Front Shell Center Latch failure

[wbmiller3]

Originally Posted by gonzo628

anyone have any idea what happened to the original post #2? My reply, which is now #2, no longer makes sense. Further, I was trying to reference his post to now go out and buy my hardware...

I deleted my post when I realized that the failure you had wasn't the same as mine. On mine, the "hinge" that the latch hook rotates on failed. Sorry for the confusion.

On the other topic, I jack the hitched camper/truck up to latch the sway bars. I like doing this because it gives me a positive indication that the hitch ball is gripped in the coupler, since it can lift the back of the truck.

[gonzo628]

no problem. I did an advanced search and found the thread that talks about replacement bolt options. My son and I went to True Value and purchased grade 8 bolts, fender washers, lock washers and lock nuts (nuts with the nylon in the back). I went ahead and replaced the bolts on both latches for the front shell. Unfortunately, grade 8 bolts are not indistructable (My son and I broke one)....

[gonzo628]

perhaps nylon "lock" nuts are not the way to go? Do you have a picture of the "nuts with greater than normal tread surface area?

[Bill]

Nylock nuts should be perfect. Remember, there is no end-to-end force on the nut/bolt in any direction that would tend to unscrew the nuts, so you don't need any strength from the nut. They just shake from the road vibration, and the shaking is what makes them tend to unscrew when a conventional lockwasher is used. Nylock is perfect in that situation. For the same reason, I don't see a need for fender washers as opposed to standard flat washers, although they can't hurt. Stainless is nice.

Bill