Drill through floor 2014 320 S under the sink, under the inside water tank (which has been removed)

KarenK

I have removed my inside water tank and put it outside.  I would like to drill a hole through the floor, just like the other holes that have been drilled in the area, but I can't even hammer a nail through.  I have looked at floor pictures Verna once posted, but I still can't figure out what my problem is. 
 This is where some holes are drilled (the camper came with these). 

I am trying to drill one more hole 9.5" from the above holes, to the passenger side of the camper, here:
 But I can't!  Why not?

Here is the inside view.  See the hole in front of the pencil?  Am I too close to the edge?

Tabaz

I ran into a similar problem when doing my Alde basement mod.  Tried drilling a hole only to find a hidden aluminum cross member going from the left to right.  Had to move the hole slightly.  I'm guessing you are too far to the front of the trailer.  Try drilling a pilot hole a few inches toward the main cabin.  I'll post the photo of the cross member I ran into.

Tabaz

You can see the aluminum brace to the left of the yellow arrow.  This is at the rear of the trailer.

KarenK

Thank you Tabaz. I am not sure there is a brace in there, as I was able to nail through about 1" from underneath. 

I am able to hammer a nail from underneath upwards about 1" and another from the inside down about 1".  That means there is something flat in there, because the distance from inside to outside is about 2".  I was wondering if the aluminum sheet along the outside front wraps around the bottom towards the rusty metal bar.  If that's the case, could I drill through the aluminum sheet?  I haven't tried drilling, only hammering a nail, I would hate to do something wrong!


Also, there are those other holes for the control unit battery stop drilled on the driver side.  How did those holes get drilled through?  There is one more for the water tank overflow.  They are all drilled through.  

Tabaz

It's hard to tell from my photo above, but that aluminum brace is actually an "L" shaped piece.  Impossible to drill through it unless you hit the flat portion exactly (which I would not want to do anyway). Instead of drilling through the floor, have you considered drilling horizontally into the diamond plate?  I drilled two 1/2" holes into the diamond plate to run the positive and negative wires from the battery to a 2000W inverter located in the cabinet under the fridge (2016 Outback). Can send photos if they would help.

ScottG

@KarenK, I enlarged the existing hole for the wiring harness on my 2015 to accommodate a dedicated line for an auxiliary battery. I didn't encounter any resistance or notice any metal shavings in the process.

The hole is in an awkward place, positioned between the cabinet wall and the black tank under the toilet, and accessed through a small cutaway in the bottom of the cabinet.

The 2014s were a little different and I don't know if the configuration is the same. Nor do I know if using that location for whatever you are doing would work for you. If interested, I posted photos of the project here (see the later posts from this year) and will be happy to answer any additional questions.

KarenK

Thank you Scott.  Yesterday, I was considering doing something similar, which would actually solve my problem in a perfect manner, but that would mean a lot of unwiring, untaping and redoing all that, which was harrowing to me the first time around!  What I did with my solar cables, was run them through the water drain hole because I had another plan for my water hose inlet.  Now I changed my mind, and want that hole back.  But to remove the solar wires and increase either of the other two holes would mean a lot of disconnecting of wires which are nicely connected and taped to the 'block of wood I can't recall the name of' before the battery.  I was so hoping not to have to go there!  But, if I want to do it right and make it most streamlined, I will probably have to disassemble that and reconnect.  

KarenK

Tabaz, the diamond plate hole was another option I considered - I've been doing lots of considering.  I would love to see some pictures.  I think I could stomach that more than dealing with the wires.  

KarenK

Mission accomplished!  I revisited my solar cables because I was sure they were directly connected to the battery, and they were....  I just needed some sleep I guess.  The black hose contains my solar cables.  I drilled a new hole like you described Scott. Now on to the original project, getting the water from outside to inside via my new configuration.  I pretty much have that set up - just need to test.

Thank you both Tabaz and Scott for helping me push on through!

ScottG

Glad it worked out! Looking back on the discussion I linked to above, it looks like @seajeeper did something similar (adding a second hole behind the original) on their 2016 without incident.

I'm still curious about the resistance you were encountering in other locations. Were those attempts closer to the front wall? I suspect it's just a matter of getting far enough back to clear whatever structural member was blocking the drill bit. 

KarenK

Hi Scott, I am curious too.  I moved forward towards the cabin from where I put the pencil in one of the above pictures, but there isn't much more forwards I could go because the horizontal trailer bar is in the way.  I was able to poke through on the other side of the horizontal bar, but I didn't want my hole there. I also tried drilling upwards just to the right of the white pipe, (above picture), and couldn't get through there either, hence I went in front of the pipe, and that worked.  I like that better.  It ended up working out nice and cleanly and much more organized, so I am glad that whatever forces got in the way, did.  

BrianZ

Maybe this shot of a floor could explain something..

It's the back end, but shows structures in the floor.  Aluminum framing, plus wood, and wood inside aluminum for anchoring screws.  I guess the back or front walls fit into the angle cut into the wood.