Frame Support bolts

[PrairieCajun]

Well hell new here. Just picked up a 2019 Jayco Hummingbird 17mbs. I did not notice until I got home. Some of the frame support bolts are rusty. Anyway to replace these? My brother is a welder so might have him weld some supports in?

[Grumpy]

Normally those are in the wall plate and you would have to remove either the outer skin or the in side paneling.

[PrairieCajun]

So not an easy fix. Did not pay attention to all of the support bolts. The others are decent this is the worst one. It's more inboard of the side wall. What a dumb design. I have to find a way to address this.

[ARoamer]

Some on my 2020 5er look identical rust wise.
IMHO, Spray some Fluid Film on them to slow the rust and go camping. Likely they would be a PITA to change out anyhow.

[The Gritz Carlton]

It saves them about $50 per unit to use alloy-molten, cheap bolts and screws vs stainless or galvanized. Granted, there will he those that argue the galvanic corrosion issues...but I'll use your photo in my defense. Take a wire brush on a drill and bust as much rust off of them as you can then spray them well with undercoating material. Of course, wear protective eye shields...those wires in the brush wheels can sling out at bullet speeds.

[Cincinnati Kid]

Almost all of ours were never tightened at the factory.

[Jagiven]

If your concerned about them clean them up (wire wheel or media blaster), and give them a coat of a rust inhibitor and a coat of black spray paint.

Personally they are under the TT, and it is not a big deal if they have rust on them. Only the devil will see them.

[The Gritz Carlton]

Rust Never Sleeps. Get rid of it.

[PrairieCajun]

Well an update. Almost one side done. Some of them came off easy, others just spun. I started out with a die and rechased the threads. I cut a nut in half with my Dremel, that way I can use vise grips to hold the bolt so it does not spin. I replaced hard ware with a ss split washer and nylox nut. I will use a nut splitter for the rest. Just went slowly and used a ratcheting box end wrench. Once done I will wire wheel the entire frame panel and hardware. Then clean and coat with 2 coats of rust bullet. But using cheap hardware to save money never benefits the consumer only the manufacturer.

[Marcm157]

Nice work - And now at least you have peace of mind...

[The Gritz Carlton]

Do it right, do it right the 1st time...do it and be done! Great effort.

[Marcm157]

Originally Posted by The Gritz Carlton

Do it right, do it right the 1st time...do it and be done! Great effort.

My father always said - "It takes less time to do something right than it does to explain why you did it wrong"

[The Gritz Carlton]

And...never time to do it right...always time to do it over.

[LuckyDuck]

For those watching at home…as you mentioned, the factory does a lousy job of tightening those nuts. I checked mine early on after a post here on JOF and found several loose and one missing. After tightening them, I added Nyloks — and I still check before every trip. Moral here: You can’t be too careful with your nuts.

[JFlightRisk]

After reading a thread or post some time ago, I go around with a deep socket on a ratchet and give them a tweaking a couple of times a season after giving them a quick squirt of PB Blaster. Not Mr. Overtorque style, just a snugging up on the looser ones. It appears rough roads are mostly why they loosen up on ours.

[Crabman]

Yes the problem I've encountered with them was being loose from the factory or becoming loose over time.

[Bill Johnson]

I would try some Naval Jelly or equivalent. It will dissolve the rust, then coat with a galvanizing paint or other rust blocking paint

[mokurt]

They might become loose because I think the bolts are clamping the wood floor.

[Hollander Mutthaulers]

Our trailer has 5 on each side - I check and snug them periodically - so far doing ok even here where everything rusts. If needed I'll clean the bolts and replace nuts with SS nuts, washers, and lock washers. That is standard routine. However, a bolt that size would take quite a while to rust enough to become significantly weakened.

[hoffmannsphoto]

The Eastwood company make spray on or brush on primer that chemically changes rust back into metal. They use it when they restore old cars. It does a great job.