FourWheelCamper Tie down Brackets Pulling apart after Less than 1 year use!

[jmacjgm]

Has anyone else had this problem? I have owned this camper for less than 1 year and have only removed the camper off the truck twice and noticed this:

I had the impression that Fourwheelcampers built a camper that could withstand the rigors of a four wheel drive trail. In the months that I have owned this camper, it has been driven over nothing more than the occasional dirt road. I am concerned that the brackets would fail on anything more than a paved road. Is this a common failure?

 

[ExpoMike]

It's hard to tell are those eye bolts hooked to the camper jack brackets?

I see your sig shows a Keystone Hardtop so I don't know if FWC changed their mounts for a Hardtop camper but on my Grandby, the eye bolts are on the first "step" and are accessed through access ports inside the camper. The camper jack brackets are not rated for any tiedown points and would definitely tear out.

I had to do a repair on my 2004 model since FWC did not back up the eye bolts like they do now. Here is a picture of where my eye bolts go through the camper.

This picture shows better the first "step" of the camper frame and the access port.

Your best best it to contact Stan at FWC. He is a great guy to work with.

Again, not knowing if your eye bolts are the factory location, I don't know if this is a common failure point but if it is, it's definitely a change from all their pop-up campers, which put the mounting eye in the first step. All the turnbuckles are on the inside of the truck bed.

 

[Desert Proven]

If you are using the camper jack mounting points as your tie down points, it might be an incorrect application. When I had FWC, I used the tie points under the camper.

 

[charlieaarons]

I had the eyebolts pull through the pickup truck bed in my F350 when I had a 4Wheel Camper.

Charlie

 

[Capt Eddie]

That is not a factory mounting method.

 

[pods8]

I had the eyebolts pull through the pickup truck bed in my F350 when I had a 4Wheel Camper.

Charlie

Talking about the sheet metal of the bed? I haven't had any issue on my dodge but I placed my eyebolts with preventing something like that in mind. The front set are through one of the cross member under the bed and the rear set are next to a pinch weld where the material is doubled up. Also I used 2" square washers on the backside. How did you set yours up?

That is not a factory mounting method.

That's an understatement. :Wow1:

 

[jmacjgm]

The camper has 8 points of attachment to my truckbed. When I was ordering the camper, I had concerns about this very issue. Based on Stan's recommendations, the camper was installed with the common 4 internal tie down points as well as 4 external Happijac tie down points at each corner. It is the external bracket tie down points that I am seeing the failure.

My apologies for the lack of detail or close up shots here; I just wanted to add more visual examples of the rig.

Dealing with Fourwheel campers can be a bit frustrating at times and I have now been trying to get they're assistance for a couple months. I have found that Stan and Terry both have poor follow up communications. Stan was great to work with right up to the point where I placed my order for the camper and made the down payment, after that I found it was 1-2 weeks before I could get a hold of anyone for further design questions. This is what I continue to experience now.

If anyone knows of a camper builder around the four corner states that might be able to help me repair the brackets, I might just bring the camper there to get this thing fixed. I just want to continue exploring the backcountry with the camper.

On a better note, the BMW GSA is awesome to travel off the beaten path with!

 

[pods8]

I see. Surprising they recommended the external bracket use as well, those aren't meant to take that kind of use (on the pop-up models anyways). Anyone know how they tie down their sister company SixPac campers?

There are some camper companies in Denver you could go see if you wanted. Otherwise ATC back in CA is another resource if you don't want to deal with FWC.

 

[jmacjgm]

Thanks. I'll check around Denver.

It's not that I refuse to deal with FWC. I am really trying to be patient with the company as I understand that I am just one of their many customers. I only wish I could be kept in the loop with better communication as to what their intentions are for fixing this.

 

[Jeff Wanamog]

My .02

My experience is with my FWC which is the Eagle pop up camper, not a hard side like yours.
What I have found is that the connection point for the lift jacks is at a very thin structural area. I only use my jacks to pick up the camper off of my truck and drop it on my dolly. Also, if you leave your jacks on while you are off road, every time they come into contact with vegetation, they are going to loosen up more and more. I remove mine as soon as the camper is on the truck. You can also see down the side of the camper much better.
FYI, I have never seen a FWC secured using the exterior brackets. Not saying wrong or right, just haven't seen it.
On my truck, I have found that you have to let the camper flex a little. The turnbuckles must be at a angle and the fronts will pull in the opposite direction as the rear. Even then you can exert enough force cranking down the turnbuckles to break the plywood the eye bolts are secured to.
Don't be disenchanted though. These are easy fixes. If you were in So Cal, I would fix it for you.
These are great campers, but they are not indestructible. They are are good combination between weight and strength.

Hope this helps.
Please feel free to contact me if you have more questions or I will stay subscribed to your thread.
Jeff

 

[HMR]

When I first read this thread, I thought jmacjgm was incorrect using the jack brackets for tiedowns. I had never seen that technique on a "normal" FWC. I went and dug up the photos that FWC uses for advertising to see how they secured the new hard tops at the factory. Sure enough, they use the jack brackets:

Interesting...

 

[Greg]

When the tie-down comes off an an angle there is a large vertical load on the bracket but also a smaller horizontal load. From the second set of photos, the horizontal load appears to be pulling the bottom of the rear bracket snug to the camper frame, but the horizontal load is pulling the bottom of the front bracket away from the camper frame.

I'm assuming the damage is confined to just the front two brackets.

I'm also assuming each bracket is screwed to the camper frame, not bolted. Please correct me if the brackets are actually bolted to the camper frame or if the rear brackets also have damage.

 

[Stan@FourWheel]

Hello jmacjgm

I just talked with Tom to get the status on this repair for you.

I wasn't aware that you were having problems until just a little while ago.



Thought they were trying to get the camper from you in Las Vegas?

But now Tom says you are currently out in New Mexico?

Once new campers leave the shop, then most any repair or warranty goes over to the service department (usually Terry).

Yes, we are busy. We finally hired another sales guy, but there is still not enough time to get everything done by the end of the day.

Hang in there if you can. We are trying.

We can get the camper repaired and fixed properly under warranty once we have it back here at the factory.

Your camper is the first Keystone Hard Top Model we built, so we are really curious to why the brackets are pulling like that? We have installed external tie downs on the FWC's many times over the years and have not had this problem before. We need to get our eyes on it to get it figured out, repaired properly, and beefed up so it won't happen again.

I will try and have someone get back to you shortly.

Tom is looking at our delivery schedule as I write this.

Thanks for your patience.

Stan



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[jmacjgm]

When the tie-down comes off an an angle there is a large vertical load on the bracket but also a smaller horizontal load. From the second set of photos, the horizontal load appears to be pulling the bottom of the rear bracket snug to the camper frame, but the horizontal load is pulling the bottom of the front bracket away from the camper frame.

I'm assuming the damage is confined to just the front two brackets.

I'm also assuming each bracket is screwed to the camper frame, not bolted. Please correct me if the brackets are actually bolted to the camper frame or if the rear brackets also have damage.

The damage is actually more so on the rear corners and yes, the brackets are screwed in.

 

[jmacjgm]

Thanks for all the info guys. I have spoken with Tom. He stated there should be someone heading east sometime in the next 3 weeks.