Broken turnbuckle attachment

[nikonron]

You'll only need to lock one side of the turnbuckle. I just ordered some 5/16 locking wing nuts off of Ebay. Ron

 

[Will.I.Am]

The plywood on our 2005 Hawk was separating near the forward attachment points on the camper after a 2 week long trip this summer, so I did a quick reinforcement using Simpson Strong Ties, Grade 8 bolts, regular washers, and lock washers. Feeling better about the attachments now... Any thoughts or potential downsides folks can think of using this approach?

Here's what it looks like on the couch side:

Here's what it looks like under the water heater, charge controller, etc. I added some small sections of plywood here to distribute the load.

On the outside, it looks pretty much the same as original, with the addition of a new lock washer.

 

[ntsqd]

Plywood, like all composites, doesn't like localized loads, they prefer distributed loads. Spreading the load out is key to good performance. The further it can be spread out, the better - but be reasonable. Rarely are exotic lengths called for.

Not a fan of "lock-washers" as they don't really work (excepting star washers in electrical uses). No highly loaded critical bolted joint anywhere (aircraft, engines, etc.) uses them, and with good reason. I don't think that I'd bother taking them out - not worth the effort. For the next such occasions invest in some Lock-tite.

 

[kmcintyre]

It is pretty easy to replace the eye nut on the camper base. Parts are available at most any hardware store.

Sometime you can even put the new eye nut in the camper while it is still on the truck (depending on what eye nut broke).

There are some easy ways to upgrade and strengthen them at the same time too.

1. Replace the "elevator bolt" with a Grade 8 bolt instead.

2. Install an aluminum or steel reinforcement plate on the top (inside the camper), and outside (if you want), optional.

Hope this helps for the moment.

For the past several years we have been installing tie downs on the base differently and with different brackets, so you can upgrade to those too if you want.

Feel free to call us if we can help with anything else.

Thank you.

Just out of curiosity, what's the length of the bolts? I'd assume they are = thickness of plywood + plate thickness + thickness of washer + thread height + extra. They look to extend quite far in the picture and might make the install of the turnbuckle a bit challenging.

 

[Vic Harder]

This probably belongs in the "done anything dumb recently" thread... but as a point of reference on the strength of the turnbuckles and mounting points, I will relay this story here.

My 2005 Hawk has the stock eye bolts, but the previous owner put some small 2" x 3" backing plates on the top side of the bolts to reinforce these mounts.

I installed 1/2" eye bolts in my truck with fender washers and normal 1/2" washers on each side.

My lovely wife and eye just brought this camper home a few weeks ago, and now want it off the truck and in the garage so I can work on it this fall. So this is our FIRST time removing the camper. Queue the dramatic music....

I use my power drill to lower the jacks to the ground, and then switch to the manual hand cranks, 10 rotations a side to keep things even, the way I lowered it down the first time. Up she goes... or not. 30 cranks later, a popping noise. What was that, she asks?

Dunno, I say. Keep cranking.

50 cranks, and it is getting hard.... camper is still not free of the truck bed???

Do YOU see where this is going? It took me a while. doh.

Lowered the legs again and crawled into the camper to remove the turnbuckles. Music >> Baaa daaa bing!!! <<

Long story short, NO damage to the camper. I did pull up one corner of the truck bed a bit - hence the popping noise. And I have a LOT more confidence in the reinforced camper mounts.

 

[Will.I.Am]

That does make me feel better about what I ended up doing, which was pretty minimal and not at all "engineered", thanks Vic.

Just out of curiosity, what's the length of the bolts? I'd assume they are = thickness of plywood + plate thickness + thickness of washer + thread height + extra. They look to extend quite far in the picture and might make the install of the turnbuckle a bit challenging.

Hi kmcintyre - I used 2.5" bolts; the originals were probably 2"? The new ones do extend out further than the factory ones, but the turnbuckles still fit just fine, plenty of room in the eyebolt. We just did up a trip up to Yosemite with the camper/new reinforced tie downs...happily, nothing exciting to report!