I towed all last season without the cam arms installed because we had the older version cam arm brackets that I wasn't quite sure how to make work and because the TT was fairly new and I didn't want to mess something up. Thanks to Jbarca recently, he suggested contacting Reese to see if I could get the newer style brackets which are a better design. Cequent kindly sent me a new set after discussing it. When I had the cam arms installed on a previous TT, 3 of the 4 forming screws loosened and the threads were damaged. Reading previous threads about this on this forum, when tongue weights get to around 1K lbs and up, this can sometimes be an issue.
I wanted to do an effective mounting of the brackets so that it would stay together in the long run. This post shows what I did, which is a little different than others may have done.
The first pic below shows the older and newer style brackets side by side. The older one has quite a curve to the bottom and the radius on the outer bend was rather large, both making a good fit difficult. Reese moved the mounting ears inward on the new version - not sure why but I don't think it affects anything. The 2nd pic shows the old style bracket against the A-frame tubing - not a very good match.
I made up a backing plate to go inside the A-frame tubing and welded flange head nuts onto to it. I welded a bolt onto the end of a 5' length of EMT conduit to make it removable from the plate. I cut an access hole in the rearward end of the A-frame tubing and pushed the plate into place then removed the conduit. I removed plating on the bolts and nuts before welding with muriatic acid.
To deal with the radius between the horizontal and outer vertical parts of the bracket, I made spacer plates from 1/4" flat stock and ground a radius along one edge.
I plug-welded the plate to the A-frame by drilling 5/16" dia. holes in the A-frame and then welding the plate to the A-frame with a MIG welder. Then ground down the welds flush with the A-frame with a die grinder and touched it all up with a little Tremclad.
This shows a bracket installed. Darned if it turns out that the bottom and outer parts of the bracket aren't quite perpendicular... May be hard to see, but the gap between the bracket and A-frame widens a little towards the inside. Not sure if this will matter or what I could/would do to make a better fit. Tried my best.
And what it looks like all finished. I used 1/2-13 flange head bolts as I thought they be more secure. Wasn't sure what torque to use on the bolts so I tightened them to Reese's 50 ft-lbs. All that's left is to move the snap-up brackets forward and go through the exercise of setting the bar angle and aligning the bar detents with the cams. Can't wait to get back to towing with the cam arms installed.
I wanted to do an effective mounting of the brackets so that it would stay together in the long run. This post shows what I did, which is a little different than others may have done.
The first pic below shows the older and newer style brackets side by side. The older one has quite a curve to the bottom and the radius on the outer bend was rather large, both making a good fit difficult. Reese moved the mounting ears inward on the new version - not sure why but I don't think it affects anything. The 2nd pic shows the old style bracket against the A-frame tubing - not a very good match.
I made up a backing plate to go inside the A-frame tubing and welded flange head nuts onto to it. I welded a bolt onto the end of a 5' length of EMT conduit to make it removable from the plate. I cut an access hole in the rearward end of the A-frame tubing and pushed the plate into place then removed the conduit. I removed plating on the bolts and nuts before welding with muriatic acid.
To deal with the radius between the horizontal and outer vertical parts of the bracket, I made spacer plates from 1/4" flat stock and ground a radius along one edge.
I plug-welded the plate to the A-frame by drilling 5/16" dia. holes in the A-frame and then welding the plate to the A-frame with a MIG welder. Then ground down the welds flush with the A-frame with a die grinder and touched it all up with a little Tremclad.
This shows a bracket installed. Darned if it turns out that the bottom and outer parts of the bracket aren't quite perpendicular... May be hard to see, but the gap between the bracket and A-frame widens a little towards the inside. Not sure if this will matter or what I could/would do to make a better fit. Tried my best.
And what it looks like all finished. I used 1/2-13 flange head bolts as I thought they be more secure. Wasn't sure what torque to use on the bolts so I tightened them to Reese's 50 ft-lbs. All that's left is to move the snap-up brackets forward and go through the exercise of setting the bar angle and aligning the bar detents with the cams. Can't wait to get back to towing with the cam arms installed.
HouseApe wrote:
Reese has a nutsert kit if your bolts strip out.
You'd be referring to Reese's rivnut which would look similar to the diagram. I looked for posts on an RV forum about anyone who might have used these and their experience with them but could not find one.
What I suspect might not work well with these is that the shoulder of the rivnet, dim. "B" in the diagram, does not allow the Reese bracket to sit tightly against the A-frame and will allow the bracket to move laterally. Over time I can see these loosening.
The advantage of a plate inside the A-frame is that it re-enforces the tubing wall. In the worst scenario, the A-frame tubing can be damaged as in the photo.
