it also looks like the rivet heads are gouging the space frame. you can see paint chip on space bar at every rivet point that is in the row closest to the bar. I would think that needs to be improved as well while looking to solve the issue of broken hinges
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yup, the more I look at it with the photo enlarged, the more evident it seems that the rivets need to be lower profile
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Yup, they corrected the rubbing before it shipped but it was enough to leave some marks. I’m okay with some cosmetic defects as long as it functions. And to GFC’s credit they did offer to touch it up
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so does that mean that the current rivets shown in your photo do not contact the space frame anymore??
it looks like the light come through is right where the closer rivets are lined up
Thanks
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That’s right. I can move a piece of paper (and more) between the rivets and frame while it is closed.
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I have GFC camper 191. Here are a couple pics of the rivets from the side and from the rear when the panel is shut there is a pretty good gap between the frame and the rivets. It also has the door seal they added shortly before mine was very far in production.
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is that a crack forming on the bottom picture right side of the rivets?
I’ve also seen the rivets chipping my frame, but it chips inexplicably in other places too. The powder coat on these older models is much less durable than the newer ones.
No crack just dirty.
Got my replacement hinge and did the replacement.
I don’t know that the gasket has been that beneficial to me. I never had the nuisance leaks, and it looks like moisture has been trapped causing some rusting
Also, as I theorized above, my frame is rusting internally, the bolts are corroded and the inside of the tube looks similar.
As I thought, the gasket material held everything together well. It took pushing at the front while standing in the rear door opening of the truck for leverage, and then basically lifting from the inside like doing a squat to break everything free.
Luckily I carry an Opinel in my pocket, that thin blade proved just right to slide in the Gap and cut the gasketmaterial. Once that was done it was easy enough to get the broke hinge free.
I replaced the hinge on the door and riveted from the inside out like a cylinder head
It was easy enough to get everything back into place
But getting it just right sucked. It looks like I have a bit of a bow in my aluminum extrusions.
The hinge looks okay and lined up open, at least comparable to the other side
But when closed looks like this
30 min of finagling and I’m over it.
It was as good as I could get it, but I’m sure now my camper is less than sealed, the hinge will probably break again, and I’m just over it.
At least next time this happens I won’t have to deal with gasket material sticking everything together and I’ll probably be in the driveway of our new home as opposed to an apartment complex parking lot.
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congratulations on your new home. thanks for taking the time to share these photos with us.
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On the rusting they do recommend rust inhibitor application every 6 months to be fair. But that is a good amount of rusting. I live in rust belt and went through most of last winter without much issue other than that front tube. I’ve had to remove those bolts a few times and saw no rust, yet I saw some water fall out of the tube.
how is water getting into that space?
Some of it I think I was from the resealing process as it was black and as I understand water is used in the material/curing process.
As for the moisture and the resulting rust… Dunno, I’m in SoCal, moisture isn’t really an issue here.
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Thank you!
I may be one of the first to have done this outside of the factory so I thought people would like some insight into it.
I hope it goes better for others, but I really don’t want to do it again. And knowing that my hinge will likely break again, I don’t think I’m going to get mine resealed.
It bothers me that these hinges, which are supposed to be designed for rugged off road use, have to be handled with kid gloves so they won’t fail. GFC needs to address this issue which will continue to be a headache for both the company and the customers. The hinges need to be fail safe. This is a safety issue.
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Hi all,
Add me to the broken hinge list. I have a similar user name on tacomaworld. Two hinges broke last week. I have build 20 something. It has never been resealed. I received the camper in July 2018. I have never used the doors to get in and out of the truck. The hinges have not been abused. I just open and close like any other truck camper shell.
I was on a trip this last week. I was closing the rear hatch the second night of my trip. There was a loud crack that sounded like brittle plastic breaking. I checked and the rear hinge cracked in the middle section. It did not fail completely. I duct taped it, added limit straps and babied it. Today the hinge and tape are still holding but need replacement. Through the rest of the trip I was super careful to evenly and slowly open and shut all the panels. I did not want another failure.
On Friday night, in the cold and dark, on a trail, hundreds of miles from home, the side hinge completely failed. At least it wasn’t raining. I was setting up camp and just grabbed some gear out of the side. When closing, there was a loud crack and the door bounced off my head and hit the side of the truck. No injuries, just surprised me. I did not realize what happened at first. Then I see the side door hanging on the side of the truck.
I came up with a decent field fix to drive hundreds of miles home with a broken side hinge. I posted my field fix on tacomaworld and will put it up here later. It allows secure storage still, but the straps across the truck bed make the downstairs space less usable.
It is embarrassing to have a nice truck and camper and duct tape all over to keep it together.
It is disheartening to see that resealed campers have failed as well. This has to be fixed. It is a safety issue. I don’t have any confidence in the plastic hinges, even with resealing. Failure driving would be even worse.
If a hinge fails and you don’t have tools and duct tape in the truck, you are screwed. It is not drivable even for short distances. I almost always have tools in the truck. But sometimes running errands in town I do not have tools in the truck. While this was miserable to deal with by headlamp on a cold night on the trail, at least I had my tools with me. In town with no tools might have been worse.
Until hinge failure, I was very happy with the camper.
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Here is my field fix:
See post #968.
My camper is waiting for me in BZN.
Is this an issue for the rear door, as well?
Not gonna lie, I am scared to even use the side doors.
GFC needs to step up here and actually address this issue. Take a minute from posting on the 'gram and communicate with your existing customers too. Can’t just blame the customers or say the sealant will fix at this point either.
FWIW, my build is #20 and haven’t broken a hinge yet, but they sure do look white and fatigued.
Also, been waiting for a call back re the AL tubes and to discuss a few other things for a couple weeks now… 
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