How to Deal with HF Trailer Crossbars.

[jgrote]

I'm finally ready to start building the floor for my TD, and figured I'd have no problem finding something I could put on top of the cross bars of my HF trailer to make up for the 1/8"-3/16" gap they leave since they fit inside the side rails. To my surprise, I can't find anything that will fit the bill. I don't want to use wood, steel, or any other metal for that matter. I was thinking some kind of plastic, composite, or rubber. How has everyone else dealt with this? Do you just leave it as-is and let the floor have a bit of sag? Do just use wood?

[MtnDon]

Truck topper / cap mounting tape? It compresses a little when between 2 hard surface that are screwed together. ???

[les45]

I glued 3/16" wood strips over area where crossbars would be. The entire bottom side of my floor deck received two coats of Zinsser oil based primer plus two coats of Henry's 107 asphalt emulsion.

[Woodbutcher]

I did similar to Les45. Once it's sealed it will last longer then I will.

[jgrote]

I don't want to use wood because I've made a point to have no wood on the bottom of the trailer. I thought I would be able to find something like that in PVC but have had no luck. My goal is to have nothing on the underside that can rot.

[aggie79]

Try the local blue or orange big box. Many have white PVC trim. Ours has screen mold in PVC which as I recall is about the thickness needed.

[jseyfert3]

I don't want to use wood because I've made a point to have no wood on the bottom of the trailer. I thought I would be able to find something like that in PVC but have had no luck. My goal is to have nothing on the underside that can rot.

What are you building your floor out of?

[bdosborn]

I was thinking some kind of plastic, composite, or rubber.

I worried about using wood on my first build too. Then I started sticking my head under every trailer I saw, new and old, to see how the floor was holding up. To my surprise, older pop up trailers often had unpainted plywood floors. 40 year old trailers and the plywood was fine. It's just not worth the effort to use something other than wood, the rest of the trailer will fall apart long before the floor does (IMHO).

Bruce

P.S. I used paint stirrers to shim mine...

[jseyfert3]

I was thinking some kind of plastic, composite, or rubber.

I worried about using wood on my first build too. Then I started sticking my head under every trailer I saw, new and old, to see how the floor was holding up. To my surprise, older pop up trailers often had unpainted plywood floors. 40 year old trailers and the plywood was fine. It's just not worth the effort to use something other than wood, the rest of the trailer will fall apart long before the floor does (IMHO).

Bruce

P.S. I used paint stirrers to shim mine...

Did they use a special type of wood though? I remember my parent's '95 Coleman pop-up had OSB floors. I'm pretty sure they weren't painted, but I remember seeing something on the internet somewhere about it being a special kind of wood, getting wet from road spray wasn't an issue as long as it could dry. You couldn't seal the top of the wood cause that would keep it from breathing and helping to dry.

I think I agree though, wood on the bottom gets road spray, but otherwise stays dry. Wood on the sides/top gets wet every time it rains/dews if the coating is compromised. I'm building a foamie, wood bottom, foam everywhere else. Should have no rotting problems.

[bdosborn]

Did they use a special type of wood though?

The older ones I looked at were all plywood. Plywood and Henrys is all you need.


I got fancy on my second build and used wood floor paint.


Bruce

[MtnDon]

I got fancy on my second build and used wood floor paint.

Hmmm... You got fancy and had your wife paint it.

[jgrote]

The bottom of my floor is going to be FRP, then 2x2 framing, then plywood on top. Foam insulation in the middle. The only penetrations through the FRP will be where it mounts to the trailer, and those will be sealed. It may seem like a lot of prevention, but we get just a little bit of snow in the mountains. I like the idea of paint stirrers, now to see if I can find them in plastic.

[MtnDon]

Why not use strap steel of the appropriate thickness? The frame is steel.

[jgrote]

Why not use strap steel of the appropriate thickness? The frame is steel.

Mostly because I've painted the trailer already, and I hate painting. I would rather find another material than grind off the bedliner so I could weld it on.

[bdosborn]

The bottom of my floor is going to be FRP, then 2x2 framing, then plywood on top.

The double edge sword of building a waterproof bottom on the floor is it had better be absolutely waterproof. Otherwise, any water that gets in won't have a way out and dry-rot is guaranteed.

Bruce