Hi,

Has anyone had any experience reinforcing the aluminum roof tubing?

My 2407T has a sag around the AC unit and I would like to reinforce the tubing in this area. I have the ceiling panel out, eps stripped away and reglued the luan plywood to the frame work. I have propped the frame up to the height of the other parts of the ceiling, now how to get it to stay?

Thanks,

Jim

photos or framing

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more photos of framing supports

Well try the photo thing again!

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The only thing I can think of is adding additionial roof tubing to support the a/c. The tubing would have to be bent to the crown of the roof and tig welded in place.

__________________
Les & Patricia
2006 22ft towlite (replaces 97 21TL)
2006 Toyota tacoma pre-runner 4.0 L V-6 quad cab
w/ 98 chevy Powervision towing mirrors
2017 Chevy Silverado 1500 5.3 v8 (replaces Toyota)
2 Hobie mirage pedal drive kayaks

Jim,

I have studied the picture of your dilemma and could see no solution other than something involving bolting the whole mess together through the aluminum frame work. Since the roof and ceiling has separated from the frame work, I might sugggest you contact J&R HiLo service: 419-883-3001

http://www.hilotrailerforum.com/f56/...parts-com-893/

In my communication with them they told me these 4x8 ceiling panels were a laminated unit from roof to ceiling panel. It appears the lamination on your unit has been compromised. They did tell me they still had the laminating apparatus and could build one of these panels to your specification. You definitely need some professional direction here and they may be your best bet. It may be possible they can build a panel to replace the panel that houses the AC Unit.

Garyk52 has done a major rebuild on his ceiling and may offer some advice.

Good luck.

Jerry Curtis
2406 T

Hi Jerry,

I have jr repair on my to do list for today.

All I really need to do is somehow reinforce the aluminum tubing. I'm thinking sandwich, pop riveting some 1" and 2" 1/16 flat aluminum with some type of adhesive filling (JB weld) to the sides and bottoms of the tubing. Then I would replace the eps foam board and reinstall the ceiling panel, cabinets, etc.

I'm stuck on this idea but maybe it's not the best way.


Thanks,

Jim

Minicepter,

I'm assuming on the photo the rafter towards the lite is ok. If that is the case, being that I am cheap, I would try this. I would cut the cross members on the other side of the AC and remove them. Then I would get me 2 oak or other hardwood 1x2 8 foot long and 4 pieces of 1/2 plywood same length. I would then use a sabre saw or band saw, if you have one, and cut the pieces just like the shape of the rafters. Sandwich 1 1x2 oak and 2 pieces of 1/2 plywood together with gorilla glue then bolt them to each rafter. I would then make new cross members out of pine and fasten them to the wooden rafters I just installed. Then glue new foam to the ceiling then the new ceiling panel. Good Luck on your repair. I would use all Gorilla glue for this repair. As I said this is just my opinion of how I would try to repair this problem.

PS I would glue everything together first, if possible, before you cut the pattern. Especially if you have access to a bandsaw.
Check the curve you may need to go with 1x3 or 1x4

__________________
Cheers
Garyk52
DW Judy

96 24' Hi-Lo Funchaser, (99 Aliner Sofabed Sold 6/9/18)
06 Toyota Tundra SR5 Access Cab 4X4 36,000 miles and counting

Thanks Gary,

I emailed J&R Repair and didn't like there very timely reply of a total roof rebuild.

So I visited the machine shop and bounced my ideas off a couple of the guys and looked at available aluminum stock, did some pricing of materials and sat on it for a couple hours while I drove the Aging and Disabilities Resource Center bus to pick up the ladies and take them to the nutrition site. At the end of the trip my plan still seemed sound.

Since I didn't have any damaged plywood I have re-adhered it to the aluminum frame after propping it back to its original height and straightening the bent member. I then reinforced the sides of the tubing at the factory bends with 1X.125 aluminum stock, pop riveting and gluing it with a construction adhesive.

Today's plan is to cut new foam pieces, install them and then further reinforce the tubing with a piece of 2X.125 stock pop riveted and glued on the face of the tubing forming an arch from wall to wall. I have enough access to make four of the arches. Then I'll reinstall the ceiling panel etc.


I'll keep all posted, should know in a couple of days if the plan is good.

Jim

Jim,

Good luck on your plan. Keep us informed and take pictures of what you do for others who may have the same problem.

Jerry Curtis
2406T

Just Curious.........

But have you been able to ascertain "why" the SAGGING AND FAILURE OF THE TUBES started in the first place? Bad tubes? Bad design/engineering? The unit is relatively new, (five years old?) and this just seems like something that should not be happening. I was thinking after another post in the forum that "gee, I wish I had the lighter weight aluminum rather than the "tubular steel" " because of weight-----but maybe I don't wish that anymore. Delamination I get if there is water damage or even bad adhesives used at some point----but an argument for using metal or , even, polymers is that they tend not to fail after getting wet. Not that water is the issue here....

Did J and R hint that this was a "known" problem with this year or model??

Anyway-thanks for sharing as I'm sure all of us following this are curious if your solution "works" and how the process goes.

Rick

__________________
2201 TL

2010 Nissan Titan king cab SE
4x4

I don't really blame J&R Repair for suggesting a total roof rebuild. Look at it from their end, they have a reputation to uphold while we are just trying to fix our campers good enough so we can continue to use them. Apparently they will do it right or won't do it at all. Good for them. More businesses should be like that.

Keep us updated on your progress and post photos. I'm also curious what caused your problem. Maybe someone walking on the roof? Heavy snow? or like hilltool asked.

__________________
Cheers
Garyk52
DW Judy

96 24' Hi-Lo Funchaser, (99 Aliner Sofabed Sold 6/9/18)
06 Toyota Tundra SR5 Access Cab 4X4 36,000 miles and counting

Well I'll see if I can do the photo thing again, sometimes it takes several repetitions for things to get into the memory bank. I fully understand where J&R repair is coming from.

I don't know what caused the problem. There is no sign of water penetration. The luan was lose from the framing and there was a bent tube. There is also a couple of breaks in the AC shroud so possibly something impacted it and the added weight was too much for the tubing.

What I have done is removed the ceiling panel around the AC unit, removed the eps foam, re-glued the luan to the framing. Then I took 1X.125 aluminum stock pop riveted and glued to reinforced the sides of the tubing at the factory bends. Then I replaced the foam, gluing it to the luan. After that was in place I cut 90" lenghts of 2X.125 aluminum and pop riveted and glued it to the under side of the tubing. The two inch stock forms an arch although rather shallow but which I am hoping will still be enough to bear the weight. I have put two of the arches in and will have to wait until Monday for a third piece of two inch stock.

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well

That seems do-able as long as the 1x stock is rigid enough. Hope that works.

Am I looking at things correctly? It seems the bend in the tubing is on the bottom which seems weird if it was sagging. One would think the crease would be on top---but i guess it could give way structurally top or bottom. Maybe it is distorted because you pushed it back up.

Just "armchair" engineering from this end- of course.

rick

__________________
2201 TL

2010 Nissan Titan king cab SE
4x4

Hi,

Sorry about the late reply. The crease you see is the factory bend to create the arch of the roof. I mistakenly posted my latest update on the project in "towing with a dc Tacoma"

Jim

I suspect a 250+lb guy standing on the roof saying "see, it will hold me..." as he's bouncing up and down to emphasize that it will hold his weight...

More likely, someone servicing/cleaning the A/C without putting something on the roof to spread the weight out (sheet of plywood)... a 200 pound guy, a 100 pound A/C unit... all being held up by a 1" piece of aluminum in the middle of the span...