same reasons. Ours had several Roloks fail right inline from where the tires throw up all the spray and chemicals. Our coach appeared to be in excellent condition underneath so I was very surprised to have so many fasteners fail when tested. Water from the road gets on top of the big angle iron and then seeps down behind it where it sits and starts the rusting process.

This is the big reason that inexpensive used coaches can occasionally be a great buy but more probably, a money pit, especially if you can't do the work yourself. A fastener inspection and test should be done before any money changes hands. Many times a quick look or long distance high resolution photos will tell the tale.

Pierce

Re: Bulkhead issues in Florida

Reply #11 – February 17, 2019, 11:33:26 pm

Rick, you wrote that MOT said they would stand by their repair. From the photos, I cannot figure what they repaired. It does not look, as I viewed the photo, to have been the extensive replacement of the square tubing, etc. with new coatings, welding, fiberglass.

Was their repair long ago and it is failing or it was not the extensive work I imagined?

Re: Bulkhead issues in Florida

Reply #12 – February 18, 2019, 08:57:32 am

Mike,

When I view at the photos, the only evidence of repair I see is some shiny bolts. It looks to me like the failed Roloks were removed and replaced with new bolts, but no welding was done. Just a guess.

Re: Bulkhead issues in Florida

Reply #13 – February 18, 2019, 09:25:33 am

From the first pictures it appears that the biggest problem is the vertical framing member that accommodates the latch for the bear claw. It looks like it has come loose at the bottom for some reason (probably rust) and needs to be reattached,

The bulkhead itself doesn't appear to be separated yet, so a trip to Coach Buck City may not be out of the question.

Re: Bulkhead issues in Florida

Reply #14 – February 18, 2019, 09:29:49 am

Looks and looks can be decieving like no new good painting was done,check out rust bullet,better then por15.

Re: Bulkhead issues in Florida

Reply #15 – February 18, 2019, 10:03:50 am

Quote

Are your batteries in front of the right rear tire?

No, batteries are forward. They are also gel so there is no leakage.

Quote

From the photos, I cannot figure what they repaired.

I had MOT redo a previous repair as a preventative measure. I was concerned because I found the fresh water pump fittings had worked their way loose and there was some water in the bay. The roloks had been replaced with bolts previously. They opened the seam and cleaned out any rust, treated all the metal with Ospho, removed any remnants of old roloks, added additional bolts and replaced the old sealing material and installed a cover across the entire seam. MOT was willing to credit back some of that work if I was near them I would be heading there in an instant but theyre 1000 miles away on a dodgey bulkhead.
I am set up with paul Yasbeck for wednesday. I'll keep you posted.

Re: Bulkhead issues in Florida

Reply #16 – February 18, 2019, 10:10:16 am

I know some of the members swear by ospho but in my opinion you still have to paint over it with a good paint designed for
metal and rust,Joe,when they repair your coach see if you can tell where they used the oshpo.

Re: Bulkhead issues in Florida

Reply #17 – February 18, 2019, 10:56:12 am

And just because the bulkhead has been "repaired", don't think for a second that it's been "remanufactured" matching the quality of Don's outstanding work. Some will last for a while while others are better than OEM.

Pierce

Re: Bulkhead issues in Florida

Reply #18 – February 18, 2019, 11:12:44 am

What repair is needed totally depends on what is found when the FG floor is pulled down.

Said another way, replace rusted box beams forward until you get to rust-free or at most surface rusted box beams.

With that level of rust-jacking/separation, any other repair should be considered more a patch than repair.

Re: Bulkhead issues in Florida

Reply #19 – February 23, 2019, 12:10:49 pm

The coach is in Leesburg, FL with Paul Yasbeck. He opened the subfloor a bit further and exposed more of the box beam. It has definitely rusted through. There are holes in the bottom of the box beam(pictures). So the box beam is actually compressing. and the bulkhead is flexing forward as the drive wheels push on it. Note that there isnt separation in the seam but if I kept driving the coach, it would show up, its just a matter of time. I guess the lesson here is dont assume the separation is the only indication of a bulkhead issue. Since all of the roloks have been replaced with stainless steel bolt and nuts, there wont be any bolt heads broken off and completely sealing of the box beam prevents you from seeing any issues developing. So if our utility bay door is sticky to open on the rear side, it may be a bulkhead issue.

After Paul pulls rolls back the subfloor, i'll get more pictures.

Rick

Re: Bulkhead issues in Florida

Reply #20 – February 23, 2019, 12:17:06 pm

Rick,

Yup, he will need to expose it forward until he finds good clean metal.

Re: Bulkhead issues in Florida

Reply #21 – February 23, 2019, 05:06:15 pm

You might have to go quite a way forward. Has he looked at the forward bulkhead yet? No matter as the steel is cheap. .125" wall will be fine. Just need to make sure the front and back are stationary so the finished distance is the same on both sides. The big angle iron will need to have all the rust ground off on the back side.

Don't let them quote welding shop prices on the rectangular tubing as it cost much less from a good iron, pipe and steel supplier. It comes in 20 foot lengths. They will sell to anyone, not just wholesale and at the same prices.

Pierce

Re: Bulkhead issues in Florida

Reply #22 – February 23, 2019, 10:03:14 pm

Hope the rust doesn't go far. Ours went forward about 24" from the rear angle iron.

Looking forward to seeing pics of the frame when he gets the skin off.

Re: Bulkhead issues in Florida

Reply #23 – February 24, 2019, 10:01:38 am

Quote

You might have to go quite a way forward.

One thing to bear in mind is that some of the metal further back may look bad but actually be in good shape and not require replacement. Just cleaning up and protection. Hope that is the case with yours.
jor

Re: Bulkhead issues in Florida

Reply #24 – February 24, 2019, 09:58:56 pm

Paul Yasbeck repaired our rear bulkhead and seemed to have done a good job of it. He replaced metal, rewelded it, put in flooring, etc. a solid job. I have had Paul do several major jobs and some basic maintenance and I have been pleased with everything he has done.

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