Greetings all
On my Lance 650 I have struggled keeping the rear turnbuckles tight. I asked myself rather I was tightening them too little or too much. Also I heard Happijac rear turnbuckles were stress-guard type. I did not know what that meant. Happijac shows the innards of the fronts that have springs in them. But not the rears https://happijac.com/turnbuckles.html
After a very off-axis near calamity while going down a trail I shouldn't have, I needed to lift the camper up and readjust it in the bed since it had shifted.
While doing so I noticed the rears did not seem to have anything in them that would help with turnbuckle stress. All I heard was metal to metal contact when playing with the turnbuckle while they were off.
I emailed Happijac and Tyler send me this very helpful information and a picture.
"The rear turnbuckles have an o-ring between the end of the hook stem that may have deteriorated over time. See attachment. The function of the rear turnbuckle is to hold the rear of the camper securely to the bed of the truck, while the fronts have the springs to help dampen the pitch and roll of the camper. Truly, the rear turnbuckle shouldn't have any real movement as this would magnify the roll of the camper. It's fine to just have the rears installed until there's no slack in the turnbuckle tube, and then give the barrel 3 more full turns of tightness to get the optimization of the rear turnbuckle.
As far as replacing the o-ring, there's no option because the barrels are crimped around the top and bottom. Just make sure that you're getting the rears nice and secure, even if it's metal on metal. If you would like to replace the rear turnbuckles, we have them available as part #182900 for the STANDARD turnbuckle and #182896 for the QUICK LOAD version. These are available online for the best pricing."
Thanks
Tyler Brian
Happijac Tech / Warranty Manager
