Creaky floor

[txredfish]

On my TT, in front of bed slide when out, when I walk in front of bed, the floor is barely squeaking enough that I can hear it. The noise is located middle of floor, in front of of bed, about a foot out from the foot of bed, and going toward the end of trailer wall. There are no soft spots or signs of leakage. The floor is made of vinyl/laminate. In order to find the exact cause, I may have to take loose the bottom of trailer which is covered. I would have to remove this cover and still may not be able to see it. There is a furnace duct in that part of floor. Could that be the cause? Is this anything to worry about? Anyone else have this problem? Or maybe I should take to dealer. I have owned the TT for about 1 1/2 year. Out of 1 year warranty but still with in Forest River 2 year extended which I don't know if covered. I may call Forest River to find out if covered. Someone told me that manufacturers will not cover squeaky floors. I don't see anything in the FR warranty owners manual about warranty and this problem.

[NMWildcat]

I have heard of some folks being able to access the floor from underneath and fix squeaks in the flooring with screws or bracing. I have never been so lucky. One friend was replacing his vinyl floor and fixed his squeak by driving extra screws while the flooring was off. But unfortunately it came back later. We have had 5 rigs and every one of them had a squeaky point in the floor at some point. We had one that went away by itself, and the rest we just learned to ignore. Good luck!

[billmac8]

My Forest River Cardinal is 10 years old. I won't tolerate squeaks. Bought rig new and have fixed many squeaks over the years. You likely have a floor joist near that squeaky spot. The floor is not securely attached and is rubbing the joist when someone walks on it. You need to secure the floor to the joist with screws and construction glue. But like you say, access is very difficult.

Your local home improvement store and Amazon will have squeak ender screws that will screw in and then you break them off below the flooring. They work better on carpet but can be used on vinyl. Watch a Youtube video. You need to be sure you are screwing into your joist and not a holding tank or water line.

On my rig, in some places they have 6 inch long self taping 1/4" long bolts that go thru the floor into the frame. The bolts secure everything until they strip out and make a terrible noise.

One terrible squeak that came with my trailer, was where the assembler missed the joist with 16 staples. Dealer never could fix it under warranty. I had to disassemble the underside and added screws/joists.

One last note. The joist can often be found thru the floor vent. On my rig, the joists run along both sides of the vents. When the floor is cut out for the vent, the floor is weaker and has more flex. Therefore squeaks are often located near vents. But are easy to fix cause you know where the floor and joist needs a screw.

Done this stuff many times. Good Luck.

[Mr Havercamp]

On a Flagstaff there are no "joists" accessible from underneath. The support is from the aluminum tubes that are buried in the floor assembly. Underneath you'll find stamped members on about 4' centers. These are frame cross-ties, I would advise against attempting to screw or attach somehow up through these into the floor system. There is a reason the factory doesn't attach here. These floors, and the trailers in general, have a lot of flex.

If the squeaking area is above the black or gray tanks that is where I would look first. They drop the black and gray tanks in before placing the floor which drop down and hang on spreader bars. Then they wedge a chunk of Styrofoam above them tight to the floor that holds the tank down when empty.

The 2nd year warranty specifically excludes "floor squeaks" and says so right on the form.

These floors, and the trailer in general, have a lot of flex.

[billmac8]

Mr. Havercamp seems to know about Flagstaff trailers and I don't.

As I stated, my rig is a 10yr old Cardinal.

So please disregard my post.

[Fordcamper]

If your unit is out of warranty and less than 5 years old, go to the International Rally in Goshen, Indiana..they do repairs at the rally and may have a solution to your squeeks....we have some too and hopefully they will be able to help us with that problem...

[txredfish]

Fordcamper,
Goshen In is just too far. I live in south TX. If they fix your squeeks, let me know what they did ...................