HELP, my poor Granby!

viking69

New member
Yep, I will definitely post some more photos. Nice to see some Oregon boys chiming in here. Cold windy day here in the upper Hood River Valley. Lets just say the Warden is less than thrilled about my painting project in her living room (no way that paint would dry in the 40 degree weather).
 
W

Wandering Sagebrush

Guest
The Bride is sometimes referred to as "The Boss of Me" when I bring projects into her domain. Really windy here, too. I put the Grandby in the shop at the beach house, saw several downed trees on the road home.
 
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viking69

New member
So here is my replacement board. I cut the original in half while it was still in the camper then bisected the rotten half to get it out. I used the good half as my template for one side and the radius. The width is 4' and the length was ~ 79.5" . I have one coat of ACE barn and fence paint on the bottom side. Will add one more coat of paint then coat the exterior and edges of the board in the Duplicolor Bed Armor.

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This corner photo shows the aluminum extrusion on the bottom of the bed board and the trim band. I drilled the large rivet out of the trim band rubber strip on the drivers side where the over cab portion of the camper meets the main body. This allowed me to peel out the strip to have access to all of the screws. I removed all of the screws from the lower extrusion and the trim band.

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EXCEPT! for the bleeping trim band screws behind my Fiamma Awning. No access to these screws without removing the awning, so I just ground the screw tips off (and all the staples) from the inside. This way they won't interfere with my new board when I place it. Could not find any online instructions on how to remove my awning but did not want to remove all of the screws holding the mounting bracket on.

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A view from the inside. Looking at the bed area. After grinding off all of the staples, I have been scraping all of the old caulk off the aluminum extrusion and frame. Getting it good an cleaned up to caulk in the new bed board after I have it in. The two wood boards that get in the way of the bed board replacement can be seen on either side of the frame, they are painted white. Getting the new bed board past these will be the pickle, as you can see the black gap below the boards where the bed board will seat into. Marty from ATC said, "you will earn your beer after getting that bed board in past those boards". I had also missed some screws along the leading edge where you climb from the camper into the loft area above the sliding window. There are about ten screws along that board into the aluminum frame. You need to remove a plastic trim piece from the inside to get to those screws. This plastic trim was siliconed and stapled. Unfortunately it did not survive the dismantling. Hardware store will have something that will work as a replacement.

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Gonna be a few days for paint to dry and before I can make the big push to get the board in. I'll provide an update and more photos later in the week when I go for it.
 
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craig333

Expedition Leader
Dang, by the time I see this thread its already too late to make suggestions (not that I had anything to add, people covered it pretty well). We'll have to see whats going on with posting on WTW.
 

stockrex

New member
Well,

I have been busy this afternoon.

Cut out all of the plywood, removed all screws from the exterior aluminum trim

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Not sure how to get the new plywood in with these boards in place. They are set in the aluminum frame, and the new plywood needs to seat below these boards.

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Here is half of the board that I will use for a template.

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The edges were not treated originally, Any moisture would be drawn up by this old plywood like a sponge.

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very informative, it is disappointing to see that fwc did not treat the ply.
 

viking69

New member
Yeah I was a little surprised not to see painted edges, but I have to say that my Granby is one well put together product. Just showing some age. One thing to consider though, mine is a 2002 and knowing what I know now, if my bed board was still in good shape, I would pull out every screw, add sealant, and r e-caulk all of the edges. I definitely see the screws for the extrusion and the trim band as a way for moisture to enter the board but the trim band screws see less moisture due to the plastic moulding strip.
 

Sgt.Kilroy

Kilroy Was Here...
You mean all I'm laying on in the bed area is a piece of plywood and no frame below? ? ? Did not know that... great thread, thank you for posting.
 

viking69

New member
Well, it has been a few week but just tackled the project again this morning. Over the last few weeks I had put several layers of paint and two layers of the duplicolor bed armor on the underside of the board. The warden helped me get the board in this morning. So I cleaned off all of the aluminum surfaces that the board seats against with a wire wheel attached to my drill, then wiped off with a wet rag. All aluminum surface then received a healthy dose of caulking. So the board was to 79.5" and was a heavy bugger to get in. I am a big guy, but it was still a two person job. I lifted the board lengthwise through to my wife who was inside the camper. I then let the front of the camper down to loosen the fabric camper sides which then allowed me to rotate the board in the right orientation. With the camper popped the fabric was taunt and would not allow me to rotate the board. So once the board was in general alignment I pushed it to seat to one side of the camper. I had a board and a small sledge hammer to pound the bed board in place. Once the board was seated to one side I used a prybar from the inside and pounded the bed board down and into position with the sledge using the other small board to protect the bed board while pounding. A few of the bed board's painted edges got a little skinned up during the process but all in all it went pretty smooth. With as much caulk as I put down the wood should be covered well.


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After the bed board was placed it was just a matter of a little extra caulk at each screw hole and screwing in all the screws. I started with the screws from the bottom that attach the bed board to the aluminum extrusion.

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Here is the view from the inside. Just need to get the trim back in, clean up and install my new LED lights Yeahhhhh!!!!

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Hope this will be helpful for someone. Thanks to the many posts and help I have received here I would say the project is totally doable for someone with tools and basic skills (mainly attitude to tackle it!). Some good music (Check out the Kyle Turley band!) and a few beers definitely helped!
 

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