Wolf Creek 850 front box issues

[anutami]

The bolts that secure my truck bed to the frame have caused issues with my fiberglass. Although I have a rubber mat All the washboard roads have taken their toll.




Come to find out the bottom of my camper is only 1/8" thick!! I am looking for ideas on the best way to prevent further cracking to my fiberglass. Will installing a 1/2" thick piece of plywood help reduce the stress? I am looking at putting a sheet of diamond plating on the front to hide the cracks and possibly a piece of plywood on the bottom. Any other ideas?





Access panel, note the stainless steel band chewing into panel.


Also noticed the sides of the box structure are not aluminum, also note the 1 screw backing out


Front corner aluminum tubing, northwood claims these are stuffed with wood

[joeshmoe]

Nice. I'll need you to come by and do the same to mine.

[anutami]

Also added additional protection and insulation to the wheel well access doors

[tattoobob]

Great job

[MORSNOW]

Looks solid now! Good job

[anutami]

Follow up on my fix, hopefully this will hold strong for a few more years at least. Will see how much I can beat up my camper this winter :0

Another look at the Support beams


Added reflectix, was going to add a see level system but the grey tank is too thin 😞


Plywood added with plasti dip coating


Reinforcements




Phew that was a PITA...

[TxGearhead]

I was worried about the corrugations in my truck bed not giving equal support. I cut 1/2" plywood in 4 pieces and completely covered the truck bed, including in front and behind the fender wells. I got the idea from some pics posted here. I put a rubber mat over the plywood. Hopefully there is nothing rubbing the bottom of the camper.

[mkirsch]

That 1/8" material is NOT the "floor." It's just a belly skin to cover up the framing and any wiring/plumbing that runs under the floor. Not structural.

All the whooping and hollering and flailing arms in fake rage is completely uncalled for. Northwoods may have bad customer service, but they didn't cause the problem, so it's not right to blame them for it. This was caused by an odd bolt poking up, an inadequately thin bed mat, and hammering down washboard roads at inappropriate speeds.

[silversand]

1mtnman wrote:
I recently repaired a Hallmark that had a very thin sheet of plywood as that of your Wolf Creek. It had rotted over the years and was a poor design coming from the factory. I use 1/2 marine ply and 3 coats of Flex Seal. I applied the Flex Seal prior to installing the plywood and then just had to touch up where the screws into the frame were installed. If you haven't use Flex Seal it is a outstanding product. I then use aluminum angle to cover the outside edges.

.....I did exactly the same repair/reinforcement under our 2005 Outfitter (8 foot long tub). Most of the 1/8 inch lauan thin veneer ply rotted right off, exposing the aluminum frame and XPS foam block insulation between the aluminum joists. I had to strip off what was left of the rotted 1/8th inch lauan, yank out the several hundred staples from the aluminum (that was brutal to do, on my back, under the camper tub, with a pair of pliers LOL). Then, I coated 1/2 inch marine plywood with 3 coats of marine hull varnish (the 2 flat sides, and the 4 perimeter edges), then applied sealant to the exposed aluminum floor joists, and using hydraulic jacks, and bracing, raised the 1/2 inch plywood up to the under-floor, and compressed the new treated ply onto the underside, and screwed the new ply in place through the aluminum floor joists..I also caulked the joints where the several sheets butted together, and applied aluminum L extrusion to the whole perimeter of the tub....feeew. I don't want to have to do that again!

*On edit: ...our under-tub floor does not have access to any "equipment", nor does our under-floor cap any hollow pockets, so, as mentioned above, you may want to consider 3/4 inch plywood, and not 1/2 inch

[SidecarFlip]

Kayteg1 wrote:
It is not sometimes, it is always.
Each time you remove some skin from the camper you are for bad surprise.
I screw 3/4" plywood to bottom of my camper last season.
Don't think 1/2 will do much, unless it is high-grade multi-layer plywood.
That aluminium trim on the bottom is the stupidest and cheapest thing I can imagine.

For once you aren't 'whistling Dixie' with that observation.

They say 'beauty is only skin deep' and that applies in spades to TC's.

[SidecarFlip]

Artum Snowbird wrote:
How about something like this. You could get a welder to put together two pieces to cover the entire length of the bottom.

Aluminium plate

Would someone actually put that in their house, on the walls?? Not me, but that is a possibility for the bottom.

[SidecarFlip]

Even my cheap azzed Palomino is 3/4" plywood on the bottom. sheathed in embossed aluminum sheeting with roll formed steel flanged 'U''s running lengthwise and cross ways in the front and back. screwed to the bottom every 3" with flat head wood screws dipped in sealant.

The only thing that contacts the bed of my truck is the 'U' channels. The bottom is spaced off the truck bed by 1/2" I really like the 'U' channel arrangement. Keeps the bottom off the truck bed so no damage is incurred from our wonderful rough roads and the channels add a lot of stiffness to the camper itself. Hard to beat steel for strength where it counts.

Only downside I can see is the steel is slippery but that has never been an issue yet. In fact, I removed and modified the back cross channel to carry my Stow and Go step mount.

[Artum_Snowbird]

How about something like this. You could get a welder to put together two pieces to cover the entire length of the bottom.

Aluminium plate

[1mtnman]

I recently repaired a Hallmark that had a very thin sheet of plywood as that of your Wolf Creek. It had rotted over the years and was a poor design coming from the factory. I use 1/2 marine ply and 3 coats of Flex Seal. I applied the Flex Seal prior to installing the plywood and then just had to touch up where the screws into the frame were installed. If you haven't use Flex Seal it is a outstanding product. I then use aluminum angle to cover the outside edges.

[joeshmoe]

work2much wrote:
I would send these pictures to Northwoods and ask for an explanation.

Why? They don't give a turd about you or whatever problem you have.