I've been using my new to me '03 granby a lot recently and after arriving at my campsite this last trip, I noticed the camper was askew in the bed of the truck ('03 Ford F-250). Upon inspection of the turnbuckles, I noticed not a single one was attached. All were laying loose on the floor of the bed, expect one that was missing entirely. I have taken the jacks off, so I couldn't lift it out of the bed at the time. I replaced the 3 turnbuckles I could find and hand tightened them. When I did, I found one of the camper hook attachments had broken off. Just a broken stub was left in its place.
To be clear, this is the hook built in to the camper body that broke off. The turnbuckle was intact. I'm assuming that either or more of the turnbuckles were loose, giving the camper enough play during off road conditions to put too much stress on the hook and cause it to break off. As for the missing turnbuckle, well it could be hiding in the truck bed somewhere where I won't see it until I take the camper off, or it bounced out of the bed while off road.
So now I'm driving it with 3 turnbuckles attached and making sure to check them often for integrity. The camper is still a little askew in the bed but doesn't seem to affect anything... It doesn't appear to be moving more than it did when I first noticed it.
My question is what to do to replace that fourth attachment point on the camper. Like I said, it was a hook but it's not clear to me how it was built in to the wood frame of the camper. I'm sure it will be once I get the camper off the truck but I don't have access to the jacks right now so until I do, I can't get a good look at it from the underside, only from inside the camper and above the broken hook.
Also, I tried to do some research about this before posting and noticed this isn't entirely uncommon, the turnbuckles coming loose. I saw several people suggest replacing the original aluminum ones since there have been reports of failure, but besides that are there any suggestions for keeping them from loosening while driving? I do take the truck on some pretty rough road, but isn't that what an a four wheel camper is for?
Thanks in advance,
John
Sent from my iPhone using Wander The West
To be clear, this is the hook built in to the camper body that broke off. The turnbuckle was intact. I'm assuming that either or more of the turnbuckles were loose, giving the camper enough play during off road conditions to put too much stress on the hook and cause it to break off. As for the missing turnbuckle, well it could be hiding in the truck bed somewhere where I won't see it until I take the camper off, or it bounced out of the bed while off road.
So now I'm driving it with 3 turnbuckles attached and making sure to check them often for integrity. The camper is still a little askew in the bed but doesn't seem to affect anything... It doesn't appear to be moving more than it did when I first noticed it.
My question is what to do to replace that fourth attachment point on the camper. Like I said, it was a hook but it's not clear to me how it was built in to the wood frame of the camper. I'm sure it will be once I get the camper off the truck but I don't have access to the jacks right now so until I do, I can't get a good look at it from the underside, only from inside the camper and above the broken hook.
Also, I tried to do some research about this before posting and noticed this isn't entirely uncommon, the turnbuckles coming loose. I saw several people suggest replacing the original aluminum ones since there have been reports of failure, but besides that are there any suggestions for keeping them from loosening while driving? I do take the truck on some pretty rough road, but isn't that what an a four wheel camper is for?
Thanks in advance,
John
Sent from my iPhone using Wander The West
