Sagging front covering

[Poppy's 5th Wheel]

Originally Posted by bg71361

I did not break any! I used the self starting bolts shown in the picture the steel was not that thick!

I saw that they were self-tappers but never imagined you would be able to use them straight in. Wow! That certainly simplifies things. I'm heading to the hardware store today.

Tikitim, that must be frustrating but I've seen some of your work on your trailer and I'm sure you'll figure it out. Keep us in the loop.

[Bowti]

Curious as to if these screws are broken coming out of the factory, or are they breaking after the unit has bounced down the road for a few thousand miles. The reason I ask, is I didn't notice any broken on mine until I put a few thousand miles on it.
Just wondering if the fix is also doomed to failure.

[Poppy's 5th Wheel]

Originally Posted by Bowti

Curious as to if these screws are broken coming out of the factory, or are they breaking after the unit has bounced down the road for a few thousand miles. The reason I ask, is I didn't notice any broken on mine until I put a few thousand miles on it.
Just wondering if the fix is also doomed to failure.

Well, I guess time will tell if the new ones break but mine definitely took a little time to break so I suspect the movement plus obviously poor choice of fasteners. The self-tapers bg71361 used look substantially stronger. As I said, not only have all the screws around the pin broken but there are about 6 others spaced out that are broken on mine as well.

[concours]

I just looked at a brand new never been off the lot Cougar and 3 screws are broken when I pointed it out the answer was well that's RV's For those who have installed new screws in the chin panel did you realise that there is wiring above the steel frame that you drilled into on the left side? I haven't checked too far but I think it may be a concern

[Sulphur1]

Thanks for all the posts and pics.
Aluminium support should be a good fix.
Wonder what's above!
Cheers
Jon

[Bowti]

Originally Posted by concours

I just looked at a brand new never been off the lot Cougar and 3 screws are broken when I pointed it out the answer was well that's RV's For those who have installed new screws in the chin panel did you realise that there is wiring above the steel frame that you drilled into on the left side? I haven't checked too far but I think it may be a concern

That answers my question, can't believe they didn't know this was a problem and let them leave the factory this way.

[Tikitim]

Still not brave enough to take down chin cover yet. So in the mean time we're off to Shipshawanna Indiana (home of the giant flee circus..... I mean flee market) While were down there we're going to go on a plant tour at Keystone. I will be asking a lot of questions about this problem that a few of us are having. I hope to take a few pics. of an unassembled unit on the assembly line to show what is up inside and how to assemble chin cover. If I can get pics I will post them from CG. Thanks for all your help, I shall be back with some answers.

P.S. Poppy I saw your tank issue on another site, I hope you get things resolved.

[bg71361]

I would be especially interested in what the front compartment latch screws into? Wood/metal? Keep us posted! Thx

[Poppy's 5th Wheel]

I fixed mine with self tappers and stainless oversized washers. I added a couple around the front storage hatch because it had come loose as well.







Moved on to a much bigger problem .... a cracked and leaking black water holding tank! Not a fun project for sure.