2014 Ugly repair, Camper damage MS I-59

[sleepy]

In my ongoing trip report I mentioned getting caught on one of the worst sections of highway in North America.... and we had to go to the next exit before we could get off...

It caused the side of the camper to flex so bad it tore the skig

The section of highway is shown on the map on the 4th post down on This page.

[sleepy]

A little bondo and it would fool a buyer....

since I don't want a buyer I just painted it....

I like to post for selfish reasons.... every once and a while someone has a proven idea that is better than mine....


and thats the one I'm looking for. Most of my ideas have already been influenced by more than 10 years of lurking...

[Naio]

Nice!

[arto_wa]

I would suggest loosening the camper tie-downs some in future.

[bobndot]

Good job sleepy. I'll bet that repair will work for you.

:B Are you going to test out the repair by driving that same route in Mississippi ? :E (see how it holds up to the OEM, i'll bet it would hold up )

[pjay9]

How did it work on the last trip?
I can see that you are facing the same issues I had. I know you are looking at my rebuild. You might consider pulling out the outside shower and reaching in to see if the steel angle goes along inside. If it does you could possibly run a bolt thru from the outside and use a white plate on the outside for extra support. The bolts should go thru wood beams and not insulation area, so it could help spread the load.

[ScottG]

Nice job!

[tommykelly]

very good ...a pic of the finished product?...

[sleepy]

I raised the jack, removed the prop, removed the modified tee... drilled some 1'4" holes in the filon... (the fibrglass covered Luon)

I squirted caulk inside the wall through the holes.... as much as I could get to go....

I then coated the outside where the tee would be.... added some to the inside of the tee....

then, I placed the tee in place and forcced it "home" by lowering the jacks... and seating the galvanized Tee sideways with a rubber mallet.

I then wiped up the outside surfaces... and installed the SS screws...

I used Naptha to clean up.... everything... the outside of the repair and the outside of me

A few days later I Painted the area with a small brush and a high quality white paint (for galvanized metal)

The slide room flange must hide it a tiny bit... no one has mentioned seeing it

We have traveled 60 more nights since then with no problems.

We'll thats it... my UGLY fix

Chet

[sleepy]

Checked it twice.... well more than that...

[sleepy]

I carefully measured the distance from the surface to the bottom of the modified Tee...

I cut a scrap 2"x4" board to the measured length with a notch on top to keep it from slipping

I raised the truck camper slightly with my Atwood Jacks on the drivers side using my remote.... and lowered it for final test fit

[sleepy]

I'll be dadgone.... it fit

[sleepy]

[sleepy]

I bought a flat... galvinized tee from Home Depot

I measured carefully to be able to put screws into the campers soild framing


and made some bends to increase strength and more contact areas.

[sleepy]

id a little probing... first with an icepick to see what the internal damage was...

Then cut a small area with a chisel.... the luon was toat,,,, the fram was solid.

I phoned Mike Eilliams.... We know everyone at Lance from Jack Case down... we were there for 6 weeks some years ago...

If.... if we were going to take the camper to Lancaster I wanted to completely reskin the camper with Adzel I think I got the name right.... the new material that they skin campers with.

It wasn't really possible...

every single window, door, light fixteure... every thing on the outside had to be removed... the patterns and computers from a 2003 Lance 1161 no longer exist....

It couldn't be done for $15,000 at Lance... we like our camper well enough to pay it... gladly.

So... what did I do...?