Need Help with Burro !!!!

[Jane D.]

I am in the process of replacing the floor in my Burro and need help with a part of it. I would really appreciate it if someone could post a picture of how far out the floor needs to come in the area where it meets the door. A straight down shot looking at the end and one from the side, that shows where it comes to in relation to the bottom of the shell door curve, would be super.

I have no reference from the old floor due to the fact that it had basically fallen out and the door is removed. It wouldn't have been much help as it was moving around a lot due to bad hinges and no solid attaching surface. Body is also strapped to prevent movement, so the door had to come off either way.

ANY help very much appreciated.

Thanks,
Jane D. '82 Burro

[jen b]

Jane, I can try to take a pic of mine tomorrow but not sure that will help you since we've shaved it a good bit to make a better fit with the door. The place where the bottom of my door met the floor was pretty sketchy when I bought the camper, requiring some remodeling. You might find the same with other Burros that have been through any renovations.

[Jane D.]

Jen,

I'm sure any view would help me at this point. As seems true of other Burros that I have read of, mine has it's irregularities and I expect that it will require some "custom" trimming.

Also, I have read your thread as to your Burro remodel. Great work and very inspiring. Especially like the removal of the outer shell joint. That new smooth surface looks really good.

Jane D.

[Donna D.]

Jane, do any of the picures here help? http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...ent-42556.html

or any of these: http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...oor-39003.html

or this thread: http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...ent-39814.html

[Jane D.]

Donna, thanks for the links. There are some there that I had not seen. One of them may be of some help. Hopefully Jen can post one that is close up so I can tell for sure about how far I need to take the floor.

Thanks again,

J D.

[jen b]

Jane, here's one photo. I took a couple others and when I was transferring them from the phone to the laptop I had a brain fart, forgot why they existed, and deleted them. D'OH. Will try again tomorrow!

Anyway, the current status of my floor is that it does not extend quite far enough to meet the bottom of the door. Once we get the door gasket back on we'll size it all up and add an oak cap to the edge that will be fiberglassed on for waterproofness and will do a better job closing gaps that currently invite rainy day road spray inside the trailer.

[Creek Conley]

So, this may be a stupid question, but did you take off the entire shell to replace the floor? Explain how you are doing this please. (: My 83' needs replaced soon as well.
Thanks!

[jen b]

Creek, if you're asking me....nope, because of the way the original floor is sandwiched between the inner and outer shells, it's kind of an enormous proposition to completely replace a floor in a Burro. What I did (which is to say, what the RV repair shop did) was add a new floor under everything that was already there. They did lift the whole thing off the frame to make that happen. The new floor is treated plywood coated with spray-on bedliner, and it's all attached with stainless steel bolts running from inside the trailer through the frame.

Yes, it added weight, but the expense and time for doing a total replacement sounded like crazy-talk to me. I just wanted to start using my trailer.

[Jane D.]

Creek ConleySo, this may be a stupid question, but did you take off the entire shell to replace the floor? Explain how you are doing this please. (: My 83' needs replaced soon as well.
Thanks!

Creek Conley --- Yes I'm doing a shell off floor replacement and complete rehab. Not a quick process but I tore out a patch job done by previous owner and all it did was cover up the rot and other problems. Luckily I have another trailer that I can use during all this.

See the following thread for lots of good info on the process as well as the links that Donna D. listed in her post.

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...ted-43697.html

[Andy B]

Originally Posted by Creek Conley

So, this may be a stupid question, but did you take off the entire shell to replace the floor? Explain how you are doing this please. (: My 83' needs replaced soon as well.
Thanks!

Before I replaced the Burro floor I thought about alternatives, but decided the alternatives had drawbacks that I was not comfortable with. When I took the floor apart, I realized that the plywood was much more rotted than I had thought it was. Other Burro owners have found the same thing when ripping out the floor, do not be surprised if the plywood is much worse than you expected. After I saw how rotted it really was, I consider myself fortunate that the body did not come loose from the frame when I towed it 50 miles home.

One alternative to replacing the floor is to place or glue plywood over the floor inside the Burro. This is the easiest thing to do, and it eliminates the spongy feel when walking, but does not help the integrity of the trailer or eliminate the musty smell from the rotted floor.

Another alternative is to lift the body and put plywood between the frame and body and bolt the body back on. This is much more work than the first alternative and about half the work of actually replacing the floor. This method will improve the spongy feel when walking, but does not help the integrity of the trailer very much or eliminate the musty smell from the rotted floor. If the trailer is not moving, this method will provide good support, however when towing, there are other forces on the Burro body than just gravity. There are wind forces pushing on the front and sides, forces from cornering, braking and driving over bumps. Some of these forces will try and lift or roll the body off the frame with only the screw or bolt heads through the floppy fiberglass to hold it to the frame. It would be possible to combine both methods and put plywood both above and below the old floor, although that would add weight and still not eliminate the musty smell.

The Burro body is not bolted or screwed to the frame. The floor is screwed to the frame and the floor is attached with fiberglass to the walls (body). There is about 8 or 10 inches between the frame and the walls around most of the perimeter of the Burro. The floor is what supports the body for these 8 to 10 inches. When the plywood in the floor rots and gets crumbly the only thing left of the floor is the fiberglass on the top and bottom of the plywood. Without the plywood core, the remaining fiberglass does not have much rigidity and is floppy. With no plywood for strength, if there is a lifting load, it seems like the screw heads could pull right through the bottom layer of fiberglass, they are already under the top fiberglass layer. I feel that even though replacing the floor was more work than the alternatives, it was worth it.

You can see how I removed the Burro body and the floor replacement here... http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...ted-43697.html

[Creek Conley]

Thanks, Andy! I have read your entire writings a few times and I have decided to replace the floor as you did... I have one question? How did you lift the shell off the frame? I've been thinking a need a few friends to pick it up... Oh, and how did you put the new floor in the shell before it was placed on the frame? Thanks for your help, Andy.
Creek

[Andy B]

Originally Posted by Creek Conley

Thanks, Andy! I have read your entire writings a few times and I have decided to replace the floor as you did... I have one question? How did you lift the shell off the frame? I've been thinking a need a few friends to pick it up... Oh, and how did you put the new floor in the shell before it was placed on the frame? Thanks for your help, Andy.
Creek

Creek, I lifted it by myself and used 1 car jack and blocking to lift it. There are pictures and a description in post 33 here. http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...d-43697-3.html
If you wanted to lift it, you would need 4 to 6 people. A jack and blocking would be much slower but also much more controllable.
There are descriptions and pictures of installing the floor in the same thread.

[Creek Conley]

Thank you for your help, Andy. Much appreciated!