How are the interior/exterior walls constructed

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blacknightrain

blacknightrain

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Joined
Sep 7, 2010
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I am lowering my rear tv stand in my 95 adventurer.  I am curious  how the walls are constructed.  Are there studs?  metal or wood.  Which way do the studs run vertical or horizontal.  Can they be found with a stud finder?  How thick are the walls?  I don't want to use the wrong length screw!

I just changed  the front tv turned out great!  Almost done with my projects 

thanks
 
As far as I know, Winnebago doesn't use wood studs - not sure if they ever used them.  If you call or email Owner Relations, they can provide the sidewall composition.
 
Winnebago puts aluminum studs in the walls where they need them to attach wall items. I doubt there are any studs on blank wall areas. On a cool morning you can see them outlined from the outside. I have never been successful in finding them with any stud finder.
 
Most motorhomes built in the last 12-15 years have metal frames in the walls. They aren't studs in the classic sense, i.e. evenly spaced structural members running vertically floor to ceiling. Instead, there is a structural steel cage that follows the shape of the side and has cross members and verticals as needed for windows, slide-out openings, etc. Therefore they appear to be at random spacings and locations.  There may be additional stringers added here and there to support/attach cabinets or other internal pieces, and these may be aluminum or even just small plywood backer plates molded into place to provide an anchor for screws.

Older motorhomes may have wood instead of metal but the basic construction is the same. Don't expect 2x3 or 2x4 on 16" centers.
 
At the Winnebago factory tour, they laid down a slab of fiberglass about 3/16" thick, topped that with a piece of 1" or so Styrofoam.  Then an automatic router came in and routed out channels for wires, hoses and an aluminum frame.  The pieces of aluminum were set into channel in a rectangle pattern and then spot welded.  Then another piece of fiberglass was laid on top as the inner wall (wall paper and all).  The whole thing when through a roller compression station to squeeze the wall together.  Thus no studs an any interval, just an aluminum frame embedded into the wall.
 
thanks for all the help.  I think I will use the existing holes that were used for the rear tv stand, just to be sure that I am in the stongest point of the wall
 
If you can find a friend with a mid or long wave Infra Red imaging camera you can see an outline of the minute temperature difference in the wall where it is in contact with a structrual member... 

I know this isn't very feasible for most people, but one never knows what contacts / friends one has, and MWIR/LWIR cameras are slowly becoming commonplace.  More firefighters and industrial, construction and home inspectors are beginning to use them.

Sure beats tapping with your knuckles to hear a stud.
 
You need to be very careful about the morning dew or infra-red to find the framing. Both methods assume that the aluminum structure isn't as good of an insulator as the surrounding foam. That's true. But there are also wiring channels that are poor insulators. My motorhome is newer, so I was able to get drawings from Winnebago. The morning dew method revealed the wiring channels in my bedroom slide, the drawings were the only way I figured it out. 
 
A little more info. The fiberglass is only about 1/16 inch thick but comes bonded to luan about 1/8 inch thick.

Where  cabinets and other items are to be attached to the walls and ceilings, aluminum plates are inset into routed out areas.

Winnebago may be able to email you pdf files containing prints of the walls showing the locations of wall studs and the metal plates if you call customer service and request them.
 
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