Platform lid hinge fix

tdsingletree

One piece of my bed platform is warped and has caused two of the hinges to strip out of their holes (see pic). I'm considering replacing factory hinges with a single piano hinge. Has anyone else tried this or come upon this issue with a different fix?

zgfiredude

I just did this very thing. I got a stainless steel piano hinge from Boat Outfitters online. Get one with wide screw hole spacing so that it will 'overlap' the underneath bracing without interference. I also through-bolted mine.

https://www.boatoutfitters.com/3-wide-stainless-steel-piano-hinge

GigHarborTom

Some of us have used two or three door hinges. Heavier etc. One wing of each hinge across and screwed to both sides bed platform. Look around here at others.

BRaulston

Yep, the screws have already come out of the boards on my TAG, camped in it two nights so far! Nucamp needs to upgrade this for sure.

jeepers29

I went with a piano hinge and has held for several years. Our 2015 came with just a strip of plastic that had a groove on each side that straddled the flooring. It lasted one trip. LOL

ras

Copied this idea from someone on this forum, maybe William A. Shaped the bracket from aluminum. Drilled a hole for hinge pin, then bent it and drilled holes for two small screws. Installed two, each a third of the way down the center line. Not only holds the two boards together, it anchors the plywood in place which came in handy when I installed gas struts to hold the mattresses up while accessing underbed storage.

LuckyJ

@ras , just be carfull not to put to much stress on those side screws. Unless it was change, that vertical piece of wood is plywood standing on it's side. There is no strenght in veneer like that.

But maybe that board was change for a full piece of wood.

WilliamA

https://teardrop-trailers.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/comment/10828#Comment_10828

LuckyJ,

You're right. There's not much meat in that vertical board. I drilled mine deep (2") and then injected glue into the hole. It's been holding without issue for three years now, and I beat on my toys. For normal folks, it should last about 200 years....

WilliamA

ras

@LuckyJ said:
@ras , just be carfull not to put to much stress on those side screws. Unless it was change, that vertical piece of wood is plywood standing on it's side. There is no strenght in veneer like that.

But maybe that board was change for a full piece of wood.

The original divider on our 2016 T@G is a 1 by 4. The two halves have been opened and closed dozens of times and have 80 lb struts applying some pressure on them. The bottom of the struts are fastened into 1 by 4's that I added as additional dividers. I don't think there's a problem.

LuckyJ

@ras , all good then. This is not how ours was built and I did not wanted to reduce space. So this is also why I do not want the strutz modification. We simply use a piece of wood when we have to get in the basement. 😊

GigHarborTom

Suggest as one of the experts has demonstrated here, and I have, use through bolts and washers on the hinge wings. I am also experimenting not screwing to the vertical upright.

LuckyJ

@GigHarborTom said:
I am also experimenting not screwing to the vertical upright.

We are not bolted or screwed to the central divider board and it works great, vut we do not have the strutz. Not sure it would work with them.

ras

@LuckyJ said:

@GigHarborTom said:
I am also experimenting not screwing to the vertical upright.

We are not bolted or screwed to the central divider board and it works great, vut we do not have the strutz. Not sure it would work with them.

They won't. They'll push the platform up and away. That's why we screwed it down.