Think i broke my Camel

[mcm72]

Hi,
Like the subject says, i think i have broken my Camel camper (2010 beachcomber)

Took it out for the first time last weekend, (that part was GREAT)
BUT whilst packing the trailer on Friday Arvo, i at one point closed the lid, for some reason ( cannot recal now why i did that )  but then opened it again later and finished packing, 
Later in the night i went to clip it down , and the front clip would not go on the hook.
upon closer inpection the whole tent base frame had moved towards the other side of the camper. (away from the clip)

i am thinking that when i closed the lid,  there was something sticking up to high at the front in the trailer , and as a result i have bent the hinge on the front end of the trailer.

now my question is, 
has any one done this before ( come on be honest !    ) and if so how did they fix it.

my way of thinking is , the onyl way to get it right , is to remove the hinge bold, and then move the top to the correct position, and then "bend" the hinge to the required place.  But i am not sure if this is the best idea.

Any help would be greatfully accepted.

 

MM

[Chippy76]

A photo might help, so we can understand the problem better ...

Cheers Chippy

[Kit_e_kat9]

Could it be a dodgy hinge?  Maybe it was bent before you came along and opened it and it's gone back to the original position it was fitted to?  Was the clip hard to remove?  Could it be the fitment hardware and not the hinge itself?

I reckon it would be hard to bend a hinge without much extertion on your part.  Not sure how heavy those soft floor tops are though. 

Did you purchase new?  If so, give the company who you purchased off a call.  It could be something simple that they can fix and if you are lucky ... free of charge.  Regardless, they will have the correct parts (or can recommend) for the restoration back to perfect condition.

Kit_e

[LJs GU]

A photo might help, so we can understand the problem better ...

x2.

BUT I will say, from what I remember of my Camel set up, those hinge's seem pretty strong. This is a pic of mine (it's the hinge at the tail gate end)


If they're bent, I would guess that the bed base (on the hinge side) would shift downwards, not laterally sideways.

Are you sure you (or one of your kids if you have any) haven't accidentally wound in/down the over centre latch??  I assume it's these clips:


LJ

[mcm72]

thanks for your responses !

i will post some pictures,  its a little hard to take pictures that show the problem ( some things DSLR's are not made for )

these first pictures show the latches , rear ( ok ) and front ( not good )

[Nomad]

Does the rest of the hard top still sit flush to the base of the camper?

Regards
Nomad

[Wato]

MCM looking at the second photo it appears that the bed base has moved to the rear of the trailer. What do the hinges look like

Craig

[Diesel Power]

A mate had the same issue with the hinges on the way back from the kimberley. He straightend them out and reinforced the "tail" of the hinge.
Regards
DP

[mcm72]

here are some pictures of the hinges,  the first and 3rd are of the front ( bent i think ) hinge,
2nd one shows the rear one that seems to be ok

(not sure how to be able to write under each picture)

hard to see in the pictures,  but when you look along the frame for the top, it does not sit staight with the top of the trailer.  Thus i am pretty sure hinge is bent

[Wato]

I think your right about the bend. Have you tried giving the bed base a push to straighten it up. Probably easier with a mate help.

Craig

[LJs GU]

Yeah the front one's definitely bent.  The rear one looks straight though.  I reckon you should try what Wato suggested and give the bed base a little bit of extra push up when it's reached it's upper limit.

Also, looking at your first lot of photos and how the latches aren't aligned, this is probably due to the front bent hinge.  Straightening it out should fix that.

LJ

[mcm72]

i have tried to "move" the base , but no joy.

like i said earlier, i think the only way to sort it will be to remove bolt from hinge, and then move the base to the right position, and then adjust the hinge to suit that.

pushing it up will not really work i dont think , as the gas struts reach the end of travel long before the hinge will hit anything to be able to "push" against.

 has anyone else had this problem ??

thanks for help and ideas.

[GGV8Cruza]

I cannot see how the hinges would bend from lifting the camper lid. Are you sure that the camper top has not been knocked against something while reversing or moving it, or possibly knocked by somene else when parked somewhere.

You will need to staighten the hinges up to re align the trailer and bed base, the method you have propsed would work ok, I would undo all the hinges, move the top central and adjust (big hammer) the hinges to the correct spot.

GG

[ml27]

Just a thought, is it possible that something inside the trailer was a bit too high at some stage, and when the lid was closed, it's forced the hinge to bend a bit?

[mcm72]

GGP ,  i think it was the act of closing the Lid , not the opening that did it , and yues ML27 i think there was something to high in the trailer at the time of closing.

Hard leason to learn i guess

[LJs GU]

I was getting mine ready this morning, and had a good look at the hinges... I think GG's right about the fix = big hammer.  Although you may have a problem getting enough room to swing it.  Maybe undo the hinges and try to slide the bed base off the trailer a bit (with out taking it completely off as it's heavy).

Let us know how you go. What ever you decide MM, good luck, it looks like a bugger of a thing to fix.

LJ

[mcm72]

you are right LJ
it will be hard to swing the hammer,

will see how i go,  lucky not going away over easter,  i might be able to fix it
if not , might be off to Mr Camel for their advice and help

fingers crossed, 

MM

[mcm72]

Well i FIXED my broken Camel on the weekend.   

i ALMOST had a bigger problem when i nearly forgot about the gas strut.

*** word of warning **** ALWAYS remove gas struts BEFORE removing hinge bolts.  i had my bolt half way out before i remembered. could have been VERY nasty !!!

so i took the hinge bolt out at the front,  move the camper top to the correct position and had a look at what was needed to put hinge in the correct spot , 
removed the rear hinge, lifted the top on the wrong side of trailer , held up with some timber.
that allowed be to use a peg through the hinge and some pri bars to lever the hinge back into position.
kept checking it as i went along,  get it to the right point , and fitted the bolt back in with little or no trouble.

all in all , it was rather simple to fix.
Lesson learnt , will be triple checking the height of items in the camper before closing the lid from now on.

Thanks to everyone for their help and advice.

 

MM

[McGirr]

Easiest way is to have some tape inside the camper at the rear so that you know when you go to put things in what the maximum height you can go. The top of the tape will indicate the maximum height.

Mark

[LJs GU]

The Camel's hump is re-aligned... well done.

Just as a matter of interest, how'd you go with the struts?  Aren't they supposed to be under more presuure than Gillard's leadership?

You didn't have a problem compressing them to re fix?

LJ

[mcm72]

McGirr, thanks for the tip,  though with the Camel its not an issue normally, as you can fill to the top of the trailer.
i had something that must have been HIGHER then the tub

LJ,  yep , not sure about more pressure then the red headed short necked goose, but certainly ALOT !

i took camper out side, and lifted the top up with no struts on it ( with my 2 kids help)  held in place with some timber while i fitted struts back on.  you would NEVER push the struts to get them back on thats for sure !

MM

[Wato]

MCM72
Good to hear all is well again. I knew a hammer and brute force would work.

Craig

[e4WD]

Good to see you have fixed it.

If you get stuck again, call the guys at the Camel factory, I'm sure they'll help in any way they can. The after sales service is 2nd to none.

[mcm72]

E4wd. I agree. They are great !