2013 Scamp 16' screws loosen when driving

[Dsironi]

I've been noticing that the interior base screws under the rear side seat, and under the sink stove base, and the furnace cover always seem to loosen and even fall out. Is this because side pressure from passing vehicles and winds cause the frame to expand and compress at 60 -70 mph?

Note our tires are rated 81 mph, not 60.

Also noticed a bolt rivet pop off on that rear side seat.

Any suggestions, besides thicker replacement screws?

David

[TomK]

David, I had a similar problem with 2 of the wood screws at the base of the kitchen cabinet in our 13' Scamp. I removed the screws and used a tooth pick to first moisten the hole, then to push a small amount of Gorilla glue into the hole. I also put a film of the glue on the screws and reinstalled them. Water causes the glue to expand as it dries, so it takes very little. Wipe off any excess before it hardens and let it set for a day. It solved the problem. Good luck!

Tom

[rdickens]

David,

We too had a problem with most of the screws at the base of our Scamp13 kitchen unit.

After trying Loctite (failed) and then trying coating the screw threads with clear Silicone
Sealant (also failed), I broke some toothpicks into roughly the length of the screw threads
and poked several toothpick pieces into each hole. I then put the screws back in and they didn't back out. If you wanted to, you could coat the toothpick pieces with Elmer's glue before using them to partially fill the hole.

My dad was a carpenter and he used that technique when wood screws had been over tightened and stripped out the hole.

Best of luck to you!

Ray

[Lynn Eberhardt]

Glue on the screws and balancing the tires solved the problem for us.

Lynn and Pam

[Radar1]

The floor under the sink is just the MDF or pressboard stuff and not designed for holding screws edgewise. The screws can actually push the layers apart so they no longer grip well. We helped ours stay tighter by making sure the tires are balanced to reduce bouncing, and adding vertical bolts/washers through the floor near the screws to keep the wafers tighter and less prone to splitting apart.
For the furnace cover, we used machine screws and nylock nuts that resist loosening.

[Byron Kinnaman]

The biggest cause of such problems is too fast on rough roads.

[Dsironi]

Good suggestions on securing the screws. And, of course, if we weren't driving, it wouldn't happen. Rough roads contributed to it for sure. Road into Waterton from USA and some roads headed north to Banff near Black Diamond and east from Calgary were rough. We were on a schedule and may have pushed a little. Good to see new territory. My tires are (were) balanced.