Simple Drop Down Corner Thing

[VicS1950]

A Simple Drop Down Corner Thing

When we got our 23b I noticed that the welded aluminum corners of the bed drop downs were bent up or in (depending upon your viewpoint). That caused the corner to hit the trailer frame and limit the seal compression when closing. I used a parallel jaw bending tool which I have to get them more into proper position. Not exactly back flat because the seal was compressed in the corners, but close to original. I figured that the previous owners had bent them somehow.

We set up the tent ends. The sharp corners were tough to get the fabric over and in one corner the tent fabric showed some stress. After the grandkids played for a while we closed the tent ends up. I noticed that the corners were again bent out of place. I didn't like the way the corners hit the frame and the way the corners stressed the tent fabric. The extra metal sticking out in the corner did nothing to help with sealing the drop down and likely would interfere by bottoming out. My guess was that the tent bent the corners again. I decided to radius the corners.

I used a hand hacksaw to cut off the corners near the seal edge. I then applied a mill file to smooth it to a basic radius. I used my old method of spraying a bit of white paint into a hand made tinfoil cup and used the fuzzy end of a paper matchstick to touch up the bare aluminum.

After the touchup dried I put the tent up. The tent fabric fits the corners much better now. There is no stress on the bad/damaged fabric corner. The corners did't show distortion this time when the tent was put up. The corners no longer hit the metal frame to interfere with the seal compression.

It's a small thing, but I think it was worth doing. At this time the only possible issue I see is if the sharp corners hold the tent in place better than my radius will. It was very breezy today when I had my tent up (gusts to 35 mph) and the tent stayed put. The snaps should do the job. Time will tell.

I'll update this thread as to performance. Especially if it doesn't hold the tent corners as it should. FWIW. vic

[Threebutchers]

Nice, practical mod, Vic....thanks for sharing!

[exjay1]

looks good to me.

[VicS1950]

Update.

We used the drop down beds over Memorial Day W/E with the tents installed over my modified corners. It was pretty windy over the W/E with gusts to a solid 25 mph at least. The tent ends and snaps held just fine. There is still tension on the tent corners where they fit over aluminum corners, but not the point loading.

With the new radius on the corners there is now much less stress on the fabric. It even looks like I won't need to repair the damaged corner. It fits well now. The snaps in the corners are much easier to fit and get to lock into place than they were. That said, I did spray a bit of silicone lube on a paper towel and put a very light coat on every fixed screw snap.

Perhaps our tent is different from others so the situation of the stressed corners is unique to our trailer? Do with my information what you will. vic