Sheered off screw head & Improper insatltion of sliding propane tank tray

[ACDW-Ottawa]

Verify the installation of the sliding propane tray on the off-door side on your Solitude to make sure it is properly secured to your trailer.

If yours was installed as mine was, The 2 screws at the front are not sufficient because if one bolt breaks (as it did in mine), there is only one left to bear the complete weight. Determine the best solution for your case. I recommend adding two bolts and nuts at the rear through the metal box and the propane tray to reduce the force beared by the front screws. Adding a third self drilling screw in the front is good security in case a front screw fails. Just make sure that this screw goes into the frame member underneath by checking it from the front storage compartment.

On my Solitude, I found the right side screw head sheared off holding the sliding tray holding the 2 20LB Propane Tanks. Upon closer examination, I determined that the factory installed only 2 screws holding the weight of sliding tray (approximately 10 lbs) and 2 x 20 LB propane tanks by only 2 screws and only in the front 2 mounting holes of the bracket. This is not a proper installation as the weight produced by the propane tanks and bracket when pulled out exerted way more force than the 50 lbs due to the fulcrum effect (i.e. the bract was tipping forwards at those screws by all the weight at the end). Although to the credit of Grand Design RV, the 2 screws secured the sliding bracket into the trailers frame which is strong.

I repaired this by adding 4 more self drilling screws (probably overkill but better safe than sorry) of the same size to the front of the bracket to make up for the additional force exerted on these screws by all the weight when the bracket is pulled all the way forward. As an afterthought, I drilled 2 holes in the sheet metal box and use bolts and nuts to secure the bracket at the rear. Although the metal box is not structurally very strong, it will contribute significantly by preventing the bracket from tilting forward Lessing the force exerted on those front screws. See the pictures showing the sheared off screw head and my repairs.

[Kordog]

Good catch, Im sure that GD figured the two bolts were sufficient, but when one was over torqued and broke, that was not in their plan!! At least it was an easy fix... Happy camping..