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Thread: Underbelly

  1. #21
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    Now I am replacing the hydraulic hoses. Two of four have bubbling so might as well replace all four while I have the underbelly off. This is turning in to a serious project.
    2019 F450 CC
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    Quote Originally Posted by ktnissen View Post
    Now I am replacing the hydraulic hoses. Two of four have bubbling so might as well replace all four while I have the underbelly off. This is turning in to a serious project.
    I hope Grand Design is paying for those hydraulic hoses on a 2021
    They would be if it were mine
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  3. #23
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    Pictures of the project.

    Finished cleaning cleaning up wire, have to replace hydraulic lines to the slide outs, running pex lines to the kitchen center island, the only flex hose left goes to the toilet in the back bathroom. In the picture facing to the front of the trailer, the grey is on right and black on left. I have two fresh water tanks, a large baffled one forward and the standard square tank aft. There is a black/grey tank in the back. The back bathroom lines run right on top so no way fix a water line to that bathroom.

    My coworker didn't fetch a single thing.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails 20230313_102500.jpg   20230313_094825.jpg   20230313_093903.jpg   20230313_093409.jpg  
    2019 F450 CC
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  4. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by RickLight View Post
    Rigid insulation was out for me as too many things hang below the frame. My cover just flexes around it all.

    I did some things you might consider.
    -Mounted weather stripping tape (1/8 x 2) around the perimeter to help sealing. I generally sealed up as much as possible!
    -Used batt insulation, but glued to to the belly cover with spray glue. This helps keep it in place when installing the cover and during travel or future work.
    -Cut the cover into 4' pieces with 2x2 cross members for attachment. No more all or nothing removal. (Pine 2x2 weighs 1/4 of hem/fir 2x4)
    -Used belly cover tape, and cleaned the cover well before hand. Heat, wind, water, and grit will degrade duck type tape.

    I wish I had put insulation on the frame rails. Steel is a lousy insulator!
    Where do you get underbelly tape?

  5. #25
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    Now each water line has its own shut off.



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    2019 F450 CC
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  6. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by ktnissen View Post
    Now each water line has its own shut off.
    That's another really good idea!
    I've seen people put in a buttload of valves, but this looks like a simpler, cheaper, and less error prone method.
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  7. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by ktnissen View Post
    Pictures of the project.

    Finished cleaning cleaning up wire, have to replace hydraulic lines to the slide outs, running pex lines to the kitchen center island, the only flex hose left goes to the toilet in the back bathroom. In the picture facing to the front of the trailer, the grey is on right and black on left. I have two fresh water tanks, a large baffled one forward and the standard square tank aft. There is a black/grey tank in the back. The back bathroom lines run right on top so no way fix a water line to that bathroom.

    My coworker didn't fetch a single thing.
    Our 310 has the same black and gray tank layout as your last pic. I added a crossmember just forward of the heating pads, as ours were really bagging down there.
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  8. #28
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    Last year I too went on an underbelly deep dive. I learned that there is no quality in the workmanship.

    I removed the original single piece of corroplast and I replaced it with 5 four foot sections (ordered from the OEM supplier), which I insulated with this stuff: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 , and I used this spray glue: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 to glue the insulation to each panel. I sealed the underbelly up with corroplast pipe sealing tape and sealed any remaining gaps with more foam. My objective was to not just insulate, but to seal the underbelly against air leaks as much as possible.

    I also sprayed the inside of the I-beams with about two inches of expanding closed cell spray foam (from cans), ran 110 volt electric pipe heating wire and put foam insulation over every pipe.

    The factory installed 2 inch flexible duct was in a hole almost big enough for a 3 inch duct. It was kinked, mostly blocked and too short. It was heating the underside of the fridge instead of the underbelly. I replaced it with a stiffer three inch duct and used heat resistant spray foam to seal it into the floor. I also added a return air path under the shower back into the camper. Installing just a heat duct without return air flow amounts to only doing half the job. The only way a fan furnace can be circulate air into a space is to also have someplace for it to get back to the furnace.

    As for the workmanship, I think it is dangerously bad. Most worrisome on a four year old trailer was the fact that I found wires that had nearly worn thru their insulation where they ran thru the frame. GD had used spray foam glue to hold the wires up to the floor of the camper, but hadn't used enough, so the wires were hanging down unsupported and without strain relief or any protection from the sharp edges of the steel frame. I found wires with little insulation where they were pinched between the frame and water tanks. The PEX pipes were also damaged where they passed thru the frame holes. I spent a two days correcting obviously dangerous and stupid workmanship errors in the wiring and plumbing.

    I would strongly recommend that everyone who buys one of these things remove the corroplast underbelly within a month of buying and getting things fixed immediately. Now that I've seen what GD covers up with the corroplast underbelly, I think my next trailer might be one without it, and I will install and insulate it myself.

    I looked at a lot of trailers at the Syracuse RV show a couple of weeks ago. There are manufacturers that make trailers without an underbelly at the factory, but have available (as a dealer option) the installation of an insulated liner and heat. I looked at a unlined 18 foot Jayco. There was little wiring or plumbing underneath; what there was neat and tidy, and the dealer offered an underbelly insulation and heating package for his trailers. Which kind of makes sense for smaller trailers.
    Last edited by Dadeo6472; 03-17-2023 at 09:19 AM.
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  9. #29
    Rolling Along jjbbrewer's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dadeo6472 View Post
    I would strongly recommend that everyone who buys one of these things remove the corroplast underbelly within a month of buying and getting things fixed immediately.
    Wow, thanks for posting all of that - and especially the amazon references for what you used. I'm definitely going to put the "underbelly deep dive" project on my list for this summer.

    Not counting your time, could I ask how much you spent in materials in doing what you did here? I'm trying to create a 2023 project budget for my RV and I'd like to put this work on it.

    Thanks again ..
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  10. #30
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    My first suggestion is, if you are going to do this and you are inclined to fix a water or future water issues, upgrade to the water manifold. I can not say what you're water lines are like but mine was designed to continually fail with a string of water lines out one branch and the shoddy pex to flexible tubing connections. This is why my underbelly has been removed so many times.

    I wished I could have done this all at once with the underbelly removed. The manifold was installed December. The underbelly was not removed. Just the flex water lines in the pass through were replaced, we left the flex lines that were covered by the underbelly. A friends nephew, apprentice plumber, did the majority of the work so i had to pay him when i strained my back. Total cost around 800. If the belly was off and it was summer, I could do it all for around 500.

    It is so much easier to run and fix new lines underneath and pushing through, instead of reaching and crawling in the pass through. Go with the segmented underbelly. I have four sections. I wished I had thought about the furnace return. Take the damn Nautilus system out. All those functions are useless. I blow air out of my lines to winterize, don't use pink stuff. Side benefit, I get to install the star link cable.
    2019 F450 CC
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