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I thought maybe we should have a thread about trailer maintenance since there are so many trailers showing up at the events now.
About a year ago I was making a very tight turn while backing up and managed to crease the front access door on my trailer. I hit it with the rear bumper of the truck and fortunately the door was thin material backed up by Luan Plywood. It gave instead of damaging the truck.
I banged the dent out, but it still looked like crap. I investigated getting the metal diamond plane online, but shipping is stupid and to get it local, the metal supplier wants to change for a whole sheet. Because of this I have never gotten around to replacing the door.
Yesterday I was surfing the net and typed in Metal Diamond Plate and up comes HOME DEPOT and sure enough they sell 36x36' pieces for about $36.00
A quick trip over to the store and I had my metal I needed. Its only 025 thickness, and the original was 031. Not enough to justify the cost difference.
Here the photo essay of the work, it took about and hour..
I cut the metal with Shears.
Overall look is outstanding.
This is the original panel. Notice it has a Vent panel added into the left side. Since that was a bad idea, I have never used it and water would get into the bay. I eventually just sealed it up with silicone to stop the water.
Removing the section was easy, there were 8 screws on the edges of the frame which came out without any issues. I did have to drill out a couple rivets holding the divider between the vent section and the solid panel. That took about 14 seconds. Because I sealed everything with silicone, I needed a little 'Persuasion" to get the vent out. ( another 14 seconds)
The slot in the aluminum frame which holds the panel is just about 1/4" wide, of course I had some Luan which is pretty close to 1/4" believe it or not, so with the aluminum panel and the Luan added, it was too thick for the slot. A simple run through the table saw to remove 1/16 around the back side and we're in business.
Test fit the panel,
Here is the sheet from Home Depot, still with the plastic on the surface.
The Aluminum sheet was cut with sheers. The Luan was cut with a utility knife. ( the relief cut was done with a table saw)
Finished product. I'm very happy with the results and thrilled it didn't cost $150.00 as quoted by a trailer store....
About a year ago I was making a very tight turn while backing up and managed to crease the front access door on my trailer. I hit it with the rear bumper of the truck and fortunately the door was thin material backed up by Luan Plywood. It gave instead of damaging the truck.
I banged the dent out, but it still looked like crap. I investigated getting the metal diamond plane online, but shipping is stupid and to get it local, the metal supplier wants to change for a whole sheet. Because of this I have never gotten around to replacing the door.
Yesterday I was surfing the net and typed in Metal Diamond Plate and up comes HOME DEPOT and sure enough they sell 36x36' pieces for about $36.00
A quick trip over to the store and I had my metal I needed. Its only 025 thickness, and the original was 031. Not enough to justify the cost difference.
Here the photo essay of the work, it took about and hour..
I cut the metal with Shears.
Overall look is outstanding.
This is the original panel. Notice it has a Vent panel added into the left side. Since that was a bad idea, I have never used it and water would get into the bay. I eventually just sealed it up with silicone to stop the water.
Removing the section was easy, there were 8 screws on the edges of the frame which came out without any issues. I did have to drill out a couple rivets holding the divider between the vent section and the solid panel. That took about 14 seconds. Because I sealed everything with silicone, I needed a little 'Persuasion" to get the vent out. ( another 14 seconds)
The slot in the aluminum frame which holds the panel is just about 1/4" wide, of course I had some Luan which is pretty close to 1/4" believe it or not, so with the aluminum panel and the Luan added, it was too thick for the slot. A simple run through the table saw to remove 1/16 around the back side and we're in business.
Test fit the panel,
Here is the sheet from Home Depot, still with the plastic on the surface.
The Aluminum sheet was cut with sheers. The Luan was cut with a utility knife. ( the relief cut was done with a table saw)
Finished product. I'm very happy with the results and thrilled it didn't cost $150.00 as quoted by a trailer store....
AAA TT TN
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