Replacement rubber frame pads?

Thanks to everyone who posted on this topic. I had never thought to check the pads, and when I did, I found 3 pads that were serviceable while the 4th was broken into two parts and just barely hanging together.

I called the parts dept at TM and ordered replacements but while I waited (just a few days actually), I took some duct tape and put the broken pad back together for a short trip to camp and back without any problem. Now ... to do the actual repair.

[countrygirl]

Originally Posted by countrygirl

I looked at my TM in the packed down position and at the rear of the camper the top shell covered most of the pads. I then looked at the ones at the front..and the top did not cover them as much as the rear shell. In fact when I touched it..I could actually spin the rubber. It looked broken in half because it had a jagged end. DUH!

So I ordered 4 new pieces of rubber. It arrived yesterday and shipping was higher then the cost of the 4 pieces of rubber. All four pieces of the new black rubber have a jagged edge at the bottom. I am guessing the old pieces are almost as thick as the new ones. I will measure to be sure.

I suspect when we open the camper this weekend we will find that the rubber is fine and all we need to do is tighten the screws holding the rubber pads on at the front of the camper.

To update this info. We have been tinkering with the TM for the last couple of weeks. Before putting the TM away yesterday...We checked the black rubber pads. The last time I checked it looked like I did not really need the new ones because they appeared to be the same length as the old ones. On closer inspection the one the rear of the TM are the same size as the new ones and are in pretty good shape. The ones on the front though are worn in half (broken in two pieces) and the new ones that I ordered arrived TOO short to fit correctly.

The are not hard to replace. Simply unscrew from the frame using a bit with the square head. It is easy to line up the holes for installation using the old ones as a timplate.

I plan to call the tm factory tomorrow and ask for some new longer ones.

I've had to replace mine yearly, the rough roads of the back country seems to cause a lot of movement of the shells and faster wear and tear on the pads.

Has anyone found a tougher material?

[pauloh]

I ordered 8 of these pads (email to Eddie using address [email protected]) from the factory last week. Giving some credit to the factory and Eddie here, the parts were shipped within a day with an invoice for payment by check later (per email from Eddie, they don't run a credit card). Cost for 8 pads (I ordered 2 "sets" of 4 to have a spare set) was $39.04 plus $17. shipping (I also ordered a few of those white plastic turnbuttons in the same order, at additional cost. Package did not weigh over 2 lbs. and came UPS). Anyway the new factory pads are all the same length, sort of rough-cut out of thick rubber stock with rough edges, as if the blade of the cutting device that created them was dull. I then learned while replacing my old pads that the ones in the front of my TM are longer by 1-2 inches than the ones in the back. The factory replacements are all the same length as the shorter back pads. So I had to drill a couple new holes in my frame at the front to use the new pads. Not a huge deal, only destroyed one drill bit, but for roughly $6.00 per rough piece of 5 x 1 inch rubber, I expected a bit more from the factory and after my current supply of pads is used up I will fabricate something myself, probably from an old tire. I'm thinking I'll pick up the scraps from someone's blowout along the highway and cut that up, an old piece of steel-belted radial may last longer than the TM pads too.

[countrygirl]

I finally remembered to call Eddie this week about two of the pads for our 3124ks being too short. Eddie promised to send me 2 new pads for the front end at no additional cost. I would give him a call then you will have a nice stock pile!

It is sort of disappointing to pay that much for these things. I googled around trying to find a source for a similar material. No luck so far. We did consider the black rubber base on some old traffic cones though.

[pauloh]

Originally Posted by countrygirl

I finally remembered to call Eddie this week about two of the pads for our 3124ks being too short. Eddie promised to send me 2 new pads for the front end at no additional cost. I would give him a call then you will have a nice stock pile!

You're absolutely right, I should give him a chance to rectify this rather than just complaining about it here (other than about the pricing!) Thanks for the tip, I just figured we were stuck with short pads! Will do.

On mine I just took one of those rubber bungee's cut out four sections and attached them over the broken ones with a couple of upholstery(with heads) tacks at an angle so the tips would bend under the broken pads when it hits the frame and then hold.Quick cheap emergency fix.
Bob

[countrygirl]

Oh my gosh! I know what you mean...those sorta ugly black rubber bungee cords would work...so much cheaper too.

DW had a quilting business and I put down those 2 ft sq foam tiles for her to stand on. Had a piece left over and cut new pads and mounted them on top of the existing old worn out pads. Worked ok this past season but I expect I may have to replace them next spring.

[ELM-JLM]

How about take a piece of hose and run the bungee through it, then screw it to the frame! Just a thought after looking at mine!