HMS_Beagle
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Re: Bigfoot 2500 Front Fiberglass Delam Repair Questions
Most of the walls of a Bigfoot are fiberglass, glued to foam insulation/core, followed by 1/8" luan on the inside. This makes the "sandwich". Around the basement it is thicker plywood rather than foam. I've never been inside the front bulkhead, but if Bigfoot says it is plywood then it probably is. The difference between this and boat construction is the use of contact cement. On a boat, the fiberglass would be directly laid up on the plywood (or foam), bonding to it with the resin. In some methods, the core is added after lamination using a wet bonding agent (like thickened resin). You will never see contact adhesive used for this purpose in a boat (well, perhaps a very, very cheaply built one). The difficulty this creates when trying to fix delamination is that both surfaces (inside of fiberglass and surface of core) are covered with (failed) contact adhesive to which nothing will stick, except perhaps more contact adhesive. More contact adhesive will have solvents in it that may melt and reactivate the failed adhesive, or it may just make a mess. In a boat, the first attempt at repair is usually to inject epoxy into the void through small holes and clamp it together again. Epoxy will not stick to the adhesive in this case. The second attempt in a boat is to cut the delaminated skin off so the surfaces can be prepared, then either relaminate new glass, or bond the cut out piece back, then scarf the joint. That is a lot more work because of the finish work required. If the core is rotted due to water intrusion, then the core has to be removed to the edge of the rot and replaced with new. if you have time, repairs of this sort aren't rocket science, the only hard part is the finish work to make it look new again. The bulkhead isn't that visible, so maybe a less than perfect job would be acceptable there. I am surprised that you cannot get the door open on the jacks. For sure one thing that can happen is you can cross load the jacks, twisting the shell which will distort the door frame and bind the door. You can keep that from happening by watching the lower corner of the door carefully as you raise the jacks to keep the margin between door and frame the same on the side and bottom. The movement is fairly obvious.1.6KViews0likes0CommentsRe: switching to two 6 volt batteries?
I would never go back to flooded lead acid batteries, just due to the inevitable corrosion. However AGM batteries do have to be correctly charged, or their life will be short. That means correct voltages, and for sufficient time, somewhat frequently. There is an argument for two 12V vs two 6V: if you run an inverter with high current draw, the two 12V batteries will have lower internal resistance than two 6V, and so lower voltage drop while running the inverter.969Views0likes0CommentsRe: Bigfoot 2500 Underbelly, Thoughts and Pics
My Bigfoot looks the same. The straps support the tanks fine, but by the edges mostly, the tanks are thin enough material that the middle sags down under the weight of the fluid in the middle where the straps really can't support it. I doubt more straps will help. You would need something to make the bottom of the tank stiffer, either beams between the straps and tanks, or perhaps plywood under the whole bottom of the tank. The straps support the tanks fine off the truck, even when full. I will say that isn't how I'd have designed it, but it seems to work OK. On the Bigfoot - and every other RV I've owned - there is tons of space wasted everywhere. This tends to be better on the European builds for some reason. I'd estimate that fully 1/3 of the available storage volume is inaccessible air space.296Views0likes0CommentsRe: HOST , LANCE , slide-outs fiberglass skin fatigue.
I've seen WAY too many problems with slides of all types to want one again. Had one once on a high end class A. I can't say they are more problematic than many other things on a typical RV, but that is a very low bar to clear. If you want the space, and you are willing to put up with the problems, then you are like 80% of the Rv buyers out there. Which is why they continue to offer them. But calling them generally problem free is a fantasy.761Views0likes0CommentsRe: HOST , LANCE , slide-outs fiberglass skin fatigue.
3 tons wrote: It’s been my experience that when it comes to truck campers, the notion of ‘engineered’ is often generously applied… 3 tons Not just truck campers, RVs generally. When you knock the side out of a box, there is significant and heavy structure required to replace the stiffness that side provided. With small slides there is still enough wall area to maybe make up the structure, but with large slides the side is simply compromised.749Views0likes0CommentsRe: Best Sealant to re-seal RV side hatch covers etc.
If you are just planning on smearing some around the outside, use whatever is cheapest - it won't last very long regardless. If you are going to remove it, clean it up, and seal it under the flanges, then I'd use a good polyurethane or polyether marine caulk. Then you won't have to do it again next year, or for the next 10 at least.1.4KViews0likes0CommentsRe: Happijac issue
Did the remote come with the controller board? It sounds to me like the encoding of the remote does not match the controller board. Different hardware revisions, different software revisions, or the like. If you bought them separately, I'd think you'd have to check with Happijac to see if they are compatible, probably need pn or serial numbers for each to tell.431Views0likes0CommentsRe: Swingout extensions?
JRscooby wrote: Don't have a dog in this, never loaded a camper in a pickup. (Is it similar to loading salt spreader in dump truck?) My question is how much tolerance do you have between camper and inside of bed? Could using the extra space fender/jack put extra strain on mounts when bed hits camper? I have about 1" or a little less each side inside the tailgate, and about 3/4 or so each side between the jacks and dually fenders. It is a little fiddly, but I've done it dozens of times. I actually don't want too much clearance outside the fenders, because it is a pretty good guide to what's happening in the box, and much easier to see in the mirrors. Someone will make a nice dual wireless camera setup to make it easy. Pretty cheap these days too. I should do it but not motivated enough I guess.670Views0likes0CommentsRe: Swingout extensions?
3/4" is plenty :). That is about what I have. On my previous truck and camper (F350Dually and 1996 BigFoot 25C9.4), the Happijack swingouts were insufficient for any clearance. I made extensions, by bolting a piece of 2 x 2 steel tube between the jack mount and the swingout bracket. My concern was that the further out the jacks are, the more torque is put on the jack mounts, trying to twist them off. They are not well designed to resist this kind of load. The stock swingout puts them out about 6" or so, adding 5" will nearly double that offset torque. On my extensions, I welded 1" tube across the camper from one extension to the other, so that the offset torque was resolved between the two extensions and not transmitted to the camper jack mounts. It worked without problems for 15 years when I sold the camper to someone with singles, and he took it off.673Views0likes0CommentsRe: Happijac motors
bigfootgrey wrote: HMS Beagle wrote: bigfootgrey wrote: I also spoke with Bigfoot Industries regarding the clearance issue for the new jack motors and they had to alter the jack mount to the swing out brackets to achieve clearance. This lowered the jack height to the road a few inches. Happijac says the new style motors are 8” above the top of the jack I have a Bigfoot 10.4, 2008, same as you. I recently replaced the jacks with 4800, and at the time measured the motor clearance thinking I might need new motors. As I recall, I decided they would fit. My old motors still worked so I didn't change them. I'll measure them again but pretty sure you don't have an issue. I replaced my front jacks with4800’s. The rear jacks are original 4150’s from 2008. If the clearance is ok for the fronts to swing in under the cab over that would be great. Does the control board need to be changed? Mine is original,with the cord. OK, I just measured it again. I have 8 1/2" from the top of the jack tube to the camper overhang. From the PantherRV website (where I bought the 4800 jacks): "Will not work with every camper Requires 8-1/2" of clearance from the top bolt to the top of the motor. Some cab overs don't allow for the clearance necessary to install the motor on the front jacks. Please measure carefully before ordering." The top bolt is the one fixing the motor to the jack. From that bolt, I have 9 1/8. It is the same both sides. From that description I'd say I have enough. What you posted shows 9 1/8 for that measurement, not 8 1/2". If that description is correct it would just touch. You might be able to drill new holes on the dually bracket, probably need to be 3/4 down to have clearance betwen the two 3/8 hole sets. It might be fine just touching - this is in the folded and unloaded position after all. The board doesn't really care, it just puts out a reversing current. From the descriptions of everything, the 4800 jacks with the new motors might draw more current at the limit, and might blow fuses in the old board (15A vs 20). The old motors have a ball clutch in them which slips in the event of overload. Apparently the new ones don't, and rely on a current sense scheme in the board to prevent overload. This would not bother me, I'd just be careful at the ends of travel - I am anyway. The 4800 jacks may require a little more current than the 4150 as they are Acme rather than ball screw. But they seem to run just about as fast as the 4150 that I took off. The load rating on the 4800/new motor is quite high, and a 10.4 doesn't push that limit at all.936Views0likes0Comments
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