Boler Frame Thickness

[Crackedegg]

Anyone know what the thickness is of a Boler Frame? I have a LE welder but only does up to 1/8".

[Ian G.]

Mine was 16 guage or 1/16" thick.

[Crackedegg]

Wow that's thin. I would have thought it would be thicker.

[Ian G.]

Yes the frame material on mine was very thin. I found that the factory welds were very poor, along with cracks and the left frame rail was bent 1.5" from the axle to the rear of the trailer.

All the above are reasons I built a new frame for mine from 1/8" thick steel of larger dimensions.

If you want to see pictures of my origal frame and the one I built here is the thread of my project http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...ler-51170.html

[Crackedegg]

Wow! Congratulations and thanks for sharing! I've been very curious seeing some scary stories about cracked frames on the highway and such. I don't think I'm going to be able to do the reno not knowing the frame is in good shape. Another step but probably a worthwhile one.

May I ask a couple of questions also? What clearance did you have to get your Boler inside your garage?
I'm thinking of bringing mine inside my newly insulated 2 car garage for the winter to work on it.(The reason we bought the house 8 years ago and its just finished!)
Also, How hard was it to take off the body?

I've just ordered a cover to keep out the wet that penetrated our Boler over the years. Just having bought it I thought I'd start by sealing it up but now I think I'm going to take it back a few steps to a frame-off reno. I think My wife won't start divorce proceedings just yet!
Thanks again! This forum is a god-send to a newbie like myself.

[Ian G.]

Originally Posted by Crackedegg

Wow! Congratulations and thanks for sharing! I've been very curious seeing some scary stories about cracked frames on the highway and such. I don't think I'm going to be able to do the reno not knowing the frame is in good shape. Another step but probably a worthwhile one.

May I ask a couple of questions also? What clearance did you have to get your Boler inside your garage?
I'm thinking of bringing mine inside my newly insulated 2 car garage for the winter to work on it.(The reason we bought the house 8 years ago and its just finished!)
Also, How hard was it to take off the body?

I've just ordered a cover to keep out the wet that penetrated our Boler over the years. Just having bought it I thought I'd start by sealing it up but now I think I'm going to take it back a few steps to a frame-off reno. I think My wife won't start divorce proceedings just yet!
Thanks again! This forum is a god-send to a newbie like myself.

This is the exact reason I built a new frame, I wanted to start with a solid foundation before starting the reno.

With the original frame I was able to back the trailer into our garage by just letting some air out of the tires but with the new frame and axle the trailer rides slightly higher so to get it into my garage now I bought some 8" wheels (tires and rims) from Princess Auto which have the 5"x4.5" bolt pattern. I would NEVER drive any distance on these tires, I just change them behind the garage and back the trailer in. With these on I have about 2" clearance to the top of the door.

The body comes off very easy, there are a couple of threads on the forum explaining how but in simple terms.

• Remove body to frame bolts and screws
• jack trailer and frame up and support the Boler body using jack stands and larger wooden blocks to distribute the weight
• Lower the frame to the ground (it may take some persuasion to separate the frame from body, wiggling, etc)
• I then slid 4"x4" timbers under body with some blocking on top to support the body and allow the frame to be slid out from underneath

The following link contains some additional pictures of the frame build and my renovation: Boler Rebuild

Hope this helps with your project

[Crackedegg]

Thanks so much. I am going to take the body off now for sure. I think I'll strip if first to lighten the trailer and then see if I can fit it in my garage. Princess Auto is a great resource.
Your pics are great. Nice job.
Have you heard of anyone that had supported the roof with an arch connected to a support on both sides of the trailer?

[Ian G.]

Originally Posted by Crackedegg

Have you heard of anyone that had supported the roof with an arch connected to a support on both sides of the trailer?

Take a close look at the pictures of my Boler, that is exactly what I did!!!
One arched support mid-cabin on both sides and the two additional supports (one on each side of the door). The supports are epoxied directly to the fiberglass shell.