Toyhauler owners - Inspect your cargo tie downs

[AmericanBiker]

I decided to inspect the tie downs on my brand new Octane and discovered a few questionable items. I pulled the underbelly cover and this is what I found.
¼”-20 self-tapping style screws that were bore directly into fairly thin plates below. One even had a piece of wire to help it grab bite... jeeze.
The old hardware was already starting to corrode so I replaced everything with new stainless hardware. I added washers and nuts to the bottom side to keep the bolts from pulling through.
Hopefully this will help others and keep everyone's toys safe!
See pics below...

Check out that bolt being held tight with a piece of wire!


Self tapping style bolts can pull out of thin metal.


Old hardware


New hardware


New hardware installed. Washers and nuts added to bottom side.

[Octane2Go]

I will be checking mine! Thanks!

[Random]

Wow The tie down plates say 5000 lbs breaking load. That seems a bit weak for those screws and plates.

[Murff]

YIKES!

Murff

[Brooksb]

I checked all mine the first weekend at home. Had a few screws needed a little tightening. my plan is to just add flat washers, lock washer and nut on each screw. If the load is strapped properly (no slack) it should never have that much force on them. And if a weak causes enough to break loose u more issue already. And already are at a total lose. Carry insurance. That's what it's for....

[AmericanBiker]

The tie down mounts do say 5000lb but I don’t see how with the way they were mounted. When I checked the bolts, they were all just snug but not actually tight. I believe this is done to keep the self-tapping bolts from stripping out the thin metal plates. I tried to add a nut and washer to an original bolt but found that I couldn’t because of the self-tapping style threads. Try it and you will see what I mean. It may be possible with a helper. That’s when I decided to upgrade all of the tie down hardware.
I carry a couple of custom antique Harleys. I would prefer to never let anyone else work on my bikes. I do have full coverage insurance on them but it’s also better to avoid damage in the first place.

[drummn22]

What were the size and length of flat heads?

[AmericanBiker]

Originally Posted by drummn22

What were the size and length of flat heads?

The bolts?... ¼”-20 X 4

[lfmajel85]

The anchor itself is rated for 5000 pounds IF their welded to the frame. It’s all marketing from Jayco. They can say 5000lbs cause that’s what the manufacture of the tie down anchor says. But they way Jayco mounts them, in my estimation puts them in the neighborhood 500-750 lbs.

[AmericanBiker]

I bet all toyhauler manufacturers are doing it this way. That's a scary thought.

[tlbranth]

I'd like to make some tie-down changes. I'm 75 years old and arthritis makes it difficult for me to do what I used to. Can you tell me what is involved in removing the underbelly cover and replacing it?

[Milton]

Figures, goes pretty much with the other short cuts and poor workmanship I have found in my unit and had to correct.

[atlantaM3]

Originally Posted by milton

figures, goes pretty much with the other short cuts and poor workmanship i have found in my unit and had to correct.

ditto

[Kmo]

I welded some 1/2' nuts into my tie downs and have a biker bar mounted to it, gonna have to install real bolts and nuts, when I removed them to do the welding I kinda wondered about their strength, mine all tightened back up but can see this being a issue, would post pics if I could figure out how. lol

[Kmo]

not sure if these pics will come through but here's how I mounted my biker bar