Uh oh, its not just maintenance

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Craig, I would go to a good store like TAP Plastics and pick up some quality epoxy. It's stronger than the wood, so you will have a good repair, just make sure you get it well into the broken area. You will need to use something like your bottle jack to push the wood back into place. A piece of wood or metal to distribute the clamping force. Put a couple of sheets of wax paper or plastic between the repair and the piece of wood that distributes the load, otherwise, you'll have a new addition to the bottom of that section.

Talk to the people at the store, and ask questions about the right epoxy to use for temperatures in your area, and to learn what additional supplies you'll need. Measuring cups, mixing cups, etc. They will probably have a good idea on the best way to get it into recesses of the break.

There are also glues that would be effective. Resorcinol is one that is widely used in boat building. Perhaps this might be a better choice now that I think about it. It's widely used in boats, and I suspect not as fussy as epoxy. There's a rumor that we have a couple of wood workers in the group, so let's see what they say.

 

[craig333]

I like banjos, I just don't just get a little nervous when I hear them while I'm camping

As long as I'm done by Tuesday. Rain forecast for Wednesday.

 

[fish more]

Yes I agree with the epoxy fix. Then add your plates, make sure the plates are long enough to distribute the stress to a larger area. I too took my camper off this last week to paint the lower wood structure, put a second coat on sat am. Hope to reinstall tuesday. I checked my hold downs and found no stress or cracks in all four corners. Might also suggest to get some Torklift Derringer Fast Gun tie downs and get rid of the turnbuckles. I added "J" bolts to the Fast Guns, a couple of quick links, a little time to get adjusted to the right tension, no more problems with anything coming loose.

I did however use the same paint FWC uses, instead of flat, I chose eggshell to provide more protection and help seal up the wood. The paint is made by Frazee #8535 Wayfarer Gray. They are located in Sac, also in Roseville. Good luck with your fix !!

 

[Beach]

Definitely go the epoxy route. Unless you apply pressure to the wood in both directions it is not going to be a strong lamination. Have you thought about cutting that broken piece out and scarfing in a new section, shouldn't be too hard, it's all butt joints except the joint were the new plywood joins together(where the scarf would be). I like the idea of the full length angle, beside spreading the load it allows for many options for tie down positions. P.S. I use epoxy often, don't fight the conditions when using it, wait for good weather if you have time.

 

[craig333]

Got it all painted up. I hate painting, especially laying on your back. I have paint in my beard, on my face, clothes, I even got paint on the dog. I'll put it all back together tomorrow. The repair on the broken wood is iffy. As thick as the epoxy was it didn't want to stay there. I wound up covering it with a piece of the thin diamond plate. I think it'll be plenty strong when I'm done.

Btw, I used Behr Premium porch paint, a couple shades lighter than the original grey.

Oh yeah, I also took advantage of having it off to clean the window on the camper and the truck. I can see again! Washed the truck too. Got a few spots that haven't seen daylight in years.

 

[craig333]

Finished up today. Instead of a slot like FWC did I just drilled a hole. The original eye bolts are still there just in case. Only hit my finger with the hammer once.

I was more conservative with the other side since its still in good shape. Hope I don't regret doing more there but I was running out of time and money.

Back together finally. I spent some time getting the camper perfectly centered. Hold downs are hand tight and all have nuts this time.

Glad I had some metal on hand and decent amount of tools and bolts. A bandsaw would have been handy.

I did forget a couple things. I wanted to install a strap from the bed to the camper, a last resort all tied downs have failed kind of thing. Forgot. I wanted to run another wire parallel to the existing power wire while it was off. Forgot. I'll still do that just would have been easier with the camper off.

Now its cleanup time. Cleaned the driveway and put away most of my tools but the camper needs a thorough cleaning along with the work bench.

Gotta love how a simple two day (one for the paint to dry) maintenance project turns into a four day ordeal. Oh well, I have faith its going to last. Another pair of hands would have been nice. Nothing like being a contortionist. I wish I could have got a couple pics of me holding a wrench on the outside and the inside at the same time.

I would have done some things differently with more access but I'm even close to doing the major rebuild that would entail. Now I can wait another ten years before the camper comes off again. Maybe less, we'll see how the paint holds out.

 

[mojave joe]

After rescuing a FWC and repairing the lift panels, the cab over and replacing the headliner and canvas. I gave up.
An aluminum frame that is not tied into the lower section and anchor points is worthless. Sorry folks, a camper advertised for four wheeling should do better..just my .02 cents..

 

[SunMan]

Craig,
Meant to post this earlier but just so you don't feel alone, this happened to me in Baja back in 2010. I fixed it with some aluminum plates that Stan happily mailed to me when I got back. Rigged it with some rope that got me through the remainder of the trip.

 

[craig333]

One thing I forgot to mention. The squeak thats been driving me nuts was still there with the camper off. I actually thought it was the camper. Now as soon as it stops raining I'll crawl under the truck and find out what it really is.

 

[60toyetero]

Just happened to me.. what a joke.. a company that charges so much for their campers should do a complimentary shipping of upgraded mounting hardware. I wish I would have read more about them before i got one. sold for 4wheel adventures but don't hold up on a slightly bumpy road. I baby my stuff and I was not going fast through the bumps at all and next thing I was hearing was my chain on the bed of the truck. the surface area on those original anchor points is a design flaw. That should have been one of the first things addressed when designing something to hold up on the off road.

 

[longhorn1]

Just happened to me.. what a joke.. a company that charges so much for their campers should do a complimentary shipping of upgraded mounting hardware. I wish I would have read more about them before i got one. sold for 4wheel adventures but don't hold up on a slightly bumpy road. I baby my stuff and I was not going fast through the bumps at all and next thing I was hearing was my chain on the bed of the truck. the surface area on those original anchor points is a design flaw. That should have been one of the first things addressed when designing something to hold up on the off road.

What year is your camper??

 

[60toyetero]

if you were not trying to be an ass, you would have left out your part in parenthesis. English is my third language so forgive my grammatical mistakes. the only point here is if the company upgraded their anchor points to one that has about 10 times more the surface are on the backside of the hook, it was a poor design to start with. My camper is a 2004

 

[60toyetero]

 

[jha6av8r]

if you were not trying to be an ass, you would have left out your part in parenthesis. English is my third language so forgive my grammatical mistakes. the only point here is if the company upgraded their anchor points to one that has about 10 times more the surface are on the backside of the hook, it was a poor design to start with. My camper is a 2004

There was also a change to the current owners about this time. Since they've taken over FWC has seen constant improvements, but still a work in progress to put out the best product they can. Even with a camper that's 11 years old a call to Brenda in customer service will still get you lots of information to keep you camper going for many more years.

 

[60toyetero]

No rot at all.. I am not posting to argue with anybody. I just wanted to share that it happened to me too. the root of the problem has already been addressed so there is nothing really to figure out. The backing on the old hooks has very small surface are so it does not displace the force well. The hooks on mine look really close to the edge as well. You can see were it snapped and is only like 1 inch from the edge of the wood side that side has no vertical support. The hook should have been more centered.

 

[pods8]

60toyetero, as noted the design has evolved to address the experiences some users had with the old one. On my old one the wood held up fine but the elevator bolts bent over time for instance (fairly easy change and I had some spares). I wouldn't expect the company to reach out and supply a free retrofit kid to owners going back to the 70s (and numerous company owners ago). But there are certainly ways to beef the design up if you have an older unit, this forum is all about modification/improvements. Sorry to hear you had issues on the road, that's always a bummer.

 

[60toyetero]

great info. Thanks

 

[craig333]

I never contacted FWC because its a ten year old camper and the warranty expired long ago. Second, it took years of abuse before I had a problem. If it'd happened shortly after purchase that'd be a different thing. If they'd never improved the design that'd be different also. It lasted a long time and when they learned of the problem they fixed it. I can't ask FWC to come retrofit an old camper. I'm sure they'd have sold me the upgrade kit at cost if I'd asked.

 

[jha6av8r]

I never contacted FWC because its a ten year old camper and the warranty expired long ago. Second, it took years of abuse before I had a problem. If it'd happened shortly after purchase that'd be a different thing. If they'd never improved the design that'd be different also. It lasted a long time and when they learned of the problem they fixed it. I can't ask FWC to come retrofit an old camper. I'm sure they'd have sold me the upgrade kit at cost if I'd asked.

They would do the retrofit for a cost obviously. There are old campers in there all the time being refurbished.