Over cab bed area external crack, Should I be concerned?

All the struts do is to dampen the camper fore aft rock that occurs as the bed of the truck is independant of the cab...it is debatable if it works all that well.

I drill the stop hole at the end and go in deep enuf to see if the wood is good, then seal it up if solid.

Have fun!

My Lance has the same crack in the same area, this is due to flexing of the cab over and the thin siding. I just caulk it over after checking the the frame, which was in sound condition and still is.

I believe your understanding is correct. Not knowing what kind of tie downs you have, I would just snug all of them down, and when I hot the offroad I would loosen or remove the rears.

Wayne

Ok, so I'm thinking I'll loosen the rears, yet see no reason to keep them tighter for the HWY?

The camper should basically hold itself in place the hold downs keep it from sliding from what I understand?

Blanco1 wrote:
... I wonder if maybe I have the tie downs too tight or loose now?

& Yes from the start my plan was dirt roads in the desert & sand as in Pismo beach & glamis & why I got a 4x4 truck.

Many people are of the belief the tie downs must be tight enough to literally hold the TC to the truck. If that were true, they would not bolt the Class C to the frame, they would only use four tie downs. The tie downs are intended to prevent the movement of minute vibrations of the TC. It really does not take much to hold a 2 or 3 thousand pound TC in the bed of the truck. The tie downs can be tighter on the highway than on rough roads, especially the rear tie downs. When the TC hits a rut, the cab over typically whips due to the cantilever. With the rear tie down loose, even though it is slight, the rear of the TC will go up and cushion the whip of the cab over.

Years past, I used my TCs off road. I always completely loosened my back tie downs, as did all of my friends. We saw many damaged TCs with the rear TC tie down mounts ripped out, and quite a few with the type of damage you have. Never saw an issue with the front tie downs, which typically pulled the TC toward the cab.

Wayne

My 1989 Lance has had these for years. I drilled a very small hole in the skin to stop the crack from spreading and caulked it. I've had no other issues. The best part having an old camper is I can go where ever I want and not worry about it.

If you were really concerned and didn't mind looking a little bit redneck-there-I-fixed-it you could route two straps from the front of the overhang across the top of the overhang and down the roof to the back of the camper.

I probably should have done this when building our camper as I could have put the straps underneath the aluminum roof coil to hide them. I did put a GoPro under the cab to see if it was flexing or bouncing and saw no movement so perhaps am ok.

I'm not to sure about it being a normal stress crack for the age of the camper. Seeing how you have to patch the crack anyhow, I drill a couple small holes into the interior framing to see if the wood is solid. If it comes out punky, you have bigger problems.

I'm no expert, but from a different point of view it seems like simply a 29 year old camper that has been flexing like it should for 29 years and finally caused metal fatigue in that spot. Ever take a thin piece of sheet metal and bend it back and forth? Eventually the metal fatigues in that spot and breaks.

Looks to me like a tensile failure...not compression. The skin is torn.
Not sure how this could happen? But is sure looks like tensile failure...

Has the camper ever been lifted other than jacks (Forklift/hoist)?

In any case, a little eternabond, check for moisture=camp!

B