How do I attach the floor of my TD to my trailer?

[tscarbroughdc]

The title pretty much says it all. I've just finished putting the asphalt paint on the bottom of my floor and am about ready to attach the floor to my heavy duty HBF NON-Folding trailer. But I'm trying to figure out how to drill the holes to line up with the trailers pre drilled hole!

I know this is a basic question but I'm not a handy man!

Thank you for any thread or YouTube video you can point me to, to show me how to do this.

[citylights]

If you want to hit the pre drilled hole in the trailer perfectly then drill up. Put the wood bed on the trailer, move the wood bed to where you want on the trailer, clamp it in place if you are worried about it moving, lay down on the floor and drill up through the pre drilled holes up through your wood bed. Fit the bolts through your drilled holes and tighten.

[les45]

Before you fasten the floor down, you should drill a recess for the bolt heads that are holding the trailer frame together. Again, you clamp the floor in place and then go around and hit it hard with a hammer over each bolt head. That will leave an imprint of the bolt head in the wood. Flip the floor over and use a 3/4" wood bit to drill out a recess for the depth of the bolt head. Then you can flip it back and drill and bolt to the frame. Then your floor is sitting flush on the side rails. Some people even shim the small gap that will be present over each cross piece caused by the overlap of the C-channels.

[tscarbroughdc]

Why are ppl so worried that they shim the cross beams?

I noticed that the Ty Dean plans that I am using said to do that...Im not planning on worrying about that!

[pchast]

It saves drilling holes for the bolt heads to fit into...
Levels it all up. gives a flat floor...
Its easy to glue in the shims. ( I used treated lumber)

[les45]

You still have to drill the holes for the bolt heads for the floor to fit flush on the side rails. The shims only go over the cross pieces. Many people do ignore the shims since the sag in the floor is so small (about 1/8") that it will not be noticeable for the most part. Mine was exposed on each end so I wanted it to look perfectly level. It also eliminates a gap where the galley bulkhead sits on the floor. Here is a pic of one of my shims. The 1X2 on top of the shim is temporary and is simply distributing the load of the weights I used while gluing. You can also see the hole drilled on the end for the bolt head. Note that I fastened my plywood deck directly to the frame.

[tscarbroughdc]

Thanks yall...That helps a lot!

I hope to finish the asphalt paint tonight and actually attach the deck to the trailer frame tomorrow.

Im trying to get a picture in every so often to share. But this project is going to take me a few months because I cant actually start the walls, etc until August (long story). So I hate to start a thread and not be able to update frequently and have it get lost in the mix.

[citylights]

Thanks yall...That helps a lot!

I hope to finish the asphalt paint tonight and actually attach the deck to the trailer frame tomorrow.

Im trying to get a picture in every so often to share. But this project is going to take me a few months because I cant actually start the walls, etc until August (long story). So I hate to start a thread and not be able to update frequently and have it get lost in the mix.

Don't worry about it getting lost in the mix. It will pop up to the top every time you update. Start it now with pictures, before you misplace them.

Start it now, that way you are committed and can't back out!

[tscarbroughdc]

Thanks for the picture. But I'm really confused now! Haha.

I've decided I'm not worrying with the shims. And when someone posted earlier to drill the holes from the bottom, I thought that would be a breeze but the pre drilled trailer frame holes are only on one side of the beam. They don't go all the way through so I can just stick the drill in from the other side and make the bolt holes on the platform. I guess I could angle the drill but then I'd be concerned about lining it up. My brother in law is coming over in an hour to help me so I'm hoping someone can help me out before he gets here.

[tscarbroughdc]

Also. Good idea to start the thread and updating it as I go along. Then I can't back out!

[les45]

OK, here is what I did. Cut a pencil down to about 2" long and sharpen one end. Clamp your floor in place and use the pencil to mark the holes. Then flip the floor over and drill the holes. Use a drill bit slightly larger than the bolts to give yourself some wiggle room.

[tscarbroughdc]

Well i did it! i started a project page and there are a couple of pics on it already!

Here is a link to my project page:

http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=56316

I hope that works!

[tscarbroughdc]

Thank you for the advice!!!! I'll do that!

[tscarbroughdc]

I'm kind of aggravated. As I laid my floor against the HBF trailer it appeared that my frame is somewhat crooked! Ugh!

I can get the sides of the floor even on the trailer to give me about 1 inch of lip but when I do, the back isn't going to sit flush all the way across.

I realize this is probably a minor problem to some of y'all but it's a major one to me! Haha. I'm not a very good handyman. I'm thinking about just attaching it and dealing with the slightly noticeable imbalance.

Unless y'all have any better ideas. I've already glued and screwed my wooden frame to the plywood of the floor. Now I have to attach it to the trailer.

[citylights]

I'm kind of aggravated. As I laid my floor against the HBF trailer it appeared that my frame is somewhat crooked! Ugh!

If you have a large level or square, you can put it against the trailer frame or wood frame to see which one is out. The trailer frame might be bent, but that is not likely. More likely, the wood is a little warped. If it is the wood, I would just bolt it down. It will relax and form to the trailer. If it is the trailer... Well then I would have to see how bad and which axis was out before I decided to use it or not.

My wood floor was a little warped too, but not after I bolted it down.