Goshen lift system. Bought with broken cable. Fixed it to find the front right roof corner is soft. I used Eternabond tape to seal the sides and roof. So it shouldn't leak anymore. The problem is, the wood at the lift post is soft and it allows the corner to sag 3/4 inch lower than the other 3 corners. So the door won't lock in . I'd like to try to get through the summer before trying a roof rebuild. One suggestion I was given is to put a 3/4" spacer in that lift post so it will push that corner up even with the others. I also thought about unbolting the corner bracket and putting a piece of metal in there, and then larger washers on the outside at the bolt heads. That way I can crank it tighter than the wood will allow. I'll try to post pictures of where it's sagging.
I've scabbed in a piece of plywood where our side wall rotted. If you can scrape out most of the old rotted wood, cut a piece of plywood to fit and glue it in with some strong construction glue. The EternaBond will definitely seal it tight. Ours is 8+ years since doing the roof with it, still no leaks!
Thanks. My patch job idea was to add a junction box cover on the inside and some big fender washers on the outside of the bolts. Like one of these: I'll have to see if I can remove the canvas behind it so I see it a little better. I guess I could just brace the corner, so when I unbolt it, nothing moves. Certainly better than adding a spacer I think. I'd still like to hear some other ideas if anyone has some. I won't be able to look into this further until Friday or Saturday probably.
FWIW, you can certainly do as you see fit to get by but remember that if you run bolts through the sideboard, you'll have holes through the outer sidewall skin that will need patching and you'll kick yourself if you plan to reuse the skin later. If that 4" junction box cover is big enough to span the soft spots and you can use 1/2" screws to hold it in place and support the lift post, you might be able to get away without damaging the outer skin. So much the better if there's enough integrity in the sideboard that you can use PL3 Premium to glue the junction box cover in place as well. I realize it might not work if the wood is saturated and rotting, but thought I'd mention an alternative. Another idea might be to use an galvanized structural strap or tie plate on the inside. They're super cheap and come in tons of sizes with holes stamped in them. Head down to HomeDepot and look in the aisle with joist hangers. You should easily find one large enough to span the rotted section(s) where you can screw into dry wood. You'll find them at any building center that sells joist hangers. Same deal as mentioned above. Glue it to sound wood with PL Premium, screw it in place and you're off to the races. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Simpson-Strong-Tie-ZMAX-Galvanized-16-Gauge-5-in-x-8-in-Protecting-Shield-Plate-Nail-Stopper-PSPN58Z/100375296?N=5yc1vZaqta
Yes, that looks about right but shouldn't that Tee-nut be concealed by a reflector? What I understood was that you were planning to add another bolt or two and those would be hard to hide behind a reflector. Whatever you decide, it's wise to caulk behind the outer cover/trim/reflector in order to seal up the Tee-nuts that the lift post bolts to.
Both on that side are the same. I don't recall the other side, and I'm not near my camper for a few days. It looked factory though. Except that the bolts are a little longer than they would need to be. I figure the factory wouldn't let that much thread hang out. But then it depends on the quality.
I would just cut a pice of 1x2 board to length, raise the roof then install it. no more holes in an already rotten wood. good luck.
I was thinking the same thing. After you have the roof raise , wedge a 2-4 or 1-2 that is the right length into that corner to raise the corner up.
Supported the roof and unbolted the lift arm. The wood is pretty bad. I decided to reinforce it with some metal plates for now. It's holding better, but still didn't get the door lined up. So I unscrewed the door hinge, and screwed it back with a fender washer for now. I'm going to rehang the door so we can at least go camping a few times until I'm in a better position to replace the whole side piece of the roof.
Can somebody tell me what those brackets are? I haven't seen mine, but I know they need to be replaced. I've got bolts sticking out of the sideboard on 3 corners of the roof. I can't take a picture because I don't have a camera or a phone. Thanks