Redfish
Advanced Member
I’m about to drill some holes in my camper floor, but before I do something unwise, I thought I’d check in here first.
I’m attaching an aluminum dry box to the back of my 2016 Fleet. The long skinny box (35” long x12” wide x10.5” tall) mounted next to the door will weigh approximately 32 pounds fully loaded. The box will be supported by two aluminum brackets, an upper one bolted vertically and spanning from a jack bracket across to the grab handle area, and a lower one bolted horizontally up through the floor and inside a cabinet (see photo with crappy rendering of lower bracket).
My questions have to do with the bottom bracket, which will be 10” wide x 14” long x 0.25 thick and will be anchored by 2 sets of 2 side-by-side bolts. Each set of bolts will pass through a bottom cleat and the floor pack and will be backed by interior 3/16” plates. The most rearward set of bolts will also pass through the dark brown, plastic covered “threshold” piece (indicated by the arrow in the photo). I could use lag screws instead of through bolts, but want to avoid tear out.
Here’s my questions:
1. Exactly how is the floor pack constructed? I can see that it’s sandwich of some kind but I’m unclear about how it’s made and what it consists of.
2. Do the wooden wear cleats on the bottom of the camper line up with a wooden frame member in the floor pack or some other structure that I won’t crush when I tighten down on the nuts?
3. What is the “threshold” made of and can I drill through it with impunity (e.g., no wiring or other regrets)?
4. Lastly, how would you recommend I seal or otherwise handle the external contact between the aluminum bracket and wooden cleat to prevent rot?
Many thanks in advance for your advice and experience.
Jeff
I’m attaching an aluminum dry box to the back of my 2016 Fleet. The long skinny box (35” long x12” wide x10.5” tall) mounted next to the door will weigh approximately 32 pounds fully loaded. The box will be supported by two aluminum brackets, an upper one bolted vertically and spanning from a jack bracket across to the grab handle area, and a lower one bolted horizontally up through the floor and inside a cabinet (see photo with crappy rendering of lower bracket).
My questions have to do with the bottom bracket, which will be 10” wide x 14” long x 0.25 thick and will be anchored by 2 sets of 2 side-by-side bolts. Each set of bolts will pass through a bottom cleat and the floor pack and will be backed by interior 3/16” plates. The most rearward set of bolts will also pass through the dark brown, plastic covered “threshold” piece (indicated by the arrow in the photo). I could use lag screws instead of through bolts, but want to avoid tear out.
Here’s my questions:
1. Exactly how is the floor pack constructed? I can see that it’s sandwich of some kind but I’m unclear about how it’s made and what it consists of.
2. Do the wooden wear cleats on the bottom of the camper line up with a wooden frame member in the floor pack or some other structure that I won’t crush when I tighten down on the nuts?
3. What is the “threshold” made of and can I drill through it with impunity (e.g., no wiring or other regrets)?
4. Lastly, how would you recommend I seal or otherwise handle the external contact between the aluminum bracket and wooden cleat to prevent rot?
Many thanks in advance for your advice and experience.
Jeff