Saddle Boxes

[Scott'n'Wendy]

Our 303 has plastic 'bins' on either side of the basement compartments. Both of these bins have cracked. I'm about to put in the new bin sent by GD. Putting a plain ol' #8 screw through it to attach it causes it to crack - eventually. What would be the best way to attach the new bins? I'm thinking of using roofing screws that have a rubber washer under the pan head as well as pre-drilling the plastic to slightly larger than the screw shank diameter.
Thoughts anybody?

[TedS]

Predrill is a good idea. Hadn't thought about roofing screws with the washer; they will set prouder, higher.

[trkester]

If/when mine go, I may put my cheapie Harbor Freight Break ($68) to use and bend some aluminum roof flashing material to make a box that just fits inside the plastic bin and then pre-drill and fasten as usual. That way the weight and stresses are taken by the aluminum not the crackable plastic. Or at least less stress on the plastic.

Just a thought anyway.

Terry

[Yoda]

I was able to repair mine - braced the base with some aluminum angle . https://gdrvowners.com/forum/interio...dle-box-repair The new one will crack too depending on the weight you add.
Keith

[Cate&Rob]

Pre-drilling the holes and using roofing screws with washers, both sound like good ideas. The learning, for all of us with these plastic bins, is that they will only support the storage of light weight items.

Rob

[Scott'n'Wendy]

I was able to repair mine - braced the base with some aluminum angle . https://gdrvowners.com/forum/interio...dle-box-repair The new one will c rack too depending on the weight you add.
Keith

I've kept mine empty except for a pair of gloves.....but still cracked.

Edit..actually took a look and keep the electrical adapters there on street side. But really I think these crack whether you have stuff in them or not. I'm thinking just the mounting screw being drilled through plastic sets it up to crack later.

[Jlawles2]

I'll admit that I abuse mine a bit. 2 sets of lego levelers, the stinky slinky fan fold support, and various other things are all on the street side in the tray. I do realize it's just a matter of time before they decide to give up. At that time, I will most likely just fabricate a set with a few features I would like to have in them.

Pre drilling the holes is definitely a better way to go. For fasteners however I don't think I would go with roofing screws as they heads stick up too far. I would consider something like a modified truss head https://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Phi...s%2C155&sr=1-2 or a domed head.

[SATA Adventures]

Roofing screw heads are a catch all sliding things in and out and imo will break the bins at that point. I replaced one bin (done under warranty by dealer) and when I got it back I took out the screws they used, purchased an alumimun threshold and rescrewed it all using self tapping pan head screws. See pic. I zoomed on a corner but this goes the width of the garage.

[Jlawles2]

SATA Adventures Picture did not upload. You may have to upload vs pasting the snip into the body.

[SATA Adventures]

Trying again on adding the pic.

[Lonestar]

I used stainless steel screws and added an additional 8 screws per tray on the top mounting flange. I also added large fender washers on the screws to distribute the force of the screw to a larger area, taking pressure off just the hole. By doing this and carrying very little weight in the trays, I've not had any more cracks in the plastic around the screw holes.

If you intend to load these trays up, additional supports are going to have to be added.

[Scott'n'Wendy]

Hmmm. I like the threshold idea. Looks more finished as well.

[#1Bama]

A buddy of mine cut to fit tongue and groove 3/8" deck boards for the bottom of his. It works great.

[Cahriad]

I got tired of replacing the screws in mine as they pulled out along the outside wall regardless of how much weight was in the tray. I decided to pull mine completely and fabricate a new tray out of wood. The original tray is supported on 3 sides by the aluminum framing so it is well supported. The only issue is the new tray could not be installed in one piece so I used my Kreg tool to piece it together in place. The wood was also laminated with 1/16th ABS sheet to make it relatively waterproof. There is also plenty of space under the chassis so I added extra depth to the tray.