AtlantaCamper Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 I have the fiberglass rear storage compartment on my Sunrader: I'm interested in replacing the original spring loaded clips with something stronger and more reliable. They are not all that springy anymore and I'm concerned that if I put something heavier in there that they could fail. These are the clips: Does anyone have any wisdom about what product I could use to replace them or a better method of attaching the box to the body? I could figure out a way to simply bolt the box to the body but then it wouldn't tilt backwards anymore. It's handy to un-clip the box and tilt it backwards to load and unload so if possible I'd like to keep that feature. One possible latch I found was this marine hatch clamp: It wouldn't be a direct replacement because the holes don't line up but the hinge on one end would allow me to mount it to the body at 90 degrees. It's marine grade and I could put a quick release pin in the locking hole to ensure that the latch wouldn't come un-done. I'd have to patch some holes to use this latch, although I have some experience (link) with that after a mis-hap with a nail gun while working one time on the interior... I realize that this rather narrow and specific request is a bit of a bandwidth abuse, but I thought I'd ask to see if anyone has addressed this issue. Oh, and in case anyone is curious, the bumper sticker on the box is from Port Townsend Washington (where my parents used this RV for many years) and it says "We're all here, because were not all there". It seems very appropriate on a Toyota Motorhome 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 Isn't there a '15 lb maximum' sticker on yours? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linda s Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 Well maximum weight limit for those is supposed to be 35 lbs but still not a lot of weight. I don't have a rear box but you did mention springs. All springs in everything can be replaced. I would rebuild them. Nothing else will look the same Linda S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtlantaCamper Posted October 11, 2019 Author Share Posted October 11, 2019 If there was a sticker about max weight it's gone now. Hmm, yea, I don't suppose there is supposed to be a lot of weight in there. I had planned to put something heaver in there, maybe 45 pounds, so maybe I'll have to rethink that plan. 36 minutes ago, linda s said: I would rebuild them. Nothing else will look the same If I abandon my heavier weight plan then yes, rebuilding them would work fine. Darn, I had not fully thought through the weight limitations in that box. Thanks y'all for the heads up on that issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtlantaCamper Posted October 11, 2019 Author Share Posted October 11, 2019 Well, At least I've figured out what they are and so I can replace with new. They are "Hood Clamps" often used on Jeeps. Here's some on the amazon for like $13 a pair: https://www.amazon.com/Smittybilt-7601-Black-Catch-Wrangler/dp/B000E3FDTG/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetalkington Posted October 11, 2019 Share Posted October 11, 2019 (edited) This is the label in my 1990 Sunrader. Max weight is 20 pounds. So the max weight may vary from year to year. Thanks for the lead on the hood clamps. They were on my list. Edited October 11, 2019 by jetalkington Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linda s Posted October 12, 2019 Share Posted October 12, 2019 I think it's so cool that you found an exact match for those clips. I'm sure plenty of Sunrader owners will appreciate it. Linda S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtlantaCamper Posted November 8, 2019 Author Share Posted November 8, 2019 An update on the installation of those replacement cargo box clips, uh, I mean Jeep hood latches... The new replacements are not exactly the same size. As far as I can tell all of the available ones are this same size. The new ones are about a quarter inch longer in terms of clamping distance: The mounting holes all exactly lined up, which was nice. My original blind rivets used to install them were 1/4" rivets. This is a large size rivet and it takes a 'heavy duty' rivet gun to install them. If you have a standard size rivet gun (far and away the more common) then you will have to upgrade rivet guns to install 1/4" rivets or use nuts and bolts. I had to stick with blind rivets because I can't easily get to the back side of the fiberglass to put a nut on a bolt. In my case the height/length of the new clamps was an issue because the latches were already a tad loose and a direct replacement would have left the box rattling back and forth. On this picture you can see that this actually created a problem over time because the box was moving back and forth slightly and rubbing fiberglass on fiberglass (box to body). This resulted in the worn spot you can see just above the rubber bumper I installed to correct the issue: I bought some inexpensive "truck trailer rubber bumpers" and sanded them off a tad and bolted them to the box so that they would hold the box about half an inch from the fiberglass body. This solved not only the box to body rubbing problem but also forced the hood latches to stretch a bit and this provides a much stronger 'hold': This is what my red-neck engineering looks like all installed and clipped. Note the worn part on the body corresponding to where the box was rubbing. Maybe my cargo box was just installed incorrectly/poorly? Anyway, the latch-hold power is much stronger than before and I'm happy enough with the result because any movement will be absorbed by the rubber bumpers. Hopefully if you need to do this latch-swap task this post will help you plan accordingly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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