Just purchased my first truck camper a couple of months ago. A 2000 Fleetwood Elkhorn 8S. Being in a hurry and not having a clue what I was doing, the guy slipped by a damaged camper on me. After I left his house, I took a picture to send to my wife, and noticed a 'fold' in the fiberglass above the propane box. (It was late in the day and not that noticeable at his place, plus I think it's gotten worse since I took this picture.)
Closer look:
The other side looks better, you can see basically a straight line down the same area (barely noticeable), because I think the whole bed area is sagging.
We thought it was an issue right at the jack, because that jack was loose. I pulled it apart, pulled the propane box out, and we put a metal brace inside to shore up the jack. I also could see partway up into the camper above the propane box, and all the wood braces that I could see were fine. So I loaded it and headed out. Going up a washboard road the camper was 'slapping' the top of my truck, and now I'm fearful that the entire corner might come down. I thought I would take a loss and sell for a 'project', but it's a nice camper and I would like to keep it. I also don't want to pay a fortune to fix it, as I won't use it much.
I wonder if anyone here has some insight on beefing up the overhang part so it don't fall on my truck? I'm just thinking some heavy duty 'L' braces, maybe one on each side? Even if it looks not so pretty, I don't mind. I'm wondering if I could put braces on the sides, and maybe lag to metal plates on the inside the camper for stability? I could always paint them to match the camper, so it's less noticeable. One guy suggested 2 long pieces of angle iron on the roof, connecting the overhang to the middle of the camper, and then sealing it up. Not even noticeable that way, but I wasn't sure how much that would help to hold up the overhang section. I don't even care about the fold on the side still showing, I just want the thing to be sturdy so I can continue to use it.
Anybody with any thoughts, that might know more about the internal build of these campers?
Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated ๐
Closer look:
The other side looks better, you can see basically a straight line down the same area (barely noticeable), because I think the whole bed area is sagging.
We thought it was an issue right at the jack, because that jack was loose. I pulled it apart, pulled the propane box out, and we put a metal brace inside to shore up the jack. I also could see partway up into the camper above the propane box, and all the wood braces that I could see were fine. So I loaded it and headed out. Going up a washboard road the camper was 'slapping' the top of my truck, and now I'm fearful that the entire corner might come down. I thought I would take a loss and sell for a 'project', but it's a nice camper and I would like to keep it. I also don't want to pay a fortune to fix it, as I won't use it much.
I wonder if anyone here has some insight on beefing up the overhang part so it don't fall on my truck? I'm just thinking some heavy duty 'L' braces, maybe one on each side? Even if it looks not so pretty, I don't mind. I'm wondering if I could put braces on the sides, and maybe lag to metal plates on the inside the camper for stability? I could always paint them to match the camper, so it's less noticeable. One guy suggested 2 long pieces of angle iron on the roof, connecting the overhang to the middle of the camper, and then sealing it up. Not even noticeable that way, but I wasn't sure how much that would help to hold up the overhang section. I don't even care about the fold on the side still showing, I just want the thing to be sturdy so I can continue to use it.
Anybody with any thoughts, that might know more about the internal build of these campers?
Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated ๐
No, the damage on the front was me lol. Never having one of these before, I forgot about the overhang and pulled too close to a door on my trailer, and it cut a nice groove in there. It was all after the fact, and it was just cosmetic. The damage further back was done before that.
The scary thing is I'm 300 miles from home working on a forest fire. I expect to drive home about 50 miles an hour, my fear is hitting a big dip on the road in the whole thing coming down on my truck.
So you think the damage is actually on the driver side of the camper? All of the damage appears to be on the passenger side, as seen in the picture.
It's funny that you say that, because at one point someone repaired something on the driver side cabover. Like the floor had fell out or something.
The scary thing is I'm 300 miles from home working on a forest fire. I expect to drive home about 50 miles an hour, my fear is hitting a big dip on the road in the whole thing coming down on my truck.
So you think the damage is actually on the driver side of the camper? All of the damage appears to be on the passenger side, as seen in the picture.
It's funny that you say that, because at one point someone repaired something on the driver side cabover. Like the floor had fell out or something.
