Opened Turnbuckles

[Captm]

Switching from a Flippac to a FWC I adjusted my driving style, no more Hare'n'Hound speeds now I'm in just out for a "Sunday drive" mode.

With that said this pass weekend I went over some whoop de do's slightly faster than intended resulting in a bit of damage. The back of the camper rose over 7" according to the scratch in the lower siding at the tailgate mount. The front left came forward and down about 8" denting the roof about 1" deep. When I pulled over at the next wide spot I found all four turnbuckles lying disengaged on the deck with the camper ends bent open.
I used Loctite when I last tightened them so they were not loose but the frame does flex, especially when
cross loaded with only two wheels on opposite sides making contact.

I had been mulling over a different mounting for the camper - just haven't got to it yet. Now I know my weekend project to work off the Turkey.
Cheers

 

[kmcintyre]

What type of truck was this? That's crazy. I've been on roads where I broke a shock but my camper didn't move.

 

[Captm]

My Rig is a 2005 Tacoma 4x4 LB with OME shocks, Dakar springs w/ extra leaf mounted upside down, Timbrens with 255 80/17 BFG Mud Terrain KM2's, skids and sliders. The engine and drive train are stock.
Cheers

 

[Lighthawk]

Wow, Captm! I think you need to work on your Sunday drive speeds. Whoop-de-doos can be the worst.

Bummer about damage to your truck cab. I only know our experience with the Hawk/Tundra where I have had to tighten the odd turnbuckle, but now use nylock wingnuts on the normal thread side.

I'll be interested in what you come up with, after seeing how well built your truck / flippack mods were. I guess it's better that the turnbuckles were weaker than the FWC bolt connection or truck bed connection.

 

[Ted]

Wow, Cap. You came way too close to ending up like this guy.

I'm kind of wondering what you consider a Sunday drive but I imagine it is something like the videos I see of the Dakar Rally. Seriously, I'm not sure there is a mounting that is able to withstand the forces involved when things like accidental whoop de do's happen at high speed.

 

[Captm]

I was doing 20-25mph had I been 15-20mph I could have slowed down in time. The road skirts around a dry lake bed connecting Fish canyon to Goler wash, can't remember the trail#. I think the bend in the hooks started straitening out on the trail the day before and the whoops were the final straw. I bent them back knowing it was better than nothing but one of them straitened back out the following day.
Cheers

 

[deethe]

I guess it's better that the turnbuckles were weaker than the FWC bolt connection or truck bed connection.

great point Lighthawk!

i've been considering upgrading the turnbuckles from 5/16" to 3/8" stock and may just reconsider this after reading this post. the turnbuckles are a better failure point than the camper or bed mounts

and well engineered then I must say to the FWC crew

 

[craig333]

I have to think they were loose to get the hooks to straighten like that. Look at the damage on my camper and the turnbuckles are still like new. You really need to check those on a regular basis. I doubt you did anything more than I did heading in to Saline Valley before the road crews fixed it. I've been known to drive a bit fast myself

 

[Captm]

My first thought was that they must have been loose, but the Loctite said otherwise. When I first started racing motorcycles as a kid I learned to mark nuts and bolts with fingernail polish to make prerace inspections a quick looksee. I'll add checking them to my morning pre-departure list right before "is the top latched".
Cheers

 

[MotoDave]

Looks like you just plain exceeded the load rating on the hook portion.

I was taught that open eye bolts are for hanging plants on your grandma's porch, and closed eye bolts (think 1 piece forging) are for hanging real loads. I would swap those out for some closed eye turnbuckles and use a threaded link or a shackle to make the connection on each end. A jam nut of some sort or blue loctite isn't a bad idea.

A quick look through mcmaster's selection shows that for the same thread size the closed eye turnbuckles are rated 2-4x higher than the open hook type.

 

[fish more]

Torklift Fast Gun Derringers will fix all your turnbuckle problems, they don't come loose and secure the camper. Add some J hooks, a couple quick links and you are set.

 

[DonC]

how many pounds of pressure do you use on the Torklifts?

 

[Kodachrome]

I just got done dealing with some “Death Valley” goodness my self that I earned fairly, 50MPH on Racetrack Road and hitting a hole that was in shadow….oops. I busted the front left elevator bolt, egg shelled the bearing cup in a billet upper control arm and ripped an ABS break sensor cable apart when the A arm came off the ball joint…that was fun getting back on in the middle of nowhere.

Craig333, I saw photos of your damage, tough deal, hope you get it fixed soon. I am not convinced it is good enough just to check the turnbuckle tightness as they can be too tight on one if the other loosened and the only way to verify that is to loosen and re-tighten all of them, so that is what I do, re-set all TB’s after a long windy drive or off road.

I also thought about Torklifts but was told that if you *really* off road, then they are actually a bad idea as they pull down on the jackbracket on the frame and can damage it. I still carry motorcycle tie downs and associated hardware in case I break the front E-bolts which have been the only ones I have busted, they sure saved my rear this time when I could not get to the E-bolt due to cabinetry which I have since modified so I can.

I wish there were a better system besides bolting through the floor to keep these campers secure, I might design something and give it a shot. In the meantime the best advice I have is slow it down, make slip alignment marks on your TB’s and re-set the tightness on them fairly often when subjecting the camper to rigorous vertical and lateral loads.

 

[Jon&Sue_DeArman]

That is very good advise. Slowing down allows you to come back the same number of times you go out. Driving conservatively & Watching the track ahead while your significant other watches the scenery will enable you to see those sharp rocks, sinkholes & railroad spikes before you encounter them. 4-Wheeling is like Mountaineering, reaching your destination is optional, getting back in mandatory.

 

[craig333]

Wow, not the kind of repair I'd like to do in the middle of nowhere. Glad you had the tools to get it done. What you described may be overkill but after repairing mine I'm not so sure I won't be doing that. Better safe than sorry. I've had my run ins with shadows on the road.

 

[JHanson]

After also breaking a hook on one of our turnbuckles, I replaced them all with forged steel versions and closed threaded loops. It's easy to say "Drive conservatively," but in my case the break was caused by a violent maneuver to avoid a car that had pulled out directly in front of me on a 65mph two-lane road. I'm in favor of upgrading.

 

[craig333]

Have a link Jonathan?

 

[Kolockum]

After having several issues with my eyebolts pulling through my camper, I bolted through camper directly to the bed in three corners and use a large turnbuckle with a locking nut in the third corner. I cant bolt through that corner due to the gas tank positioning. It almost a week of measuring, re-measuring and pondering before I drilled my first hole. I am glad I did as it opened up the voids where the turn buckles used to be and allowed me to fit a battery and other items that otherwise would not have fit. Lining up the camper during loading is surprisingly easy.

After also breaking a hook on one of our turnbuckles, I replaced them all with forged steel versions and closed threaded loops. It's easy to say "Drive conservatively," but in my case the break was caused by a violent maneuver to avoid a car that had pulled out directly in front of me on a 65mph two-lane road. I'm in favor of upgrading.

X2
I am a conservative driver also but recently I had to take a fairly extreme evasion maneuver this summer that got my back tires off the ground and I did not have any damage to the camper, bolts or bed. However my cabinets spilled their guts.

 

[ntsqd]

I bought the fork & pin type turn-buckles that we have from McMaster. Same for the forged loop eyes and all metal lock-nuts for the eyes. I've posted links & p/n's in the past but don't have those threads bookmarked. I safety wired the turn-buckles rather than jam-nutting them, but either way works.

 

[DrJ]

I'm with Kilroy here.
How many of you have actually had (or known of) a FWC falling off the truck because of eye bolt failure?
I've never seen nor heard of it.
My family owns 4 different FWC campers currently of various years and that's never been a problem.

FWC has been using this same tie down idea for a long time. I'm assuming if it didn't work well they would have been
forced into doing something else years ago.

I really liked the idea of beefing up my set up - I'm just not sure if it's necessary.

Maybe Stan would comment on this idea???