Underbelly

[rotaxman]

Took three fourths of the underbelly down on my 06 36TK3 day before yesterday. Needed to wire it for the unltra twin two electric rear power stablizer jack.

Wish I hadn't done it couldn't believe what a poor fit the belly was to the frame and all of the trash that I found inside. Lots of saw dust metal shavings insulation that was stripped off of wire and just droped in the under belly also some small light weight plastic tubes have no idea what that goes to haven't seen any thing like it anywhere in the trailer.

Went to lower the spare tire down found that DT drilled the hole about two inches to high so the crank handle wouldn't fit the crank. You might want to check that before you have to try and change a tire in the dark or rain it could prove to be very annoying if the hole is cut wrong.

None of the trailer wiring was secured to the frame at any point under the trailer nor were the Hyd lines they just let everything fall as it may. I can see why they might have trouble with air in the Hyd lines my kitchen slde extend hose is about two feet to long so it has a nice little loop in it that could trap air at the top. So far I haven't had that problem and hope that I don't.

There is room for lots more insulation so I will be installing that while I have it apart. Currently I'm trying to figure out a better material than that cheap plastic waferboard they put on at the factory. I may have to put the same thing back under it but if I do I will have some metal strips that will support the belly also there will be at least 70 or 80 more screws with large fender washers installed also. They just did not install near enought screws so the plastic sheet was sagging some and had several breaks in it. The fit around the spring shackles was terrible you will have wet insulation if yours was not fitted any better than mine. All and all the worksman ship in the entire underbelly was very poor. I have all of the wiring secured and the Hyd line secured in a flat position. I should be going back together early next week. The weather has turned cold and now that I'm retired I don't have to work in the cold any longer.

I do also think that Lippert has some serious trouble I didn't see any welds on the entire underframe that looked all that good my shock mounts have not broken yet but they would if I don't have them welded they will have to be remade with larger pieces of steel and welded by a profissional welder. (Not me by any means)

This post has been long enough just thought I would share some of what I found so that everyone would be aware and take a look at their underbellys.

As always good camping

Joyce and Jerry

[billr]

Good info Jerry, may be a plan one day to get into that myself! Thanks!

Cheers,
Bill

[JPHarris]

I posted about the spare tire crank over 2 years ago. During my PDI I found out that the crank wouldn't fit because the hole wasn't lined up, here's a couple of pictures showing what my dealer did to fix the problem. A real nice job :(
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[rotaxman]

JP

I didn't have my trailer 2 years ago so I kinda missed your post but it looks like it' business as usual at DT's QC. I see yours is an 05 mine is an 06 and they are still putting the whole in the wrong place.

Looks like a nice fix I hadn't thought about making a nice round disk to fix the whole might give that a try. I've been looking for an inch and a half rubber plug to plug the old hole and just hole sawing a new hole right below the old one and using the plastic sleeve from the old hole in the new one.

Billr

Your are certainly welcome hope that yours has a better fit than mine.

As always good camping

[JPHarris]

Jerry, I was only kidding when I said it was a nice fix. I wasn't a happy camper when the dealer started cutting away my end cap with a dreamel tool to find the crank. When I left the dealers lot it was with a large crazy looking hole. I found the round plastic disk and painted it to match just to try and cover up the mess the dealer made. Looking back now I shouldn't have taken delivery that day until they fixed it right.

[rotaxman]

JP

Your kidding me right??? Those clowns actually had the nerve to say here's your trailer now your crank will work.

You'll have to forgive me I'm a little heavy on the dumb side sometimes. I do think that you made a nice repair though.

Talk to ya later you coming to the rally in Branson?

As always good camping

Joyce and Jerry

[JPHarris]

Jerry,
The crank was the last thing on the PDI I checked, they said go ahead and finish up the paperwork and by the time you are done we will have your hole fixed. When I came back out they said you can get your spare tire down now, it's all fixed. When I walked to the back of the trailer I found that wonderful hole they cut minus the 4 screw holes you see.
I told them that wasn't acceptable and they said I would have to leave the trailer there for a month for them to fix it right. At that point I was ready to punch someone out so I thought the best thing to do was to get out of there.

Sorry to say we won't be at the rally this year, we have other obligations to tend to.

[jdwilson3]

I read this thread without signing in, and thought, NO BIG DEAL. Well, I just signed in and saw the pix....you gotta be kidding me. I assume the dealer sticker is the culprit.

Oh, and by the way, I'm on my way outside to check the spare & the hole, ect..thanks for the info.

[WildJohn]

jdwilson3,
thank you for your post... I (duh) wondered why I didn't gt the pictures...LOL

very interesting problem and fix... I guess I might have to get out the dremmel myself... but then again I am not planning to change a tire.. does anyone?? I better check on it before I go anywhere.. I know my luck.. side of road and only way to get to the spare is to TEAR a hole in the cap....
thanks again for the information

John

[jdwilson3]

Thank goodness, mine lines up. But if it didn't, I think a 3/4 inch socket and universal joint with an extension would have.

[rotaxman]

I finally got the wiring done for the Ultra twin two electric stab jack and have started putting the insulation back up I am also adding three rolls of R 19 insulation which I feel will help the coach a lot. DT didn't put near what they should have in the belly.

Also while I was looking things over I noticed that the welding was very very poor a cross member had one of the vertical round rods broken away from the bottom of the joist.

Also I noticed that on the bottom square tubing of the frame that about the last 6 or 8 feet was a butt joint to the rest of the lower square tubing running to the front of the trailer. Not surprising that DT dosen't want a hitch that will pull any amount of weight attached to that tube.

Also the silicone caulking that they use between the frame tubes and between the trailer and where it sets on the fram was poorly done I have purchased new silicone caulk and plan on doing the job the right . I could see lots of light coming in along the seems where this caulk was applied. Especially where the wiring exits from the underbelly to the slides.

I gotta hurry may not have the trailer back together in time to make the rally can't seem to get it to stop raining here long enough to get anything done.

As always good camping

Joyce and Jerry

[2 DA WDS]

I had read about the hole not lining up so on our first trip when the wheel fell apart I was able to get thespare down. While the spare was out I cut the hole bigger in the spare tire cavity so it would line up with the outer hole.