Awning arm mounting bracket. Remount ??S

[tevake]

The mounting bracket that mounts the middle arm that swings out to help support the awning when deployed has been loose and in need of repair.
After removing the loose bracket I found that there has been trouble there before. So I'm trying to come up with the best approach to making a strong water proof repair.
The holes in the skin have been enlarged and elongated. So I'm not sure how large they would have drilled out to be clean and ready to hold a rivet well.
Any suggestions as to a good plan for making this repair?
Have a look at what I'm dealing with.
Thanks for any ideas

Richard

[crazeevw]

My suggestion would be to get a slightly larger square of aluminum, rivet it over existing area, and mount bracket to new aluminum.
Not the prettiest solution though.
Good Luck, Derek

[tevake]

Thanks Derek for the quick reply, that would be ugly for sure.
But would make for a strong repair.

I may try drilling to a larger size and see if I can make that work.
Then the patch will be the fall back plan.

Let's wait a little to see what the resident brain trust comes up with.

Cheers Richard

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by tevake

Thanks Derek for the quick reply, that would be ugly for sure.
But would make for a strong repair.

I may try drilling to a larger size and see if I can make that work.
Then the patch will be the fall back plan.

Let's wait a little to see what the resident brain trust comes up with.

Cheers Richard

Sometimes ugly just makes the most sense. To me a 4" or 6" square piece of 1/4" thick piece of aluminum riveted to the outside wouldn't be that big of a deal or look that bad, especially if the edges were rounded and the plate polished.

If the inside wall is accessible you could try removing the inner skin (or cutting a hole in that area) and riveting the aluminum plate to the outer wall from the inside. Mostly invisible from the outside yet it would provide the strength you need.

Good luck on your repair!

Brad

[dznf0g]

Why square? Make it any shape you want and a piece of riveting art. (ha, see what I did there?)

[dznf0g]

You could try rivnuts first. I've hear both good and bad, as far as success goes.

[Land Shark]

If visual maters, I'd over size the center hole and using steel rivets each side with a steel washer backer to sandwich the existing bracket.

[tevake]

Well I spent about two hrs. Yesterday driving around Prescott, looking for rivets suitable for this repair.
Most folks had never heard of Olympic rivets, nor was I able to find any larger than 1/4 inch. Funny even the folks at the RV repair shops were clueless.

So I may have to look into getting at the back side, then bolts, nuts and washers would be doable.

I had to do a floor repair recently under the back corner of the bed, where the compressor was getting ready to fall out of the coach. As the floor there under the fill hose for fresh water tank was really shot from leaks in the fill hose and possible leaks in the tangle of pluming that lives there also. Not loving the pex fittings so far.
One thing that I have learned here is that stripping out interior parts to do a particular repair can easily lead to a complete gut and total rebuild.

As I am full timing now and planning summer trips. This is not the time to get into a big resto job. So I've got to try for good repairs with out going to far.

Thanks for all the good suggestions , I do appreciate the help.
Cheers Richard

[tevake]

Well I spent about two hrs. Yesterday driving around Prescott, looking for rivets suitable for this repair.
Most folks had never heard of Olympic rivets, nor was I able to find any larger than 1/4 inch. Funny even the folks at the RV repair shops were clueless.

So I may have to look into getting at the back side, then bolts, nuts and washers would be doable.

I had to do a floor repair recently under the back corner of the bed, where the compressor was getting ready to fall out of the coach. As the floor there under the fill hose for fresh water tank was really shot from leaks in the fill hose and possible leaks in the tangle of pluming that lives there also. Not loving the pex fittings so far.
One thing that I have learned here is that stripping out interior parts to do a particular repair can easily lead to a complete gut and total rebuild.

As I am full timing now and planning summer trips. This is not the time to get into a big resto job. So I've got to try for good repairs with out going too far.

Thanks for all the good suggestions , I do appreciate the help.
Cheers Richard