Phipps RV: April 2013

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Cab bed repair - Part 4

It was a little bit of a challenge removing the aluminum bed frame from the cab. You can see in this picture the rubber seal on the van roof. There was a bead of putty holding the sheeting and frame to it, so we had to carefully pry it from the van roof. The bed frame is also screwed to the van roof, so all screws needed to be removed from there, as well as the ones screwed up into wood side walls. Here are some photos with the bed frame removed.

We were able to separate the fiberglass sheeting to use it on the new bed frame.

This is the aluminum bed frame.

After closer inspection, the aluminum has holes and structural problems. We now have to build a new bed frame.

The new bed frame is made from 1.5" x 1.5" boards. When we rebuild the cab walls, it will be important to remember to compensate for the thicker bed frame. Each joint is glued, air nailed, and screwed. We only used the nails to hold it together so we could get some screws into it. Also use a framing square to keep it nice and square. If you compare it to the photo of the original frame, you will see we included a lot more cross member supports.

This shows where we placed a good bead of wood glue on the entire frame.

We then attached the 1/4" plywood sheeting and attached with staples applied with an air gun. Here you can see the framing laying on the plywood after we turned it over to insert the insulation.

For the insulation we used Corning 1" thick foam board.

Friday, April 19, 2013

Cab bed repair - part 3

It's important to support the bed frame so it does not bend and create further damage. The original construction of the aluminum bed frame is that it's screwed from the bottom side up into the wood front and side wall structures. Since those are being removed here, we need to support the bed from below. We had a couple basement support posts that were left over when the house was built. They were perfect for supporting the bed frame using a 2x4 for the beam. The screw adjustment at the top of the posts allowed for precise fitting. We placed a concrete block at the base of the pole to stabilize it during setup.

Cab bed repair - part 2

It was about 6 hours work to carefully disassemble the sections. In the first photo you can see the separation on the roof trim. The trim was covered with a lot of putty, which I assume was the prior owners attempt to stop a leak.

Cab bed repair - part 1

After noticing some water damage on the front cab bed, I decided to research if anyone had posted similar repair projects. Here is a list of other projects from people that helped me prepare for my project.