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Buzzcut1's avatar
Buzzcut1
Nomad II
Jul 12, 2021

Glad I caught this

Doing my usual walk around something caught my eye. I noticed one of the bolt heads on my front jack mounting plates was missing ( drivers front corner) I wasn't too worried as there are 5 bolts on that plate and 6 on the other side of the corner. Then I checked closer, not just one bolt head was missing but two others were snapped off but still there stuck on by Dicor.

I figured and hour tops to use an easy out and replace the bolts. Nope try 5 hours. Had to take the jack and mounting plate off as one of the bolts snapped diagonally and I needed better access to drill. OK the Lance is a 2008 1055, aluminum frame.

When I pulled the jack plate I figured out the issue. on one side of the plate no lap sealant, the other side had over 1/8 of an inch of lap sealant. The plate was not flat agaist the camper and over time the flexing of the plate on the sealant caused the grade 5 bolts to crack and fail.
I replaced all the bolts with Grade 8, cleaned up all the old sealant, reapplied a thin even layer dicor and then after remounting the plate I sealed all the bolts and seams with no sag dicor

I did inspect all the bolts on the other jacks and they were all good

It pays to check all your stuff on a regular basis


Truck Campers
  • Buzzcut1's avatar
    Buzzcut1
    Nomad II
    Jul 12, 2021
    Reality Check wrote:
    thomas201 wrote:
    "Easy Out" multiple big lies, it ain't easy and it might not come out. I wish I was smart enough to make something better. A left hand bit and running the drill in reverse sometimes works, sometimes drill it all out then tap a new hole.

    You did the most miserable job of them all. Good catch!


    This ^^^ most miserable tools with almost zero reasonable alternatives. You'll be a popular and wealthy hero if you figure out something better!

    Buzzcut, nice job noticing the loose ones.


    It's the Fire Fighter/Medic in me. We are trained to spot things that don't match with everything else
  • Reality_Check's avatar
    Reality_Check
    Nomad II
    Jul 12, 2021
    thomas201 wrote:
    "Easy Out" multiple big lies, it ain't easy and it might not come out. I wish I was smart enough to make something better. A left hand bit and running the drill in reverse sometimes works, sometimes drill it all out then tap a new hole.

    You did the most miserable job of them all. Good catch!


    This ^^^ most miserable tools with almost zero reasonable alternatives. You'll be a popular and wealthy hero if you figure out something better!

    Buzzcut, nice job noticing the loose ones.
  • thomas201's avatar
    thomas201
    Explorer
    Jul 12, 2021
    "Easy Out" multiple big lies, it ain't easy and it might not come out. I wish I was smart enough to make something better. A left hand bit and running the drill in reverse sometimes works, sometimes drill it all out then tap a new hole.

    You did the most miserable job of them all. Good catch!
  • Kayteg1's avatar
    Kayteg1
    Explorer II
    Jul 12, 2021
    I would inspect the frame a bit closer.
    I did own 2 TC and both had the issue.
    The wood frame rotten due to factory-inflicted leaks and the bolts were dangling.
    But both of my camper had at least 4 of the screws being machine bolts, who would go on other side of the wall and bolted to the steel channel inside inner corner.
    Your bolts look pretty short, so I wonder what they hold to?
    The fiberglass skin? or is there a metal behind?
  • BradW's avatar
    BradW
    Explorer II
    Jul 12, 2021
    I had on of the lag bolts which held the jack bracket on our 1996 break. I managed to get the broken piece out. I replaced the lag bolt with lots of caulk and never had another issue.
  • specta's avatar
    specta
    Explorer
    Jul 12, 2021
    Lucky you for sure.

    Makes me think I should check mine. ;)

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