There have been one or two posts regarding soft
floors on Aliner LXE trailers due to possible water
damage. This may not be water damage at all, but
simply an issue with the steel frame under the
trailer. All the comments seem to refer to the
floor being soft in the front of the trailer. I
wanted to share my experience with our LX and see if
what folks are talking about is similar.
We have an LX with an open walkway to the front of
the trailer. When I walk up to the front wall, I
feel the floor in the center of the trailer flex
under my weight. The back of the trailer where the
sofa is does not due this. Our trailer is a 2002
model and the floor has not been exposed to water,
so we are not talking about a rotting floor. What
causes the flex?
If you look under the standard Aliner (yup, crawl
down into the dirt), you will see that there is a
series of "L" shaped steel supports that have been
welded between the box tube frame. The floor sits
on all this. However, the "L" supports do not exist
from the front of the trailer to about 1 foot before
the door. They are also missing at the back end of
the trailer. Divid the floor into thirds. The "L"
supports are only in the center 1/3 of the trailer -
not the front 1/3 or the back 1/3. The box tube
framing runs the full length of the floor.
On our trailer the sofa is mounted across the middle
of the rear 1/3 area that does not have support
underneath. The wooden frame of the sofa runs the
width of the trailer and is screwed to the floor. I
think this is acting as a cross support.
When a 160 lb person walks on the floor in front
area that does not have the "L" supports the floor
flexes. However, if they go back to the where the
sofa is, even though they are still standing on a
area with no supports underneath - the floor will
not flex.
I don't think the floors are going soft due to
water. I think what LXE & LX owners are seeing is
that there is a difference in support structure of
the floor. The sofa frame in the back is acting as
a cross member support since it is screwed to the
floor. This does not exist way up front, so the
center can flex. You won't break through, and it
won't crack - it's made to flex to some degree
(engineers call it dynamic versus static loads for
flooring and joists or live versus dead loads).
Since you spend relatively very little time way up
in the front of the LX & LXE hunched over, the floor
won't have a lot of stress. But the center and rear
areas will.
This could be why front Dinette or front storage
dinette folks never complain about soft floors -
because the framing for front sofa and storage
models are also screwed into the floor and act as a
support.
That is what I would recommend checking. Are people
talking about bounce or flex, or about soft spongy
wood that has swelled and become thicker (like
partical board when wet)?
If it is just floor flex, then you should be able to
talk to a shop about weld an "L" shaped support
across the width of the trailer between the box tube
frame. This should stop the flex, and be very easy
to do. Be aware that it would add some weight to
the trailer.
Enjoy,
Chris
