Wheel Well Armoring - take 2

[Yoda]

When I have the axles out I will have full EASY access to the area above the wheel area and wanted to double check on the materials and screws needed to armor this area. I found my old thread here; https://gdrvowners.com/forum/operati...de-above-tires However I know there are more threads out there but for the life of me can't find them. I vaguely remember they were on the old modifications list Howard had howson

So from my cryptic notes on my round-to-it list I have the following. 1/8" or 3/16" sheeting, either steel or aluminum. Diamond plate is not needed - flat plate recommended. Is there a better choice? I save a bunch of $$ using steel over the aluminum. Should I clean and prime before installing. I have 1/8" steel checked on my list - will this be strong enough?

Screws length 3/4" (possibly 1") but I don't want to penetrate the floor. Screws need to be into metal as floor on my unit is reinforced lulan/foam sandwich from what I can tell. Screws should be stainless steel. What spacing is needed 12" oc along the perimeter or is 16" ok?

Now a structural question. It appears the bottom outside lip of the wall structure at the outer edge is aluminum tubing. Can anyone verify that, This is the lip that the lower slide flap seal is screwed into. Slide rides above this floor. To prevent water intrusion I was thinking or having a 1" or 1;5" 90 degree bend on the outside edge to wrap around this for better support, waterproofing and stiffness. Either way I was going to seal with 3M 100% black silicone around all edges.

As I don't want a gap in the front edge to fit around the floor supports (overhang) so is it i OK to slot the panel to fit around, or am I asking for trouble doing this? It appears I can re used the floor bolts too if I do this? Is there any issue taking the nut off, or will have issues getting the nut to tighten later - there is no access to the top of this bolt that goes through the steel overhang support. Otherwise I can create clearance holes.

I have several metal fabricators available to make the panels. If I don't need the bend I can fab myself.

Thanks for any reminders as I know a lot of this has been covered elsewhere. Now as the sun is out time to pull the axles

Keith

[Cate&Rob]

Hi Keith,

I used 1/8" aluminum, because it is easy to work with and won't rust . . . will it be strong enough . . . who knows?
Fitted with the slides in of course, required scallops in the outer edge to clear the support struts for the skirt.

Sealing the edges looked like a complicated and messy thing . . . so I chose not to do this. Because I secured to steel on both edges, there is a small air gap between the plate and the membrane covered floor above. Remember that sealing to keep water out is equally good at keeping water in . . . if it gets there in the first place.

Rob

[howson]

Yoda

At the bottom of the page is a link to Modifications


Inside is a "sticky" topic with instructions.



Unfortunately any previous armor installation was not "tagged" as a modification. Or the thread is not in the Exterior channel.

So I tried another route (which you should know by now!) by using DuckDuckGo's search engine (Google works, too). I entered wheel well armor site:gdrvowners.com and the first link is the thread you want: https://gdrvowners.com/forum/exterio...ed-wheel-wells

I just marked it as a modification so it shows up in the forum search, too.

Howard

[howson]

Yoda -- I couldn't find TucsonJim's thread mentioned in the other thread. I think Brian, Country Campers , may have done this mod, too.

[Yoda]

Yoda -- I couldn't find TucsonJim's thread mentioned in the other thread. I think Brian, Country Campers , may have done this mod, too.

Thanks Howard - you found the one I remembered. Ill get to measuring - first something is in the way