Frame warp with added weight

Hi,

I totally understand the want to get everything level. Believe me, I know...

I can't tell from the pictures, but have you placed leveling jacks under the frame to keep it level? Trusting the frame itself to do it without support isn't enough.  Also, when you camp, you will want leveling jacks to keep the floor more stable anyways.  Some folks will weld more a modern scissor jack type leveler to the corners of the frame underneath for convenience.

These are the leveling jacks you will need 

Rod

I agree with the comments above. To get the metal frame straight and square, add the Weight of wood framing, floor and walls and then bounce it all over America and Park on unlevel surfaces and have it be straight and square, just isn’t going to happen. As said above, these campers were never square from the factory.  Add 800 pounds of people and  gear, and things are going to sag and twist slightly but no one will ever notice. Follow the advice above and get it as close as you can. 

One more thing. You can still remedy this by removing the framing that makes the curving plane (roof, front, and back cross pieces or "rafters" as I call them). Then skin the interior opposing walls. I like Titebond glue and clamps where they can be used to avoid nail fasteners. But first, flatten that floor with the jacks mentioned in a previous comment. Once those sheathed walls are in place, you should be fine. Follow the sequence I outlined above.

I think it makes sense to frame walls with 2x2s (1-1/2" thick) because there is room for wiring and insulation. Two layers of 3/4" foam, wire between. Skin is 1/4" ply, which gives plenty of racking strength.

Don't see problem with putting walls on too of good floor.

The framing was originally 2x2, 2x4s, and long 1x4s running horizontal, dadoed into place. All nailed together. The curb side is very close to how it was originally built, but I used pocket holes for 2x4s instead of the long 1x4.




The frame itself was worked over at a place that builds trailers and fixes semi tractors. It was flat and had extra channel steel welded in place to help keep it square, in adddition to extra outriggers. We did this because we did not plan on having any structural cabinetry in place - see last paragraph. Speaking of titebond... all of the kerf board is already glued in place. The rafters are not. The current walls are still in my shed and we saved one wall worth of interior ply that hadn’t rotted badly (the appliance and shower side was rotted horribly) to try and use as a template for interior work.

Adding to what was posted above.. yes, the ceiling was wrapped around the completed walls, 83” wide, and the kerf board and rafters were added on top of it. The way it is built now, in all other regards, it is identical, aside from using modern tongue and groove plywood for the floors, and adding real fenders instead of boxing in hammered tin.

As TeachnDad pointed out - yes, we are converting this into a mobile bar. We tried to salvage as much as we could but almost everything was rotted, corroded, or broken. There had been several electrical shorts / small fires inside too.

Thank you all for the replies. Looks like I’ll be pulling the rafters today. Crap. I’m not sure about what to do with the kerf board that is already in place, except maybe router into it a bit, or leave it and just run the pattern bit around it. Not like it will hurt anything to have then wall skin run all the way out to the aluminum.