I recently posted a thread about finding my VIN plate in the middle of the road:
http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...ead.php?t=6802
My question here: Has this happened to anyone else on this forum?? Or could this be missing on other TMs, and that is just not something that owners routinely check?? (Is that the sound of 1000s of footprints running out to their units to check??
)
Seriously though, this is disconcerning to me. This 1 plate is probably the only way to prove that our units actually belong to us. What happens if it falls off and is lost....what then??
I am trying to figure how this happened. The previous connector seemed to be 5/32nd" hardened steel (discovered as I drilled it out) instead of a rivet. 1 side had sheared off, while the other had a slightly rusted "mushroom" at the end, as if the VIN plate had pulled away from it.
Some ideas:
I don't think galvanic corrosion would be the culprit, as the aluminum would corrode instead of the steel connector, plus I don't live in a salt water atmosphere.
Just plain ol' rust could have corroded the connector on the "mushroomed side", and the VIN plate hanging down there and jarring around could have snapped the other side.....but that is a long shot also. And if so, why hasn't this happened to a bunch more TMs??
The best scenerio was that 1 of my battery boxes could have repeatedly slide into the VIN plate, loosening the plate that maybe wasn't installed very well initially by the factory.
I am open to other theories.....and campground goblins don't count.
The fix: I drilled out the old connectors, and reconnected the plate with 3/16th" pop rivets. I also put a giant cable tie around the TM frame there, just in case the rivets pull out again so maybe the VIN plate won't hit the road this time. I also "chocked" the battery boxes in place better, so they won't slide around and hit the VIN plate.
Any ideas out there on how this could have happened would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Chap