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Decapitated Cameo
Pulling the cap off to make a final fix for those constantly breaking bolts (more to come on this solution…)
Ever wonder why those bolts keep breaking? Look below and you will see why.
They actually shoved a piece of ordinary wood inside the Aluminum Tubes that hold the cabin to the frame!
Once that wood sees a few miles…..crack/smash/collapse=loose bolts=now it’s a shear and the bolts don’t stand a chance.
If you ever measured a broken bolt, it measures about 1-1/2″ the 1st time, about 1-7/16″ the 2nd time and a little shorter each time after that.The reason is, when the wood was new it could hold some pressure between the walls of the aluminum tubing.
After it fails the 1st time, installing and tightening new bolts just sucks the wall in and lets the shear cut them a little shorter.Replacing the bolts with any grade steel is still going to come loose and fail…that’s not the solution.
The long term permanent fix is to replace the piece of square wood with something that will never collapse so you can apply high compressive strength to the bolts and mate the three pieces of material into a rigid structure.
(Steel Frame, Wood Wall Paneling, Aluminum tube)As an added bonus, the stronger material is what you screw the side molding into so it will also solve the loose molding screw issue in that area.
That’s Bill Perrin in the background finishing up on the disc brakes he installed for me, and yes, that back slide needs a lot of adjusting…it’s on the list.More to come…..
Posted: 2:05 PM – May 10, 2018How difficult was it to lift and remove the front piece of fiberglass, could two men remove li?
Posted: 9:26 PM – May 10, 2018DandK-Travelers wrote:How difficult was it to lift and remove the front piece of fiberglass, could two men remove li?Two people can do it, if it’s not windy.
It acts like a sail in the wind.
( I said two people because some of my female friends are stronger then most of the men I know :) )It’s all just fiberglass, all of the insulation stays with the RV.
This trip will be the proving grounds for the bolt breaking fix I installed. If all goes as it should, I will put together a kit that anyone that is willing to pull the cap can install.
I found a simple way to install it that didn’t involve removing the 1-1/4″ square pieces of wood they shoved into the aluminum tubes. Those pieces of wood are near impossible to remove due to all of the screws that break off in them and the collapsed tubing wall when the 3/8″ carriage bolts fail.
After I installed the new high strength inserts into the aluminum tubes, I torqued the new Grade 8 bolts to 44 ft lbs each with no problems with the tube collapsing.
That equates to about 7,000lbs of clamp load for each bolt.
I added 3 to each side, so it should do the job.
Posted: 8:08 PM – May 11, 2018A run through these posts may give you some ideas.cameo-34-sb3-hitch-height-t3215-s20.html
viewtopic.php?f=21&t=3284&p=23167#p23167
viewtopic.php?f=21&t=3254&p=22992#p22992
Posted: 2:36 PM – May 24, 2018Follow up:First 500+ mile trip with the new system and the brakes are working Great!
The added stabilization bars are doing their job, and it now tows like a dream.Not a single screw came out of the cab area, and the left side crack is no longer opening up when on the hitch.
In fact, if I set my truck’s airbags to 90lbs before connecting the RV, the Bigfoot leveler’s come off the ground as soon as the ball seats into the Andersen receiver.
There doesn’t seem to be any flex at all. :)Even the closet door stayed on-track and all of the doors inside the RV close, even when hooked up to the truck. (never could do that before)
The only new thing I’m adding to my “Must Do Now” list is to switch over to an Aims Full Sine Wave Inverter+4-Stage Charger and add a 120VAC to 12VDC 100AMP Military Grade Power Supply.
(<.1 volt drop at full 100AMP load)I’m going to completely isolate the batteries from the RV when on shore power and run the RV off the Power Supply, not a Battery Charger.
If the shore power gets interrupted, it will automatically switch the 12V back to battery and turn on the Inverter to run the fridge.
This will allow the 4-Stage to only do its intended job, tend to the batteries.B.W.Gentry
Owner/Admin
2007 Carri-Lite XTRM5
Breckenridge, TX
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