How to protect popup roof latches?

[Bigfoot]

Truck campers are tall, even with a popup. Brushing overhanging branches is par for the course when negotiating forest roads. The roof latches on the camper stick out and tend to catch small branches I don't even notice--please, no comments about my driving! I have had to bend a latch tab back in place several times and fear that one day the latch or the roof will be damaged. Has anyone developed a way to protect the latches? A smooth cover makes sense but I don't find anything for sell. This can't be a problem unique to me.

 

[SunMan]

I've done my fair share of bushwhacking over the years and have plenty of scratches and dents in my camper to prove it but I have never had that happen once. I've even had my surf rack pads (and rear door ) impaled by branches but that's another story.

 

[craig333]

I'm surprised I haven't had that happen. Dents and scratches are all part of getting out there. You could stay on pavement and avoid that but who wants to do that? I modified my solar wiring to avoid such a thing happening. Curious to see what you come up with.

 

[Taku]

Man, when I used to run a log skidder in Montana I wouldn't get that size branch caught up on the machine!

 

[fish more]

How about duct tape?

 

[MarkBC]

Yeah, seems like this could happen, but AFAIK, it hasn't happened yet to me. That is, the roof latch on my camper hasn't been pried open or bent by passing branches.

It's true that I haven't spent a lot of time on narrow heavily-forested roads though...plenty of primitive roads but mostly in high desert areas.

...I've even had...impaled by branches but that's another story.

Yep, me, too.
So, my story (at the link) shows that I have rubbed against trees (or vice versa), but so far they haven't affected the roof latches.

 

[Bigfoot]

Sounds like I may be alone with this problem. Figures. Same as when I asked Hallmark what to do about covering up the ugly gap between the bumper and camper where the tailgate used to be, and I was told no one in all their decades of business had ever asked that question.

Frankly, the latches look like a dumb design especially considering where they are mounted. Some campers have the latches front and back which would minimize the problem, although an 8-foot model may need them on the sides. I'll just have to be extra careful.

Thanks for the responses and the stories of other tree-meets-camper incidents.

 

[Bad Habit]

I look at the latches on mine and can see that happening all the time (I'm in the PNW too). It may be more of case of a solution looking for the problem as it doesn't seem to come up as problem on any of the various forums (or at least not mentioned enough to notice). Personally I think it would be nice to have some kind of cover or ??? to protect them. I know I will be doing some foliage trimming and would like to minimize the trail fixes.

 

[enelson]

There may be a lower profile latch than could be used to replace the current latches. The factory latches have a lot of throw for the 180 degrees they are flipped and are fairly easy to put on and off.

 

[Kenny&Sharron]

more than 2 years later, you've likely got it figured...
how about pieces of aluminum, pop riveted on to the outer latch, sloping in to very close to the side of the camper ?
then you can really get into plowing Alders

 

[Bigfoot]

more than 2 years later, you've likely got it figured...
how about pieces of aluminum, pop riveted on to the outer latch, sloping in to very close to the side of the camper ?
then you can really get into plowing Alders

Still a problem. I've had to remove branches and bend the center tab back a few times. If I were handy at fabricating parts then I could come up with a better latch design. I'd probably use a strap attached to the top that connects to a latch below. That would get rid of the tab and lower the reach height which is too high.

 

[NivekD]

How bout a low profile butterfly latch like THIS.

 

[Bigfoot]

How bout a low profile butterfly latch like THIS.

I can't tell if those would work although it looks like the holes are different than the existing hardware. I don't fancy drilling into the camper and patching the existing holes.

Probably the easiest approach would be a simple cover that is held on with a pin through the latch tab. The tab already has a hole for a lock or pin. If i had a metal shop it would be easy to make something out of aluminum channel. The downside is another step (times 4) added to raising and lowering the top.

 

[klahanie]

BF, on your OP pic looks like the worst danger might be from the large gap below the roof edge. Took a look at mine, quick idea, some 1/2" angle angle might help some ...??

had some plastic so could prob use the existing screws or perhaps longer if using AL angle.

 

[Bigfoot]

BF, on your OP pic looks like the worst danger might be from the large gap below the roof edge. Took a look at mine, quick idea, some 1/2" angle angle might help some ...??

had some plastic so could prob use the existing screws or perhaps longer if using AL angle.

The gap is definitely prone to catch things. I also have a tab in the center that sticks out and gets bent--don't see that on yours. In fact the entire latch has a large profile. However, I'm not keen on any solution that involves drilling into the composite siding of the Hallmark.

 

[kmcintyre]

​I've always wanted a longer threaded portion of the latch but the company doesn't make it. I don't have a lot of threads left and most times, people over tighten those latches so mine's backed up quite a bit.

 

[Bombsight]

how about pieces of aluminum, pop riveted on to the outer latch, sloping in to very close to the side of the camper ?

Seems to be the best solution to me.

 

[Bigfoot]

Seems to be the best solution to me.

That might work on some campers, they are all different. I can't picture it on mine. Any design will either provide partial coverage or be complex, and even then it would not protect the center tab that sticks out.

Nothing simple and effective comes to mind, so I'll probably just have to be alert to the problem and pay more attention when around trees. Of course, then I get distracted with what's above and forget about stumps below like happened recently when I damaged the front air dam. Oh, well.