Rotisserie. Rotisserie. Rotisserie.

The title is in honor of another great idea by Steve Dancin' Hansen...

This is the last Rotisserie use for our 1955 Flying Cloud, as Colin and his guys turn our belly pan down to the ground.

At the center rear, the belly pan will be fabricated after our air conditioner is installed.

Security, Secured, and Structurally Sound - Spare Tire

Back in the day, there was no spare tire holder on the 1955 Airstream trailers.  

Some owners carried their tires in their tow vehicles, or drove without the security of having an extra Airstream tire.  Some owners added tires to the back of their trailer with or without the option of aluminum wheel covers.  Without carefully planned extra reinforcement of the frame, the added spare tire has caused troubles.  Sadly, the extra weight at the back of the trailer can cause more movement and bounce in the back of the trailer.  

As I understand this:  The trailer is like a child's see-saw or teeter totter.  The axle and tires is the fulcrum point, while the front and rear of the trailer can move up and down.  The front of the trailer has a more limited range of travel as it is attached to the tow vehicle by the hitch.  I wrote earlier about front end separation.  Movement in rear of the trailer occurs as there is nothing to minimized the bounce.  So by adding a spare tire to the rear, the extra weight causes a wider range of movement.  The stress of the movement can cause the shell and chassis to separate - the dreaded rear end separation.
Fortunately, our 1955 Flying Cloud was not subjected to this abuse!

Our spare tire will be held at the front of the trailer, consistently adding to the hitch weight.  The aluminum covering the front cross member, steel frame and plywood floor is riveted into place.

Floor to Frame - Details

Aluminum was used to protect the plywood floor at the spare tire.

Aluminum protecting the floor above the step.

The inside of the wheel well.

Missed a Post - Sharing Now - More Frame Strength

When I wrote about our now-sturdy steps being installed on our Byam's 55 Flying Cloud - I missed some very important work also done at the same time.  Today I found my omission, and wanted to share.

We pull our 2008 Airstream with a Jeep Grand Cherokee including in the mountains of Colorado.  We are asked about our experiences and they have all been good with the Jeep's tow package and its V8 Hemi 5.7 liter.  Driving without our Airstream, the 4 cylinder "Eco" mode saves us gas too!

Anyway, the Jeep has some room in the back for Byam's kennel, and a lot of other stuff, but not enough room for a spare Airstream tire.  Also packing and moving around a gritty spare tire is not my idea of fun.  So we decided that we need a spot for the spare tire to always be with the trailer.   

Our frame was improved, adding another pair of bracing to provide support for the spare tire under the Airstream.  The bracing also adds more strength to the A-Frame.

The additional bracing is painted.  Below the frame is upside down and the trailer's front hold-down plate is facing the floor.

Shown with the sheet of aluminum that will be the attached to the frame as part of the belly pan and the aluminum bent to wrap around the frame also.