171 replies to this topic

[kmcintyre]

I know most of the discussion here has been about the strength of turnbuckles, and I have broken one myself, but I've broken three of the single bolts holding the forged eye bolt on the camper side.

 

So, after breaking three of these on my 2012 Fleet

 

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I heard about the new stainless steel brackets held by three bolts instead of one (and the same size).  So Roy at FWC helped with my order and got them installed this weekend.

 

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I also ordered the beefier turnbuckles recommended by Stan to Captn, Forklift S9012, so after I get those installed this upgrade will be complete.

 

This was the first time I've crawled under my camper since I bought it new in 2012, as it is on full-time.  I was really happy with how everything looked, basically like new.  I guess it helps to live in southern Calif.  I also wondered if the stresses that broke the bolts also stressed the plywood around the eyebolt, but it also looked perfect.  

 

How much were the brackets?  Seems like you could make them out of 1/4" steel and they work just as well but stainless would be nice.

 

Group buy??????

[DonC]

$12.50 each for inside plate, bracket, and bolts from FWC.  I didn't have the tools to make these myself.

Edited by DonC, 25 April 2016 - 05:48 PM.

[Kodachrome]

So are these brackets installed with a backing plate or is this just going to be an even larger chunk of plywood that rips out now that the weak link of the elevator bolt has been bypassed?

Until this ridiculous way of securing all this weight is completely re-vamped to actually perform in an absorbing & dynamic sense, especially in off road use, these attachment points need to have easy to access and fix failure zones. Ideally with some kind of backup or redundancy until the primary hold down point can be repaired or replaced.

With no backing plates, I don't see these brackets being a very good idea.

[Wallowa]

$12.50 each for inside plate, bracket, and bolts from FWC.  I didn't have the tools to do these myself.

 

 

It appears that the re-designed attachment brackets do have inside backing plates to spread out the load.  Hopefully, our 2016 Hawk has this design.

 

Phil

[BobD]

So are these brackets installed with a backing plate or is this just going to be an even larger chunk of plywood that rips out now that the weak link of the elevator bolt has been bypassed?

Until this ridiculous way of securing all this weight is completely re-vamped to actually perform in an absorbing & dynamic sense, especially in off road use, these attachment points need to have easy to access and fix failure zones. Ideally with some kind of backup or redundancy until the primary hold down point can be repaired or replaced.

With no backing plates, I don't see these brackets being a very good idea.

 

Yes, there is a SS Backing plate with the mounts.  I picked up a set last week while at FWC but haven't had the chance to install them yet.  I agree, the mounting system is dated and weak.

[Kodachrome]

Yes, there is a SS Backing plate with the mounts.  I picked up a set last week while at FWC but haven't had the chance to install them yet.  I agree, the mounting system is dated and weak.

 

 

It appears that the re-designed attachment brackets do have inside backing plates to spread out the load.  Hopefully, our 2016 Hawk has this design.

 

Phil

 

Thanks guys!

 

I guess until this is all re-designed, I will just stick to my methods ( I want that known weak point ) but perhaps creating a redundancy at least on the front attachments points since they are the only ones I have ever had trouble with. 

 

I think that with either method, backing plates of some kind should come factory standard to prevent the plywood from blowing out in the case of a shock.

[Stan@FourWheel]

For the past few years with the newest FWC tie down brackets, we have been using 3 bolt system, stainless steel brackets on the bottom, and a big backing plate on the top. We have seen campers go through major accidents and we lost 4 campers on our trailer on black ice in WY. The campers came off the trailer, but the camper base and brackets were all in tact. The turnbuckles will for sure straighten before the brackets on the camper base will pull out of the wood (on new FWC's). If you can get the brackets to pull out of the camper base on new FWC's, you will probably have a complete failure of your camper base structure. You can keep beefing up each each point (camper base, then camper brackets, then turn buckles, then eye bolts, then the truck bed, then ? ...). The stress will just move over to the weakest link, whatever that might be. If you keep the turn buckles tight all the time, you should not have any problems with turn buckles failing or straightening. We have made many improvements over the years to the old original designs.

 

 

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[Wallowa]

Concur with Stan.  I just checked my '16 Hawk and the tie down plates on the camper are well engineered; lots of load area and component strength.  Substantial plate inside,out side hanger and bolts are all stout.   Very nice looking pieces.  

 

I will out of due caution upgrade to Torklift S9012 turnbuckles; probably an overkill but we plan a lot of back trail boon-docking and very little pavement.  Anyone who has purchased these S9012s and can recommend who you bought them from please either post that info or send me a PM. Just ordered from E-Trailer.

 

Yes, now I need to verify the strength/design of the eye-bolts in the bed of our '05 Tundra AC.  But I expect those to also be good-to-go.  Also I have not heard of anyone with the "first generation" Tundra trucks breaking or pulling out eye-bolts from the bed mounts.

 

Thanks,

 

Phil

 

Ps....I see that the S9012 turnbuckles adjust from 8-13 inches..has anyone needed to add snap links to increase this length? What is the distance from hanger on camper to eye-bolts on '05 Tundra with Hawk? Mine measure 12 To  approx 13.5 inches.  Thanks...

Edited by Wallowa, 26 April 2016 - 12:27 AM.

[Kodachrome]

Thanks Stan, with the exception of the loss due to black ice, that all sounds good.

 

There are times I am doing steep hill climbs like a local one that goes up 3,300 feet in 2.5 miles and I wonder just how in the heck the camper is going to stay in the back of the truck but it does. 

 

But I do break stuff....because I use the crap out of it. As long as it stays safe for those around me, I keep plodding along. 

[Bill D]

i'm trying to find the specs on the  Torklift S9012 turnbuckles as I can only find them for $35 each on Amazon.ca in Canada.

 

I see 300 lbs and 1500 lbs, so I'm confused with the load rating.

 

9" to 13" is the adjustable working length and 101/2" to 14 5/8" from hook end to hook end.

 

What is the diameter of the threaded rod