Cut through a structural frame member?

I am in the process of replacing the flooring in my 2005 PC 2900. When I pulled out the table leg insert in the floor I noticed when they cut the hole for the insert, they went right through one of the steel supports in the floor. This must have been an acceptable procedure because who ever was on the other end of the drill would have known they were cutting more than just wood and Styrofoam. Little disappointed to find this since it is inline with one of my slideouts.

That "Ain't" good,     surely not up to PC standards, today or back in 2005.

That’s OK, when I was fixing water damage in my floor, I found one of the four generator support bolts hanging from Styrofoam and the plastic waterproof membrane only. I always wondered why the generator hung low at one corner…

eyecrometer  error

My mildest explicative would be "Holy Cow!".

I see that they used a hole saw and the center hole for the drill bit appears to be bare as well. Did it go all the way through? Any sealant in it?

And I see you have a 2900. Do you have a slide in the front, which means you have 2 hole positions for the table? If so, then I would bet the inner and outer holes both cut through the aluminum frame. Yes?   That's assuming that aluminum runs side to side.

I'm now wondering about mine. All 4 of mine are under carpet which I plan to replace soon. So it's not an easy task to look under them.

Larry

To be honest, that looks intentional.  It is centered on that metal "strut" and may well be designed to keep the table column from loosening with the bumps and twists that occur while driving with the table still set in the hole. 

Don

Hey Larry, the tubing is actually steel and there is no sealant. I would not believe it is intentional or that this is a common practice to cut through this tubing. The actual insert's are what give the table legs the support and they are screwed securely to the floor.
I do have 1 slide out in the front and one in the rear. Both table leg inserts were under carpet and only one went through the steel tubing. Hopefully on yours they moved the hole a couple inches to either side of the tube.

Something to note when you replace the carpet, there are 2 bolts in the floor holding up the generator and one for the propane tank (total of 3 on a 2900). The head of the bolt plus the washer sits about 3/8" above the floor. The carpet and padding does a good job hiding them. This has been  address in another post on this forum.

Steel is good news. I haven't been "in" the floor yet to know. Thanks for the heads up.


I've heard about the bolts and subsequently found a commercial grade vinyl floor (Menards) that is about 2x thicker than residential. I should be able to slightly carve out the back side to hide the bolts (partially or completely is tbd). The thicker vinyl has other benefits,,, it will last longer, be more cushioned, and require less height adjustment for the slide rollers. Just dreading the job and telling myself I'll do it "next winter".


I appreciate the insight on this!
Thanks
Larry

I've heard about the bolts and subsequently found a commercial grade vinyl floor (Menards) that is about 2x thicker than residential. I should be able to slightly carve out the back side to hide the bolts (partially or completely is tbd).....

I wonder if you could tighten the nuts on the underside to countersink the carriage heads with washers a little more to gain some extra profile clearence.  You don't want to torque it so much to cut through the plywood floor, but you might gain notable clearance.  Have someone tighten those 3 nuts under the rig while you observe at the floor making sure they don't cut and draw through the plywood.

In the first pic you can see the bolt that the generator hangs from. If you look closely in the back ground you can see a carriage bolt being pulled thru the floor. I think the carriage bolt is one of the fasteners that holds the camper to the chassis? Why did someone put a red circle around this(it was not me). Was it red marked meaning it is not acceptable?

The second pic is where I took the generator bolt and welded a bigger washer to it along with 3 screw holes to keep it from spinning.

Pic #2

Again, why that steel tube is there, I do not know.  But for whatever reason, the odds against drilling into the floor and centering it exactly as your picture shows is very unlikely.  So I still opt for that is an intential placement of the hole  through the tubing.

Also, that steel looks a bit thin to be "structural"

After watching the video of how a PC is constructed, It looks like these tubes are floor joists that make up floor platform. The box is then built on top of the floor structure.

Again, why that steel tube is there, I do not know.  But for whatever reason, the odds against drilling into the floor and centering it exactly as your picture shows is very unlikely.  So I still opt for that is an intential placement of the hole  through the tubing.

Also, that steel looks a bit thin to be "structural"

I wondered that too.  In-fact, I wonder if that seemingly cut frame is "boxed" around the hole to strengthen it.
Something like this.

      ----|----
      |   O    |
      ----|----

A stud finder would reveal much.

Pic #2

Boy, that carriage bolt isn't looking too good.

I like what you did with the regular bolt to get it more flush with the wood floor.