Tie-down issue? Rot on corner

[jornvango]

Well, it looks like we got what we paid for. We are going to take a road trip south of the border for a few months and wanted to buy an older, cheap TC for the trip. Since we're TC newbies, we're now finding out what can go wrong when you buy one of those ...

The previous owner had caulked around all the seems before we bought it. Yes, suspicious.

Once we mounted it on my truck, one of the corners pulled down. See picture.

We are about to take the TC on a road trip south of the border. A few days from now, we're having either Happijac or Torklift installed (as opposed to the ratchet tie-downs the previous owner gave us).

How bad is this?

1) Bad, pretty soon, that entire corner will be pulled off, especially when driving on bumpy roads

or

2) It's ok, those TC's are built pretty sturdy. You're just looking at some of the outer shell being loose. The 'eye' that's attached in the TC is actually attached to the sturdy frame

or

3) ...

What do you think?

Thanks 🙂

[deltabravo]

Let's see the new one....

[SoCalDesertRid1]

That was a very good move. 🙂

What camper did you trade it in for?

[dadwolf2]

For what?

[jornvango]

The TC is gone! Traded it today.

[SoCalDesertRid1]

For a temporary fix to get you going on your trip, you can tie off to the jack bracket, instead of the tiedown eye.

[Gripnriprod]

You have to anchor the camper to the truck. If the anchor points (eye-bolts) are bad, it's not the kind of tie-downs you use that is the problem. The worst possible scenario is the anchor points fail and the camper slides out of the bed of the truck. That's a real bad deal. Sure looks like the anchor point in the picture has bowed the frame.

[jornvango]

I assume it's sitting under / behind the fridge, which I don't know how to take out.

Is there a big risk of damaging the TC further once we install happijac or Torklift? Once we go offroad and everything starts to move, is there a big risk of the tie-down ripping apart the trailer further?

[Victory402]

Where is that 'eye' attached to? Is it screwed in some kind of metal (sturdy) frame or is it screwed in wood?

Is there any access from the inside to see how it's attached?

[jornvango]

2002 StarCraft M-1150

Where is that 'eye' attached to? Is it screwed in some kind of metal (sturdy) frame or is it screwed in wood?

[Wagonqueen_Truc]

What kind and year?

[Dome]

With the sagging bed area and bad corners I'd say you have a good amount of rotten wood to replace. For sure I would be fixing the rotten wood in the camper. Fix all of the bad wood and be done with it or sell or trade for something in better shape.

[Led_67]

Ummm yeah that definatly does not look good