kerry4951
East Central Pennsylvania
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Joined: 12/16/2009
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Thanks for sharing your experience. Thank goodness you and family were all OK. Northwood needs to go back to the drawing board and start over. There is no excuse for this.
2009 Silverado 3500 dually D/A, Supersprings, Stable Loads, Bilsteins, Hellwig Sway Bar.
2010 Arctic Fox 1140 DB, 220 watts solar, custom 4 in 1 "U" shaped dinette/couch, baseboard and Cat 3 heat, 2nd dinette TV, cabover headboard storage, 67 TC mods
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Wagonqueen Truckster
Pittsburgh, PA
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Joined: 10/10/2013
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Oh My GOSH! So now I don't think my husband is a dork by adding even more re-reinforced steel plates to the Amerigo truck camper re-build.
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jimh406
Western MT
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Joined: 06/11/2006
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As others have said, thanks for sharing. I think all of us should take a look at that part of our campers even if they aren't the same brand.
'10 Ford F-450, 6.4, 4.30, 4x4, 14,500 GVWR, '06 Host Rainer 950 DS, Torklift Talon tiedowns, Glow Steps, and Fastguns. Bilstein 4600s, Firestone Bags, Toyo M655 Gs, Curt front hitch, Energy Suspension bump stops.
NRA Life Member, CCA Life Member
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Camper_Jeff_&_Kelli
Seattle
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Joined: 04/04/2008
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Very sorry to see this happen to you. I was just looking at the structure of your camper compared to my S&S and wanted to point out some differences.
![[image]](http://i912.photobucket.com/albums/ac329/anutami/IMG_5849-1.jpg)
Your camper has a 3/4" aluminum square channel attaching the side wall and the underside of the camper together. The two plywood panels are never attached to each other. This just doesn't look like a structurally sound practice of joining the two pieces together.
![[image]](https://pqeo5g.dm1.livefilestore.com/y2pVaVyPolEOud-eAJqx4YgqjGAGBTcXokZT-df6KyEWYkPAZyisAcyfBzOIWxSyy7fo2odq5fx2s2PKExD3SgJYKOijI2IJRpy9CJaiotap8o/TC%20Wire%20Upgrade%2002_25_2012%20001.JPG?psid=1)
Here is how my S&S TC is assembled in the same area. There is a 2x3" single length of wood for the whole side of the TC serving both front and rear tie downs that the TC side wall comes down over and screws into both the 2x3" and the plywood tub over the truck bed sidewall. The piece over the truck side wall is also screwed down into the 2x3" making a very very strong connection. You can see on the inboard side of the TC, there is also a 2x2" connecting the TC together in the same manor. If your rig is repairable, I would strongly look at trying to retrofit a connection similar to mine on your TC and anybody else who doesn't have similar reinforcement of such a vital connection point as this on their TC should look into doing a similar retrofit too.
My camper has been slammed hard enough three times where the hooks on the turnbuckles have bent out and released but the tie downs show no sign of having ever been stressed. My left side tie down is hard to spot but you can see the outboard side where the 7 pin plug is and a black plastic zip tie looped through it. This is also my weakest tie down as the tie down is located in the bottom center of my propane compartment with only about 6" of front sidewall and the jack bracket holding everything together. Other side similar with fridge compartment opening and 8" sidewall in front and jack mount.
This is my TC front right side.
![[image]](https://pqeo5g.by3302.livefilestore.com/y2phkI5IsI2R4lZP8vOr8_84OubzOdLfq1gpWOOAEfJDeXF3c8oZi9Lgm0u_wSmI4OBHYm-wmGHeByQKkAl7MAReLS9-DwQnXDNDnuJ1A7prwg/WP_001866.jpg?psid=1)
I wish you well and that you folks will be on the road again in no time.
Camper Jeff and Kelli's Blog!
CITAP1 Jeff's YouTube Channel
A CLOSED MOUTH GATHERS NO FEET!
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805gregg
Ojai, Ca
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Joined: 03/24/2010
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Why can't I see the pictures?
2003 Dodge Quad Cab 3500 SRW LB Cummins diesel, Banks Six Gun, Banks exhaust, Mag hytec deep trans pan, and Diff cover. Buckstop bumper, Aerotanks 55gal tank, airbags, stableloads Bigwig stabilizer, 2003 Lance 1071 camper, solar and generator
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exhaustipated
Topeka, Kansas
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Joined: 08/07/2013
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Thanks for the post and pics. I'm glad no one got hurt and I hope your insurance will cover everything so that you can get back on the road again.
2009 Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD 4WD LT1 Ext Cab Z71 Long Bed Vortec 6.0L V8 SFI gas.
2012 Travel Lite 960RX
Torklift frame mounted tie downs with FastGun turnbuckles and a Lock and Load maximum security cargo tray.
Timbren SES
Curt front mount hitch receiver
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Joe417
AL
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Joined: 02/03/2002
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What I'm seeing here isn't bad manufacturing by Northwood's but it is bad manufacturing by the plywood manufacturer. It looks like several of the plys all met at the same glue joint which was a failure just waiting to happen. There's hardly any way the plywood user could tell it was glued that way. It was great that no one was hurt.
What I'm also seeing is that this unit didn't disintegrate when it hit the road on the front corner. I think that's a better statement than 20 people standing on the roof.
I've happened upon more than a couple of RVs that turned into a pile of rubble when they turned over.
This could be the start of a new material quality check at the TC factory.
Hopefully you can get back on the road quickly.
Good luck.
Joe & Evelyn
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Desertboy
Oklahoma/ And Northern Arizona
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Joined: 07/18/2013
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Sorry about your camper and truck. But you did an awesome job on the trip report. Those are some really nice pics.
1969 AVION
3/4 12 VALVE
Freightliner/24' Flatbed 50,000 miles/ Titan 4000 receiver Hitch, no Mods needed.
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n7bsn
Yes
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Joined: 04/11/2004
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805gregg wrote:Why can't I see the pictures?
You have your personal preferences set to not show photos.
I'm not recalling where, but it's in your personal setup.
2008 F350SD V10 with an 2012 Arctic Fox 29-5E
When someone tells you to buy the same rig they own, listen, they might be right. When they tell you to buy a different rig then they own, really pay attention, they probably know something you don't.
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goldwinghauler
Monterey, TN
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Joined: 04/20/2005
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The last I remember Ron Nash was I'll and his company was being run by someone else. He might have even sold his company. I agree with 3tons this is not the type of poor design that he would stand for.
2017 Dodge Ram 3500HD Cummins Diesel CC LB 4WD Dually w/ Supersprings SSA-24 and Hellwig Big Wig Sway Bar
2018 Eagle Cap 1165
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