Plastic tent canvass attachment point to trailer

[waterman7474]

I have a 2006 Thor 18dt. I had to pull one of the tents off to replace a zipper recently. The part that attaches the tent to the trailer has broken and I am having a hell of a time finding the part to have it replaced.

I'm not sure how others are attached but on mine, where the tent comes into the trailer, there is a long plastic strip that is sewn to the tent, the length of the 3 panels and that strip is then screwed into the trailer. It is about a 1/4 or 1/8in thick, maybe 2in wide, milky white plastic that then bends in an L shape (90 degrees) and is then screwed to the frame/wall/trailer. Over the years it has started to crack and fail for about 6-8in along the bend so in effect, the top corners of the tent aren't really attached to the trailer

My upholstery guy can sew it on no problem but has no idea where to get the plastic.
Any thoughts??

(yes....I know a picture would be immensely helpful and I did take a picture but it would appear that I deleted it on my phone right after I installed it back on and closed the trailer up. I will do what I can to get one soon...)

[waterman7474]

scottsnider wrote:
Sorry to hear about your problem, I used to have a tent trailer and it was having a similar problem and I just got the canvas up to the place it was to be attached and used some screws to hold it. Lasted about 3 years for me and still holding up when I sold it.

Actually, this is a painfully obvious idea....

The tent is a little stretched and this would take up the slack.

Thanks!

[scottsnider]

Sorry to hear about your problem, I used to have a tent trailer and it was having a similar problem and I just got the canvas up to the place it was to be attached and used some screws to hold it. Lasted about 3 years for me and still holding up when I sold it.

[waterman7474]

Well I did hear back from canvassreplacements.com and they initially thought it was a J hook initially but realize now it isn't.

I did find one tag. It is from
Shademaster Products in Santee CA but the one number I have doesn't appear to be working any longer.

BearCreek is a little stumped as well. They say they used to see them on vintage trailers but don't have anything now. They have had to repair one before and say that they had to sew one back together.

There has to be a solution here

[MentallyRetired]

That almost looks like the same stuff that is used on popups for hanging bag awnings on the outside of the popup. Another try would be to go to a large Camping world with the pictures or call a manufacturer like Forest River.

[waterman7474]

bikendan wrote:
your hybrid was made by Thor of California, which closed down years ago.
it was pretty much separate from the Thor Corporation.
they only made hybrids for about 3 years.

the tent tag is usually sewn in along an inside seam.

have you tried Bear Creek Canvas?
they might be able to help but they may not ever made replacements for your brand of hybrid, since there weren't many made and they are rare animals.

Yes, the Thor people told me the same. However, when I was researching it before I bought it, I saw that there was another company that were making the same or very similar hybrids under another name (with different accents, upholstery and different color tents) but I cannot find who it was anymore.

I will look again for a tag.

I have sent Bear Creek and email but no response.

[bikendan]

your hybrid was made by Thor of California, which closed down years ago.
it was pretty much separate from the Thor Corporation.
they only made hybrids for about 3 years.

the tent tag is usually sewn in along an inside seam.

have you tried Bear Creek Canvas?
they might be able to help but they may not ever made replacements for your brand of hybrid, since there weren't many made and they are rare animals.

[waterman7474]

Candie4749 wrote:
This looks like secure lock. Is there a label on the tents that has the name of the manufacture?

Not that I can see. As best I can tell, they were stock from Thor but who knows who actually made them. I may go camping this weekend so I'll have a better look and see if I can find a tag. The current Thor company is of no help as they have no relation anymore to the company then that actually built this one.

There aren't too many hybrids around vegas (and those that I have seen are seriously the same trailer...) so I haven't really been able to look at how any others are attached.

It is a little hard to see but honestly, it is really just a flat piece of plastic. Almost like a really thick version of what milk jugs are made out of. It is hard to tell but it may or may not have been pre-bent into an L shape. And imagine the vertical part of the L is sewn (double stitched) to the tent and the foot of the L is then just screwed into the interior wall, somewhat randomly I might add. The sewn part rests up against the aluminum frame of the opening and the tent then wraps around the opening and then goes outside.

Aren't there some companies that will recreate these tents?
canvasreplacements.com doesn't look promising but hasn't responded back yet either.
I have tried some google searches but I think I'm not using the correct keywords.

[Candie4749]

This looks like secure lock. Is there a label on the tents that has the name of the manufacture?

[waterman7474]

I don't think it is what you guys are calling a J-lock.
It is a flat piece of plastic that is bent to 90.

I was able to get a few pics. They aren't great because I can't get too far back and still see the item.

[tbolt2000]

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/27209384.cfm

This may help. It helped me and I was able to get the J-hook and have a local upholster shop sew it on my tent for me.

[schlep1967]

Had the same thing happen on my Kodiak years ago. I believe they call that a J channel. The only way I could get it at the time was attached to a new tent end.

[waterman7474]

This is the closest I could find for a similar pic on the googles