1980 beachcomber tm-15 wall supports

[Richardh]

hey everyone i have an issue with the walls coming apart from the supports on either side of the door. and when i push the side of the trailer to see if i can reconnect the metal support i can hear the fiberglass cracking. any idea what method i should use to get it back to where it should be

[cawilson]

The B-15 Beachcomber's have wooden supports on the side of the door that is attached to some blocking that is glasses to the fiberglass shell. You could take off the paneling to see what is happening and then either make a new support from wood or add some rivets to attach the support to the shell.
I just made new supports for my trailer,I only have one support on at the moment but the photo's will can give you an idea.

[Richardh]

that looks really good but ill see if i can upload a picture of what i have.

[Richardh]

https://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/...5&d=1560716346

[Richardh]

see on mine its metal supports but if you look at the 2 halves it looks like one wants to overlap the other. so what would you suggest for me to solve this?

[cawilson]

Your link doesn't work so I can't see the pictures unfortunately

[Richardh]

sorry not too good with this stuff. if you click on my name does it say "find more posts"/ if so you can scroll down and its titled beachcomber bowed you can check it out. if not ill fine out how to send one

[cawilson]

No worries! I was able to find them. My trailer has the same problem. When we took off the belly band we discovered that the two halves were not aligned any more. Some spots it was over lapping by quite a bit and others it was pulled far apart. Some things that has helped so far was using jacks to push up the top half and wiggling it closer together as well as reinforcing the door opening. Our trailer was/is gutted so we can do this. I think you should take off some paneling, put new blocking around the door by using a construction adhesive and 1x4's, then reattach the metal supports. I'm sure since this is just a weak area the fiberglass has delaminated from the support which is why it is flaring out and overlapping. Here are a few photos that I found of my trailer to show you what I started with.

[Richardh]

yes thats exactly what i was wondering. thank you. my trailer is now gutted as well. so 2 more questions...I obviously have to take the belly band off? and what kind of jacks did you use?
oh also what type of wood did you use and would i put a piece of wood around the whole center for a secure place for the belly band to screw into?

[cawilson]

If you can save your belly band then go for it. There should be wood inbetween the two halves to screw back into, I think it is a 1 x 3 of pine. My belly band was is bad condition, so we are going to fiberglass the two halves together eventually. We had a lot of water come in through the belly band and we don't want that happening again.
The jacks I use are from Princess Auto, here's a picture of them from their website.

[cawilson]

Here is a picture of the jack in the trailer

[Richardh]

Right on. Thank you for all the help

[cawilson]

Not a problem! I hope you can post more pictures of your project! It is nice to see other Beachcombers.

[sully1582]

i redid my door frame with 2x4 pressure treated and floor to ceiling on either side for door and and secured the fiberglass to that. Worked great and added rigidity for the door. The door now swings and fits properly.

Originally Posted by cawilson

The B-15 Beachcomber's have wooden supports on the side of the door that is attached to some blocking that is glasses to the fiberglass shell. You could take off the paneling to see what is happening and then either make a new support from wood or add some rivets to attach the support to the shell.
I just made new supports for my trailer,I only have one support on at the moment but the photo's will can give you an idea.Attachment 135300Attachment 135301Attachment 135302