Separation at tie down eye

Thanks for re posting those pics Anev942, yes the first pic with the alum siding off is the factory eyebolt plate . its just a piece of 16 ga bent into a u shape w/ a nut welded to the top.
When I bought my camper the guy who had it before me used a plastic bed liner and front happi jacs and way overtightened them causing the limited amount of wood at the front eyebolts to bend over time and pull down , looked bad .
I filled the voids with wood and thru bolted the rear most bolts
The middle bolts are going into the factory plates and the front most bolts because of limited acsess are going into tee nuts , I later tied the alum angle to the jack mt plates , so I probably didnt need the front most bolts that go into tee nuts.
I think evey camper model probably would need a diffrent method
But the front eye factory was in my oppinion lacking in strength

I believe its the format that sourronds the links and htpp

Awesome fix.






Is the wrapped plate, 1st pic, factory reinforcement?

It is very easy to overtighten the Fastgun turnbuckles. When the turnbuckle is loose and you start to tighten I put a finger on the threaded section and if when I close the Fastgun my finger has moved more than 1/4" the setting is too tight and I loosen the Fastgun. Tension at the 1/4" setting is 300 lbs. and if the turnbuckle's threaded section is pulled out to 1/2", while it may seem OK there is actually 600 lbs. of force pulling down on the camper - more than it was designed to withstand.

I don't think that there is a real fix that does not require tearing off the side panel and inserting a custom welded steel bracket to transfer the load. Similar problem exists with sailboats when the chainplates where the shrouds terminate at the hull are not accessible (for cosmetic reasons). With boats there are competent boatyards to do the work but with campers there are no such skilled repair people and the expense is likely to be more than most would want to pay.

To much to post pics with dialup connection I have right now
Ramblin`Ralph I sent you a pm

While rebuilding my wings on a 97 lance , legand 500 , since I had it open I beefed up my front hold down points .
I had acsess to about 20 inches on both sides of the camper , refer on one side propane tanks on the other . Used the stock bolt location and added another 3/8 bolt behind and in front of it. Bolted a large alum angle thru the three bolts and to help the tie downs as well as to secure the front jacks I put an
alum plate tieing both together

Umm...are you offloading the camper or does it stay on the truck?
When you tension tiedown does camper eye (or wall/wing) move or does it seem rather semi solid?

Because it has been like this to a lesser degree for 8+ years would suggest original damage was overtightening- or hitting a pothole etc. Something yeilded though being wood frame not sure how. Maybe wood flexed- backup steel bent not alowing it to return. Sag happens but its going to continue untill it pulls loose, to the point repair will be extensive. Yes needs to be adressed.

My greater concern would be though, especially if rot involved is the front jack.
Visited your web site, nice-are you back to home base yet? It would appear we may be neighbors (per googlemaps)_-Were on the sunny side of the bay which if thats so more than happy to lend at least another pair of eyes.

Thanks for the good tips. I have my Fastguns adjusted per factory info and maybe even on light side. Don't see similar problems with the other 3.

Will take a look at the propane plastic box and see how hard it is to remove it. A repair like this may exceed my talent/motivation. :) Obviously needs to be done, though.

Thanks,
Ralph

On an 845 of that era, I had a 2001 also, previously, inside the compartment shown in the OP's photo is the single 20# propane tank, setting in a three sided plastic box, so somewhat easy access to the area on the inside after removing the plastic liner. Now above that compartment sits, sits the 3 way fridge, with a roof vent. So you have lots of places a water leak can occur and run down into this damaged area. It may just be a broken frame member of 2 X 2 pine with a metal plate on top or it may be wood rot or a combination of both.

Either way, I would remove the propane tank and take out the plastic box. Should be easy to see the inside to work on it. With the camper being aluminum covered, it would be easy to peel back and have access to both sides. No matter what the cause , it needs to be fixed. How to prevent? Make sure the fridge drip pan isn't leaking into this area, or water isn't getting in from the fridge roof vent, etc. I would replace the soft pine that Lance used with a good quality of marine hardwood, expensive but will last 25 or so years even if it gets wet. I had to replace the rear skirts on my 845 due to wood rot from water entering underneath the TC from the rear tires driving in the rain, is my best guess.

How do you prevent it from happening again ?
How did this happen ? Is the fastgun too tight ? OR did that seam leak and water intrusion weakened the wood ?
If it was the tie-down being too tight , TL has a video of the propper tensioning. Tie-downs do not have to be very tight , just snug.

Good ideas. Angle iron on the inside would certaily make it strong. Maybe even sandwich some aluminum on the outside to bolt through.