Check your eyebolts!!

[Tomas Tierra]

When we returned from our last trip in the camper I noticed the eye bolts coming from the camper were bent off just a bit. Fearing I had damaged the camper, I took one off to have a look....Well I ended up replacing the three "leveler bolts" I could get to (fourth is under the cabinets) and backing them up with some alluminum plates I got from Stan..

One off the bolts I took off was Half sheered!!! The one on the left, you can barely see the black lines on the first and third threads...

I have no idea if these bolts failed on this trip, or have been that way since I bought the camper....

Anyways, Check em boys..It would suck to break one of these on a trip..

TT

 

[Sam]

Thanks for the post. It's not the first time & won't be the last. It's 2008 and the campers cost $14k it's time to upgrade the technology....Stan are you listening!

 

[Tomas Tierra]

Did you have a problem Sam??

 

[pvstoy]

I have no idea if these bolts failed on this trip, or have been that way since I bought the camper....
TT


It could have been that owner before you, Why did he give you such a killer good deal

I guess with so much side tourqe and what are those grade 5 or less bolts, I can see how they could start to bend in line with the turnbuckle. Could the turnbuckles be too tight? Each time you stop and check them more tourqe is added?

 

[John D]

Elevator head bolts like those are not meant to anchor a lifting eye we use as a tie down. Nevertheless, the bolts are probably large enough to withstand the load, even when bent. Placing an aluminum plate under the large wide head of the elevator bolt does nothing to solve the problem of bending the bolt with off vertical loads and may make the problem worse. In addition to making it easier to bend the bolt, the electrolysis created by placing the aluminum plate in contact with the steel bolt will make it more likely to fail, and sooner.

One way to reduce damage to the tie down hardware used in our campers lies in replacing the turn buckles with something that will stretch a bit to reduce high peak loads, especially for off road use. Half inch nylon or Dacron double braid rope has a breaking strength of about 8,000 pounds which is in keeping with that of the elevator bolts. I have used both rope and turn buckles for tying my campers into my trucks with equal success. However, the rope has just enough give that is subjects the steel hardware to obviously less loads. I know that because I have used relatively smaller diameter hardware with rope and found it sufficient with heavier campers than the FWCs.

I cannot and do not advise anyone to alter FWC or ATC factory suggested tie down methods. However, I urge the camper builders to perform some tests using double braid rope in stead of turn buckles. The system I use involves installing a standard sailboat cleat of appropriate size on the inside of the camper floor pac wall. The nylon or Dacron double braid is attached to the eye on the camper using a bowline knot. The line is then run through the eye attached to the truck bed and back up through the eye on the camper, thence through a convenient well cut smooth hole in the plywood wall of the floor pac, and secured to the conveniently placed cleat inside. This enables tension on the line to be checked and adjusted much more easily than with turnbuckles. I have used rope of various diameters and triple or quadruple looped the line for added strength when I thought it was needed. Installing the fancy cleats is not necessary. Ropes can be tied and checked through the access openings without modifying the camper. For safety sake, learn to tie a bowline knot if planning to try this.

 

[Rockjok]

I've got a falcon shell on a Chevy S10. The camper is shorter than the pickup bed but that gives me good exterior room for propane, a generator, and a water jug. I was lucky in that I'm only 40 lbs over the mfg maximum load and right on with the CG.

For mounting I used eyebolts and turnbuckles in the front and ratcheting tie downs in the rear. I recently spent a month in Southern Utah and Arizona with a lot of rough road travel. I never had hassles with the rear tie downs but, since they give slightly, it led to a problem with with the turn buckles. After several days of bumps the turn buckles would start to back off and the camper would begin to "boxcar". Eventually the turn buckle hooks would come off the trucks eyebolts.

After verifying the loosening of the turn buckles with a glop of white out (showed loosening in a day) I started twisting a piece of 10 ga solid wire thru the eyebolt and the turnbuckle. After tightening the turnbuckle slightly more than needed it will gradually back off until "caught" by the wire. I haven't had a problem since. Due to a battery and storage box it's a PITA to get to the forward access holes for inspection so the wire is a good piece of cheap insurance.

Rob

 

[chnlisle]

Thanks alot Pat,
I was the guy that gave him the killer deal. And I know where you live.

 

[chnlisle]

John I would be very interested in pix of your solution. I know others here would as well.
One thing though. In my years of sailing I was always told that a knot reduces the tensile strength of line at the knot by a considerable margin. I'm not an engineer but many people told me the same thing.

 

[lqhikers]

camper tie downs ho hum.

Just a reminder their is a way to end all tie down problems,just check my old threads! Proven over and over to be bullet proof.Also not much $$ if you are handy.
Just a suggestion for anybody new that has not read old threads on this subject.
Summer is here and we are getting ready for a 3-4 week trip to the Bridgeport area,maybe we will find Fossets plane!
Drive slow and enjoy "its the journey"
Les Lqhikers

 

[pvstoy]

Jay...

Other than the rope and Les method...There is the bolt through the floor method and using a double nut. I have used this with fine results on two FWC since 1994 with a lot of off road adventures.

 

[John D]

Outboard tie downs, including but not limited to HappiJack, FastGuns, TorqueLift and others employ stretch or spring to relieve peak loads. Spring loaded tie downs available are too long to be used inboard with stock tie down eyes provided by FWC and ATC. Rope stretches too, and can be used in the existing tie downs with only the purchase of short lengths of rope.

The practice of mounting bolts through the floor of the camper is precisely the recommendation of the folks at Alaskan Campers. It has been my impression that they have been making high quality campers for a long time. They are credible. Nevertheless, if lqhikers bolted his camper through the floor directly to the truck bed, he would probably return from Baja with a sheet of plywood securely bolted to the floor of his pickup. A happy Mexican would be using the main part of his camper as a fishing shack. As lqhikers has implied, anything made by man can be broken. The greatest tie down protector is the driver of the rig, as in lqhiker’s wisdom.

In connection with another concern, it is true that rope is weakened when knotted or bent. As much as a third of the breaking strength is lost. It would be a SOP refinement to minimize that problem should the factory decide to allow rope as an acceptable method for securing their campers.

 

[pvstoy]

The practice of mounting bolts through the floor of the camper is precisely the recommendation of the folks at Alaskan Campers. It has been my impression that they have been making high quality campers for a long time. They are credible. Nevertheless, if lqhikers bolted his camper through the floor directly to the truck bed, he would probably return from Baja with a sheet of plywood securely bolted to the floor of his pickup. A happy Mexican would be using the main part of his camper as a fishing shack. As lqhikers has implied, anything made by man can be broken. The greatest tie down protector is the driver of the rig, as in lqhiker’s wisdom.



Hi John,

I do agree with the rope and that it will streach and act as a spring like the tie downs you stated.

I can not agree with your on your statement and that it miss leads people to believe that if you bolt through the floor your camper will be destroyed by bad roads.

That is the only way that I have mounted two FWC onto my 83 Toyota 4x4 pickup that is know as a stiff rideing box type frame. I have been on "very" bad roads, many of them. I have watched the furniture re-arrange positions in the camper. I have put screws back into the cabinets that have worked loose. It has been off road on trails that the truck has been beat up and fixed. I find the FCW is very strong and I see no damage as you have stated would happen.

I guess on would have to take the skin off and see how the welds are holding up. Camper looks great after all those extended bad dirt roads.

From the begining FWC has been mounting through the floor and I don't know when they swiched over to the turnbuckles. Through the floor is still an option at the factory if you want it, but they use a small diameter metal ring. I cut out metal squares that will spread the contact pressure out.

This has been good for me and have not seen any way the camper is falling apart. Just had to share another view.

John keep up the good work on your information you share I think it is sound

 

[chnlisle]

John, are you suggesting that a certain amount of stretch is a good thing. As you know there are some high tech lines that have little or no stretch and although expensive in such short lengths are certainly affordable. Also I'm sure you know, many of these lines are single braid, a configuration that makes it easy for even guys like me that are all thumbs to put an eye in eliminating the need for knotting.

With my modest sailing experience, I'm very aware of the tremendous loads these lines are under and how well they preform I'm just confused on their application for our use. This subject was broached once before and as I recall but not pursued.

Also how much purchase are you using when you tighten the line and where are you mounting the cleat?

 

[brett13]

Ben/Stan insist the turnbuckles should be hand-tightened, then 1/2 turn with a stubby screwdriver. Am I wrong in understanding this is to allow some give under pressure?

Second, the truck beds flex. More in some trucks than others. 1/2 tons probably flex a whole lot more than an f250/350 under typical camper loads. Wouldn't that make a difference in how tight you can have it? There is even a big difference in bed/frame flex in the new Tundra's (C-channel) vs the Ford f150's (boxed) frames. Doesn't that put different stresses on the campers? And the width of the camper floor probably plays a part too- a wider floor will receive more torque from a bending truck.

In other words, might flexing tie-downs be a moot point in comparison to truck flex (depending on exact rig config)?

 

[dorocks]

That idea about wiring the eyebolts reminded me of my boating days. If you did not "wire" the bolt on the anchor it would come undone and goodbye anchor. Did that once and somebody told me about saltwater capable wire and never lost an anchor again.