Has anybody had any experience with making Support braces for the main gas struts for when you might have heavy snow coming in or carrying extra weight up top.
I was thinking of making a couple out of some angle Aluminum and just have a couple of t nuts attached on the side and If I need the extra support I can just pop on the braces.
I was wondering if anyone had experience with gas strut locks? Seems like they could work in this use case, and also for the folks that have the struts dropping in high wind. Thoughts?
Both of these seem like viable solutions. Personally, I like the extrusion brace idea as it would likely be less expensive and seems like it would be quite strong. I wonder if the strut locks may scar up the struts or may slip in really extreme conditions? Don’t know.
Great ideas, guys. Thanks for posting these!
Peace.
I’m thinking 2 shorter braces on each side of the text, btw…
Peace.
the shorter the braces the less flex in the material I like the idea of doing two on each side of the gas struts. Thanks
I will probably have a compression pole for a tarp and use that for rare occasions along the back to support the top if needed. I’ve been in a tent near a flippac for a night of 70 knot winds in a hurricane and they fared better than me. Half the fun is improvising.
Hit the hardware store for a piece of 1/2" pvc pipe. Most sell it in 3’ pieces. Cut it to the length of the open strut exposed rod. Then cut it long ways so it snaps on to the rod. I used a hacksaw.
Works well, won’t scratch anything and weighs next to nothing.
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Great idea, sometimes the best fixes are the easiest fixes.
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Really like this Idea. Do you use them for your main gas struts on the tent section?
No I haven’t had an issues with the tent struts. This support came about because I was hanging a candle lantern from the latch on the rear door and wanted to make sure it didn’t close
I gotta see some pictures of the candle lantern on the camper!
That’s funny…it’s one of these.
I really like the strut locks. They’re cheap and seem like they would do the job.
Since they seem pretty ubiquitous I’m guessing they’re not problematic. But, would scratching the rod of the strut make it leak or not seal as well?
On ebay they’re around 10-15 bucks apiece.
Any scratches on the piston shaft will degrade the internal seal plus if the scratch has sharp edges it could tear up the seals/scraper rings inside the strut and lead to a complete blowout. (This goes for any kind of shock or strut)
If the clamps are made of brass and/or aluminum they shouldn’t scratch the piston shaft but make sure they’re clean before installing.
I personally prefer that cut PVC idea. Cheap, simple, and too soft to scratch anything.
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So I copied Robjob’s design for the strut braces. While they are currently untested, they seem to fit fine and should brace the tent from closing in the wind. I did not see any scarring after 2 or 3 installations and removals…
For whatever reason, I needed a small slit cut opposite the channel to get the brace initially clipped around the strut. After that initial bit, the brace clipped right on. Dunno.
Peace.
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