Bergger
Explorer
If you own an Eezi Awn tent you may want to check the bolts in the main two hinges. My last two trips involved covering approximately 35 miles of some very nasty washboard roads. The last trip was the AT Hurricane Lake Adventure and while that road was not as bad as my previous trip it was enough to finally vibrate two bolts out. I found the first one when we arrived and deployed the tent. The second was found when I arrived home. As I opened the tent it made bit of a crunch sound and would not open correctly. I looked at the hinge and sure enough the main bolt where the two plates overlap and the center support rod attaches had fallen out. I recovered the bolt from the ground but the washer and nylock nut were some where back on the road I'm sure. Once again Mario came to my rescue and put in a replacement. Lucky for me Paul May, of Equipt Expedition Outfitters, was also there. Paul is the main man in the US for Eezi Awn Tents. I told him what happened and he explained why it happened. I guess Eezi Awn recently started to make the hinges thicker, thus stronger. They continued to use the same hardware which works fine in every spot except where the two plates overlap. With the new thickness the bolt was not long enough to allow the nylock to thread on enough. I guess a number of tents were shipped that had the new thicker hinges but the old length bolt. Apparently this has been solved by using a longer bolt. It was apparent that mine had the original bolt. I checked the second bolt while at Hurricane Lake and it appeared okay. However when I opened the tent to clean it once I got home the same thing occured. The washer and nylock were missing. Today I replaced them with longer bolts and kept a few spares just in case. So after my long-winded talk here my point is that it may be a good idea for everyone to check the bolts on their tents. If the bolt extends a 1/4" or more from the nylock you are fine. If it does not then replace it because it will eventually come out. Here are a few pictures showing the original length and the new length.
Center bolt where the plates overlap is the problem bolt.
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Original bolt does not extend past the nylock. As you can see the other bolts where there is no overlap are just fine.
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New bolt I installed extends futher out past the nut.
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Center bolt where the plates overlap is the problem bolt.
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Original bolt does not extend past the nylock. As you can see the other bolts where there is no overlap are just fine.
View attachment 21034
New bolt I installed extends futher out past the nut.
View attachment 21035