How to Properly Drill Thru FWC Exterior?

[Motoprof]

Hello, new here. Great forum. Just bought a Grandby that we want to kit out with some equipment attached to the camper exterior (recovery gear, added storage, etc). Some of it is heavy enough that brackets will need to be mounted and bolted from the outside to the inside. I am super nervous about this. Seems like a lot of factors to consider: locating wood struts, making appropriate size holes, sealing properly, etc.

Does anyone have or know of a step-by-step guide to this process? The main challenge, as I see it, is how to properly, effectively and safely drill holes from the outside to the inside of the camper so that the mount is strong, doesn't interfere with the integrity of the camper, and is watertight.

Appreciate the help!

 

[larryqp]

There aren't any woods struts, the frame is entirely aluminum, and locating them isn't easy. I think you will find that most owners avoid drilling through the outside. There is a sizable aluminum plate just below the roof, where the batwing brackets are installed, I think it's about 4" wide. There are another of threads on the forum where owners have discussed mounting things to the jack brackets. But I know of no step by step guide.

 

[Vic Harder]

Best to remove the inside panelling enough to scope out the framing, and make pilot holes from the inside

 

[billharr]

Best to remove the inside panelling enough to scope out the framing, and make pilot holes from the inside

This is what I did on my shell build out. Locate studs and use a "small" number drill to see if the location works. I did have to raise the vent for my fridge to avoid a seam and HAWK logo in the siding. I have 2 small stainless sheet metal screw hiding the hole. See picture below

 

[Oilbrnr]

I'm about to embark on this same journey soon as a Alu-Cab 270* awning is waiting for me in my shop to be installed. I *think* that the real proper way to mount heavy items is to sleeve the mounting holes so that the brackets don't crush the aluminum channel, in this case the large upper one. I know that FWC does offer the Eezi-Awn batwing as an option. I'll probably ask them or Paul May of Equipt from whom they source them as to what they do.

Has anyone tried a metal sensing stud finder BTW?

 

[buckland]

Here is a link to an Alu-cab install done....good advice about reinforcement at the corner to the jack stand. I'd love to do this as they are very strong but it is finding help with install that is difficult.
https://expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/alu-cab-shadow-awning-install-on-a-fwc-swift-replacing-the-batwing.196140/

 

[BFH4N]

I don't know if they would still do this, but a few years ago I got someone at FWC to send me pictures of the frame, taken at the factory of a unit being built. By measuring on the camper and scaling on the photo, I have been able to pretty accurately determine where the structural parts of the frame are.

There is a wide channel that runs along both sides and across the front (all one piece, curved around the front). You can see how wide it is from the outside by the height of the cabover part. It is thin aluminum, but you can cut threads into it for bolting things on. That's what I did for mounting my awning, but I used screws long enough to go all the way through the wall, with appropriate spacers and nuts on the inside, so the nuts tighten against the frame channel.

Alternatively, you could make a larger hole in the interior panelling, cut through the insulation and put a nut back in there, against the frame member. Then put some kind of decortive plug in the hole on the inside.

I don't think mounting holes that don't go through a frame member are a very good idea. The aluminum siding is very thin and soft and tightening anything against it would just deform it. Maybe you could attach something really light with sheet metal screws into one of the raised areas of the siding. In a location where there is a cabinet on the inside, you might be able to bolt through that, but you would need a spacer within the wall, to avoid bending in the siding.

The siding is not flat. By a frame member, the low parts of the siding are against it but the high sections are out about 3/16". For a bolt in one of those areas, you need to drill a larger hole in the siding and put a 3/16" long spacer (or some washers) on the bolt, to avoid crushing the siding when you tighten the bolt. You can get spacers like that from McMaster-Carr. I used a wood-cutting Forstner bit to cut holes in just the siding, for the spacers. The aluminum is really soft and it didn't seem to hurt the bit.

Use lots of caulk! Good luck...

- Bernard

 

[craig333]

Here is a link to an Alu-cab install done....good advice about reinforcement at the corner to the jack stand. I'd love to do this as they are very strong but it is finding help with install that is difficult.
https://expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/alu-cab-shadow-awning-install-on-a-fwc-swift-replacing-the-batwing.196140/

I used Hodakaguys install as the basis for doing mine. It wasn't an easy install. More hands the better.

 

[Vic Harder]

i have pictures of the inside of a 2002 Hawk in my Gallery. 2012 Puma pics are coming.