| The side walls
(curb and street) in an Automate fifth-wheel are made from a
sandwich of fiberglass, plywood, interior paneling and structural
foam with an internal aluminum frame. The foam is hand cut to fit
each opening in the frame to eliminate air gaps and cold spots.
Each piece is glued and pressed to insure a solid structure, the
fiberglass is added in a vacuum press. |
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This is the wall frame welding area. |
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This is the side wall frame set in
the jig used to align the pieces prior to welding. |
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Bill Wyrick (right) and Dan the
president and plant manager. Custom work is hands-on and they
follow everything. | |
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The side wall frame is test fitted to
the trailer with all the floor mounted cabinets in place. This
allows all the mounting points to be checked before laminating it
into the wall. This is your last chance to move that window the
two inches you were thinking about (at least cheaply). Once the
frame is in the wall it is much harder to make changes. |
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This is the side wall after being
stuffed with foam and the plywood being laminated to both sides.
These folks are cleaning up the edges and filling and sanding all
the seams to insure a smooth finish. |
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This is the side wall after being
sprayed with adhesive and moved over the vacuum table by the
rolling crane. | |
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The side wall with the interior
paneling showing, being laid onto the fiberglass sheet that will
become the outside wall. | |
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The side wall set in the vacuum press
and being pressed. It will stay in here for several hours to
insure a tight bond. | |
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