Belly Pan Mounting Bracket

scott14
scott14 Member Posts: 197
in Trailer & Towing
We have a 2022 T@B 320 S.  We took delivery in December of 2021.  To date, we have logged about 3,000 miles of travel with the trailer.  We could not be happier about the camper, the experiences we have had, and the nuCamp company.... however, I noticed something last night during a routine inspection of the trailer.  These pictures are of the passenger side belly pan, near the rear of the trailer, behind the axle.  At least two of the mounting screws have rusted and the heads fell off when I pushed the trim piece back into place.  The trim piece holding the corrugated belly pan is now not fastened and the belly pan unsupported.  Has anyone else experienced this?  What can be done to remove the shaft of the machine screw from the frame so I can put new machine screws in?

 


Thank you for your help!
Scott

Scott / 2019 T@B 400 / 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe LTZ / Northern Illinois

Comments

  • manyman297
    manyman297 Member Posts: 1,436
    Extremely common problem. I had several screws that broke and I ended up taking all of the factory ones out and replacing them with higher quality screws. It was a huge pain removing them. I had to back them out with pliers from the backside of the frame. Took forever. In hindsight I would've used a precision grinder with a pointed tip to drill out the screw shaft from the underside...way easier. You can find grinders pretty cheap...wish I would've thought of it beforehand.

    The good news is you can have a fair amount break and that belly pan will stay up...but I didn't want to risk it. 

    But yes, a common problem probably caused by over-tightening using an impact drill to install them. None of mine were really that corroded.
    2021 400 BD
    2020 Tacoma TRD Off-Road 
  • Denny16
    Denny16 Member Posts: 5,430
    edited September 2022
    Yes, the break on the screw shown appears to be a stress break (caused by over driving the screw per manyman’s comment above).  The corrosion appears to be on the surface only, and is normal for plated steel screws exposed to any significant moisture, like the u deride of the trailer is.  
    Cheers 
    2018 TaB400 Custom Boondock,  Jeep Gladiator truck, Northern California Coast.
  • scott14
    scott14 Member Posts: 197
    Thank you for the information!

    Scott / 2019 T@B 400 / 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe LTZ / Northern Illinois

  • MarkAl
    MarkAl Member Posts: 509
    Thinking of getting a box from McMaster-Carr (McMaster-Carr) is there one size used for this and thinking Stainless Steel? This maybe considered preventive maintenance also been avoiding taking that off for some inspections....
    Snohomish WA, 2015 Diesel Grand Cherokee
    Sm@ll World: 2021 320S Boondock, 6V Pb-acid
    Shunt, Roof & Remote solar & 30A DC-DC Chargers
    managed by VE Smart Network
  • Denny16
    Denny16 Member Posts: 5,430
    edited September 2022
    Stainless fasteners would be the way to go.  Just be careful about driving them in, they are easier to over torque and break.  I think our local TaB dealer shop replaced the bottom underbelly screws on our TaB400 with stainless when they had the bottom cover off.  Check the stainless compound being used, not stainless fasteners have the sam corrosion resistance or shear strength.  Marine grsde stainless fasteners are best.
     Cheers 
    2018 TaB400 Custom Boondock,  Jeep Gladiator truck, Northern California Coast.
  • MarkAl
    MarkAl Member Posts: 509
    After all that @Denny16 do you know the size? Is there only one size? We had probably 1000 screws for access panels on our plane and the significantly easier time w/ corrosion was worth the softer head (easier to strip). 88 on the cowling alone which got removed a lot.
    Snohomish WA, 2015 Diesel Grand Cherokee
    Sm@ll World: 2021 320S Boondock, 6V Pb-acid
    Shunt, Roof & Remote solar & 30A DC-DC Chargers
    managed by VE Smart Network
  • Denny16
    Denny16 Member Posts: 5,430
    edited September 2022
    @MarkAl That is a lot of screws Mark!  The p,and I worked on was a Navy WWII single engine bomber trainer, had a dual cockpit, and everything, I mean everything was riveted on.  Taxing that beast on the ground was like driving a small house around.  

    I am not sure on the size, I haven’t pulled one yet, but my guess is nüCamp used either a no 8 or no 10 by 1/2 or 3/4 inch screw.  You should pull one and match it if the holes are in good kit, or get the next wire size larger.  There is not any weight on this, just some wind buffering.  The dealer’s shop dropped mine when we had the floor done.
     Cheers 
    2018 TaB400 Custom Boondock,  Jeep Gladiator truck, Northern California Coast.
  • EPOD1
    EPOD1 Member Posts: 7
    edited August 15

    What a great forum we have here. I just finished fixing this issue on my TAB 400 and wondered if there was any note about it in the Forum. And well, there certainly is and thank you everyone for contributing.

    Those broken fasteners became an issue for me when one broke leading to the neighbor fastener breaking and the next and the next…etc. The first look kind of makes you angry that there is no real quality control here. I mean we all bought these expensive little trailers thinking there were craftsman putting them together. I should have known better but anyway, for the most part nüCamp makes a pretty good product.

    As with everything that I have found so far, once I remove the first fastener I am certain to go in there and clean up any shortcomings. The truth is, the fastest fix is to make it while you have the patient opened up.

    FIG1.jpg

    I then started taking the retaining strips off and dropping the whole front of the pan. With the pan down I saw even more work to be done and at that point had to focus on the main issue and not rebuild the underside just yet.

    The failed fastener issue involves more than one issue. The obvious issue is the choice of fastener that nüCamp made. The size is too small and perhaps a SS fastener would last longer. But first look at what is happening here where the fastener and the material that the fastener is secured to is corroding. Honestly there is not a lot that you can do since we are dealing with three different metals on the undercarriage where water and most likely salt will be present. If we add SS (Stainless Steel) to the mix it opens new problems where the fastener is the most noble metal. There are other issues to related to the quality of the SS and from there I will go down an even deeper rabbit hole, so lets move on. The zinc plated steel fasteners should be okay as long as they are not over-torqued. But I might go the way of SS with some sort of insulator or filler like Tef-Gel to keep the SS fasteners from reacting.

    FIG2.jpg

    After I dropped a section of the pan to remove the broken fasteners, I kept finding more things to fix. For now I will stay focused on the fasteners. I used vise grips and some PB Blaster penetrant to remove the fastener remnants. I then cleaned everything inside the undercarriage and coated the metal parts with Fluid-Film to slow and help prevent corrosion of the metal parts. I also noticed that the deck penetration near the A/C compartment is not sealed. If you want to keep the insects/spiders down, seal all of these.

    For now I used zinc plated self tapping fasteners nearly identical to what was removed to close up the belly pan. I will have to do some research and source the new fastener before I swap them with SS or whatever. I used some 5/16" by 3/4 black foam strip around the periphery before securing the pan to seal any gaps and minimize any road dirt, salt and spray from entering the void space above the pan.

    I plan on making the undercarriage winter proof so there is no doubt I will be back inside the belly pan.

    2023 TAB 400 Boondock (Extreme)

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