It appears as if our Yellowstone trip hogged my time for the past week! And that trip wasn't without more trailer woes!! As promised though, lets begin the story of our trailer remodel and save those Yellowstone stories for later. It's a multi-step process just for the back end and will probably take numerous posts. Here's a teaser pic of one of Yellowstone Lake's geysers... obviously not erupting. Okay! On to taking apart the trailer!
SHORT VERSION:
SHORT VERSION:-
REMOVE WINDOWS, LIGHTING, DOORS, PANELS, ETC.
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FROM SIDE WORKING ON.
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CORNER MOULDING SCREWS, REMOVE SCREWS.
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SCRAPE OFF LEFT BEHIND PUTTY TAPE.
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REMOVE STAPLES AT ALUMINUM SIDING EDGE.
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REMOVE ALUMINUM SIDING PANELS.
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REMOVE INSULATION, DISCARD IF OLD N MOLDY.
LONG VERSION:
For any side of the trailer, front, back, or either side, the first step is to remove windows, lighting, doors, etc., because they all are screwed through the aluminum siding. All of ours were held together with a #8 Hex headed 2" long screw.
If you jumped the gun and ran out to your trailer, by now you're probably asking "How the heck do I remove those windows and access panels??" Well, some panel covers are simply screwed on and you can remove those screws and the panel. Others have hidden their screws in an ingenious U-channel to protect them from the elements and thus preventing rust and water seepage through the holes. Remember: ALL HOLES IN THE ALUMINUM SIDING ARE POTENTIAL WATER LEAKS! These U-channels have a plastic cover that slips into them, thus covering the head of the screw. One more measure taken to prevent leaks. 
Example of U-channel, windows left side with exposed screws, bottom still intack but I pushed the plastic cover over an inch.
This is an example where the plastic covers are mitered and meet in the corner. Not exactly sure how I will get these out without breaking them. At their age they are brittle and just chip out. Oh well....I can buy more of the plastic cover.
The tail lights and other exterior lighting is wired in and will need to be un-wired. I'm not the saviest electrician, but I'm pretty sure you should disconnect the battery FIRST before messing with the wiring. You could also cover the exposed wires with a wire nut, but being unplugged from the battery, there shouldn't be any current running through 'em.
If you jumped the gun and ran out to your trailer, by now you're probably asking "How the heck do I remove those windows and access panels??" Well, some panel covers are simply screwed on and you can remove those screws and the panel. Others have hidden their screws in an ingenious U-channel to protect them from the elements and thus preventing rust and water seepage through the holes. Remember: ALL HOLES IN THE ALUMINUM SIDING ARE POTENTIAL WATER LEAKS! These U-channels have a plastic cover that slips into them, thus covering the head of the screw. One more measure taken to prevent leaks. Example of U-channel, windows left side with exposed screws, bottom still intack but I pushed the plastic cover over an inch.This is an example where the plastic covers are mitered and meet in the corner. Not exactly sure how I will get these out without breaking them. At their age they are brittle and just chip out. Oh well....I can buy more of the plastic cover.The tail lights and other exterior lighting is wired in and will need to be un-wired. I'm not the saviest electrician, but I'm pretty sure you should disconnect the battery FIRST before messing with the wiring. You could also cover the exposed wires with a wire nut, but being unplugged from the battery, there shouldn't be any current running through 'em.So, you've removed all windows, lighting and panel doors/covers?? The next step is to locate your corners. On this model of trailer ('76 Layton), the aluminum sides are butted together at the four corners then covered with a metal corner moulding. A quick google search resulted in THIS resource to show you different moulding profiles. In the event the I need to buy more, now I know who to call!
This is the bottom front corner missing about 6" of corner moulding!! Not good. But it is a good close up of how the metal panels meet at the corner. Once you've located the corner moulding, our model of trailer has a flexible plastic cover that covers up the center strip where the screws are located. Remove this center cover to expose even more hex-head screws, remove the screws as far up as you need to go.
This pic shows the corner moulding and middle plastic cover separated from the trailer and unscrewed 3/4 of the way up the back. (As I type this post, I've realized that I've done a horrible job of taking pictures to show our process and have had to go out and take more.) Between the corner moulding and the aluminum siding there should be a layer of putty tape. A metal corner moulding sitting on metal siding does not seal out water, therfore putty tape is put in to help seal these corners. This putty tape will need to be scraped off, or in our case, chipped out because it was so old it lost it's puttiness. 
Where the two sides of aluminum siding meet, and beneath the putty tape will be a row of staples the entire length of the corner on both sides (and probably along the roof, we didn't go that far. This pic shows are front exposed corner which REALLY leaked at some point before we purchased the trailer.) These staples will need to be removed, and as rusty as they may be, make sure you have your tetanus shot and throw them away. We collected ours in an old Starbucks cup because we have two kids running around the area while we are working. This post sure is getting long winded....I'll add a quick review towards the top. 
Once the moulding is unscrewed and the staples are removed, the aluminum siding can begin to come off!! YAY! We're getting somewhere!! Our model had three different colors of siding,cream, lighter yellow and darker yellow. Each color is a different piece of aluminum, therefore we took off four different pieces of aluminum siding, two of which were cream colored.
This is the bottom front corner missing about 6" of corner moulding!! Not good. But it is a good close up of how the metal panels meet at the corner. Once you've located the corner moulding, our model of trailer has a flexible plastic cover that covers up the center strip where the screws are located. Remove this center cover to expose even more hex-head screws, remove the screws as far up as you need to go.
This pic shows the corner moulding and middle plastic cover separated from the trailer and unscrewed 3/4 of the way up the back. (As I type this post, I've realized that I've done a horrible job of taking pictures to show our process and have had to go out and take more.) Between the corner moulding and the aluminum siding there should be a layer of putty tape. A metal corner moulding sitting on metal siding does not seal out water, therfore putty tape is put in to help seal these corners. This putty tape will need to be scraped off, or in our case, chipped out because it was so old it lost it's puttiness. Where the two sides of aluminum siding meet, and beneath the putty tape will be a row of staples the entire length of the corner on both sides (and probably along the roof, we didn't go that far. This pic shows are front exposed corner which REALLY leaked at some point before we purchased the trailer.) These staples will need to be removed, and as rusty as they may be, make sure you have your tetanus shot and throw them away. We collected ours in an old Starbucks cup because we have two kids running around the area while we are working. This post sure is getting long winded....I'll add a quick review towards the top. Once the moulding is unscrewed and the staples are removed, the aluminum siding can begin to come off!! YAY! We're getting somewhere!! Our model had three different colors of siding,cream, lighter yellow and darker yellow. Each color is a different piece of aluminum, therefore we took off four different pieces of aluminum siding, two of which were cream colored.That siding exposes THIS pink mess which, once removed, exposed THIS ROTTON MESS!!
The entire left cornere was crumbling apart rotton!! Which we suspected was in bad shape, but not crumbling. The main reason we opened this whole back side up was to replace the soggy bathroom floor (that little window is the bathroom window). So when we opened this up, we new we would have more to replace. Le sigh....oh well! We wanted a trailer to fix up a bit, I guess we got one. The next step is wood/paneling removal, floor removal and other little bits along the way, all coming up in the next post or two or three.
Happy Travels!!
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