# Under Belly Cut



## marks (Nov 20, 2006)

I finally got a chance to examine the under belly this weekend. During my PDI, I noticed that the under belly had black tape in the area between the black and grey tanks. I do have a due bill for the service department to inspect and possibly fix this problem.

While under the OB, I removed all the black tape to find the area had been cut. It is a U shaped cut about 15 inches each on three sides. I believe the area was cut to add or fix the lower sensor to the grey tank as there is a single sensor patched into the existing electrical wiring.

Since the area is large enough to work with, I plan on installing the quickie flush in that area, saving me the trouble of removing one whole side and dropping the gas line.

The only problem is the quickie flush would be about a foot from the sensors. Would this location be OK?

Now back to the under belly, I did find two additional cuts that weren't patched.

Has anyone had their entire under belly replaced? This will be my main objective when I visit the dealer.

If replacing the under belly is not an option, how does one patch the cuts. I tried black Gorilla tape but it won't stick. Is there a special type of tape?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Regards,

mark


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## tdvffjohn (Mar 10, 2005)

I forget who but someone here, to ensure the cut section would not come loose put a small piece of wood (in) on the top with screws with a washer and then close the patch and use a few screws to also hold the patch snug to the wood. Sorta like repairing a hole in a sheetrock wall between two beams if you follow what I mean.

John


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## camping479 (Aug 27, 2003)

tdvffjohn said:


> I forget who but someone here, to ensure the cut section would not come loose put a small piece of wood (in) on the top with screws with a washer and then close the patch and use a few screws to also hold the patch snug to the wood. Sorta like repairing a hole in a sheetrock wall between two beams if you follow what I mean.
> 
> John


That's exactly how I patched mine up after I redid the grey and black tank plumbing.

Mike


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## LarryTheOutback (Jun 15, 2005)

The dealer installed our Tornado black tank sprayer. When the hose came loose during our Land Cruise (due to excessive input pressure) I thought whoops ... how am I going to get under there while in a campground and not at home w/jacks, etc. All I could think of was some posts of people who had to drop their gas line to drop the underbelly.

Well, it turns out the dealer made a slit in the underbelly to install the Tornado, then taped it back up. So, all I had to do was untape it, make the repair and tape it again; done in 20 minutes. It's also near the sensors, so I can get back under there to repair those too if needed.

So ... I look upon my underbelly slit as a feature not a problem. I do keep a close eye on the tape to make sure it doesn't come undone.

Ed


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## California Jim (Dec 11, 2003)

Clean off the underbelly real good and duct-tape it. Should be no problem.


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## Fire44 (Mar 6, 2005)

To install my Quickie Flush, I made a 2' x 2' hole in the underbelly. I purchased a 8' long x 2" wide x maybe 1/8" thick aluminum. Framed out the hole with the aluminum and used short selftapping screws to reinstall the "cover". Worked great and is very easy to get back in to the area with a power screw driver.

Gary


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## Carey (Mar 6, 2012)

Both John, and Gary have the answer.. Even if I clean the underbelly, the tape dosent seem to stick very long..

Carey


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## Y-Guy (Jan 30, 2004)

I'm a big fan of using large sized zip ties. Cut a couple of small slices spaced away from the edges, run the zip ties through both slices, zip tie it so its not pulling to hard, then use tape if needed.


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## Insomniak (Jul 7, 2006)

Somebody on this forum a while back mentioned this product, so I decided to order a few sheets. It's *exactly* the same stuff as the underbelly - corrugated polypropylene. If you have a spot that you just want to close up and not get back into, this stuff will work great. Use an adhesive like Dicor or even a roofing sealant like I used, and the thing will never come off.

This art supply store has two different manufacturers and products - Spartech Plasticor, and Bienfang Stratocore. I got the Bienfang since the sheets are a bit smaller and I don't anticipate any repairs larger than 20x30 inches. Interesting that the Spartech product is used mainly for the bottoms of Jacuzzi Hot Tubs!!

http://www.misterart.com/search/index.cfm?...d&store=ALL


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## marks (Nov 20, 2006)

I do think having access to the area I install the Quickie flush would be helpful in the future so I might reinforce, hinge, then window seal the cutout.

It's good to know I can find a replacement panel if I mess up.

Thanks for alll the wonderful responses.









mark


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