How To Square off Motorhome Frame For Repairs

[OTGT]

I had a problem with my front window moving while driving and found the reason so I felt it deserved another thread.  One of the front support beams snapped at the weld point- and is causing the front to move going down the road and around curves. I assume its also why my window is starting to pop out. The beam that snapped is right under the drivers side dashboard. The weld points are off by over an inch so I assume everything is not square. To reweld is not a big deal because its very easy to get too. My coach does not have leveling jacks so how do I get the steel bars in place (get everything square) to weld them back together?

90 Fleetwood Flair 26'

I attached a picture of the actual problem

 

[seilerbird]

At the Winnebago factory they told us that all the frames they buy are the same length and then cut them and add more frame to make them the length they want. They use lasers to make sure the frame is aligned properly.

 

[Just Lou]

What you are looking at is part of the house or superstructure "frame", not the motor home chassis frame.

I have no idea how you would get the beams lined back up to re-weld them.  There was obviously some stress on them to come apart so maybe putting them back where they were is not the best thing to do.  If there is no obvious body part alignment problems maybe tack welding them in there current position and reassessing the window pop out issue may be in order.

 

[OTGT]

By looking at the frame beams, the one that snapped is one that stabelizes the front of the motorhome. The coach looks square but may be off by an inch in the very front. I know this will solve my problem if I get it aligned and re-welded. I may just have to bring it to a motorhome shop to let them do this for me.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

I doubt if you will find many "motorhome shops" that are capable or even willing to try welding a broken piece of framing. I'd be looking for a skilled welder with a creative flair, like maybe somebody who welds up race cars or some such. Getting things back in alignment is a common enough problem in welding. Big clamps, come-alongs, bottle jacks and such are very much normal equipment.

They will probably arc-weld, so be sure to disconnect the engine ECM and any electronics first. They are all sensitive to the high voltages and arcing that occurs when arc-welding.

 

[zukIzzy]

90 should still be carbed with no ECM, but do unhook the negative cables at the least and dont forget the both the hose and chassis battery.

I do this kind of repair all the time, it is impossible to tell you how to do it unless I can look around and see what I have to work with. I think I would use my portapower in some configuration as well as possibly bottle jacks and or winches. I have had good luck with  L brackets with nuts welded on and bolts welded to the side that is stationary in such a way the you can tighten down the bolts to move the part you want moved. But like I said nobody can say for sure until they can inspect the work.

Where are you?

wayne

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

ECMs have been around since the early 80's, but I don't know what chassis he has or when throttle body injection made it there. In any case, the house electronics are probably grounded to the frame as well, e.g. the converter.

 

[zukIzzy]

Passenger cars had ECMs as early as 81, not common till 85-86, almost exclusively FI since about 90. However Motorhomes and medium duty trucks were late to the smog bandwagon and most still had non smog controlled Carbs till the mid 90s.

We are not in disagreement that the negative battery cable shouldalways be removed and in a motorhome that includes the house batterypack as well. this does an adequate job of isolating the electronics. If someone were to request that other things be disconnected before welding I would have not issue with that but it would add to the bill.

 

[OTGT]

90 should still be carbed with no ECM, but do unhook the negative cables at the least and dont forget the both the hose and chassis battery.

I do this kind of repair all the time, it is impossible to tell you how to do it unless I can look around and see what I have to work with. I think I would use my portapower in some configuration as well as possibly bottle jacks and or winches. I have had good luck with  L brackets with nuts welded on and bolts welded to the side that is stationary in such a way the you can tighten down the bolts to move the part you want moved. But like I said nobody can say for sure until they can inspect the work.

Where are you?

wayne

Thanks for everyones advice. I am actually taking it to an RV shop tomorrow and they have a welder coming out to weld the frame back together. It took my a while to get the dashboard off to save on labor time. But once I took off the dashboard, its right there. It looks like the issue is primarily on the drivers side but is stressing the passanger side also. I'll tell the guy to weld as much as he likes. Getting it straight will be something they have to figure out themselves. I will probably print this thread to give them ideas on fixing this problem. I hope everything runs smooth. I live in North East Georgia BTW. I wil let you all know how everything turns out.

 

[OTGT]

90 should still be carbed with no ECM, but do unhook the negative cables at the least and dont forget the both the hose and chassis battery.

I do this kind of repair all the time, it is impossible to tell you how to do it unless I can look around and see what I have to work with. I think I would use my portapower in some configuration as well as possibly bottle jacks and or winches. I have had good luck with  L brackets with nuts welded on and bolts welded to the side that is stationary in such a way the you can tighten down the bolts to move the part you want moved. But like I said nobody can say for sure until they can inspect the work.

Where are you?

wayne

I just wanted to let everyone know I had a local RV Dealer/Shop reweld the front frame for me. It only cost me $100. Luckily, everything was prety much in line. They used a couple of jacks to get everything perfect and then welded the heck out of it. They tacked most of the beams and re-inforced the areas that he felt were the most stressed. All in all ,the front end is perfectly stable now. I am tired of hearing excuses of why things can and cannot be done. This company never doubted they could do it while everyone else gave me excuse after excuse. I want to give them DIBBs for their excelent work. The dealer is called Camper City in Buford Georgia.

Thanks everyone!

 

[zukIzzy]

Good to hear a good sevice report now and then. Glad you got it fixed up, did it fix the window issue?

Thanks

wayne

 

[OTGT]

Good to hear a good sevice report now and then. Glad you got it fixed up, did it fix the window issue?

Thanks

wayne

I will have the front glass re-seated tomorrow. The cheapest I could find someone to do it for is $100 a side. Most companies were going to charge me over $500, so $200 sounded good to me. I will let you know how it turns out.