That is a terrible story! I would NOT be happy if something like that happened to me. We have a 2014 6.0 and have bounced it around on some rough roads, but so far have not experienced any problems with the battery mount. Many camp trailers have a V-tongue, where two beams come together at the mounting point, providing a wide area for supporting the battery. The little 6.0 only has a single tongue beam, which means that the battery is a little more precariously mounted. Still, it should be well-enough supported than the experience you had!
Really shoddy engineering.
I guess I foresaw that possible failure mode: both my stock front and now my rear battery are secondarily secured with straps.
(https://c4.staticflickr.com/2/1592/26279326155_c4733180b3_z.jpg)
On my 21BHS I had swapped the position of my stock battery and my propane tanks, so I had seen how poorly the battery box was secured to the frame.
I'd highly recommend some sort of secondary method of securing.
You're very welcome.
Here's my stock front battery after being moved:
(https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8729/28626976650_10645ba05e_z.jpg)As a further aside, I think the top cover of the battery box is molded the way it is with the idea of a fore/aft strap.
Kinda hard to see how the forces could shear the screws without signs of pulling through the aluminum, unless they were just so undersized, but still I'd expect them to strip their way out.
It sure looks to me like there was room to use two screws each, front and back, laterally. Alternatively, long bolts going through and through, and of sufficient size should have been fine.
Usually when screws shear like that it's because they were over-torqued when put in, not because of the forces put on them afterwards. Ie., they were stressed to near point of failure from the torque of being screwed in in the first place. I guess the aluminum is thick enough that it didn't strip, and instead the screws failed. That says something good about the frame material. Stainless screws are softer than non-stainless, are more prone to failing like this, but you have to use them with aluminum. Yeah, I'm back to bolts where this shearing doesn't happen.
Also, maybe these were not self-tapping screws and the pilot hole was too small ? Would also stress the screw.
My battery box is screwed on as well, but there is also a strap around the box.
[attachment id="1808" thumbnail="1"]
That's too bad....and the first report of such a happening I've seen. I put a couple heavy zip ties all the way around the battery and frame rail on our QS10.
Weird how this could have happened just driving straight down the highway...I just don't see the side to side torque needed to put the correct kind of strain on the bolts. I agree that it's not the best engineered bracket but in a typical use at least the weight is centered. You'd think the off road versions would encounter the most adverse torque loads and would see failures.
I wonder if the battery is a dealer installed assembly item? Kind of makes you wonder if someone stood on the battery, sat on it, moved the trailer by means of battery.. or something that could have pre fractured the bolts.
still , it's sad. Sorry. How traumatic...and lucky in a way.
A couple welded on L brackets on each side of the frame rail with bolts and nuts might be in my future
I'm going home to check out ours..
I think @pinstriper has it right. Those bolts were over-torqued when the dealer installed the tray and it was pretty much ready to pop off at any time. All OEM LL battery trays I've seen are held on with 2 self-tapping screws, not just the QS line.
However, don't let a "trip home" disaster stop you from enjoying your camper! We've all had awful experiences of some sort; my Camplite popped off the hitch on the trip home because the dealer technician didn't seat the ball in the receiver and I was too trusting to have double-checked his work. Like you, neither the dealer nor LL offered to repair the damage. We fixed it and headed out camping anyway, wiser and more careful and less trusting.
I installed dual batteries before our first camping trip and used simple U-bolts all the way around the frame to hold the battery box on, similar to what @fasteddieb did for his rear tray. A U-bolt would work for a single battery tray too, as would the heavy duty wire tire mentioned earlier. Home Depot has wire ties a half inch thick used in construction that will definitely hold the battery down.
I have straps to put around the front and around the frame. For some reason I just don't believe this will happen to my trailer. I was much more worried about mouse houses inside a few weeks ago. My laissez faire attitude might just be exhaustion from grading essays. Let me put a second strap on and then forget about it for now in case. Just in case.
I agree with Merlin's approach: attach the battery box frame with U-bolts fore and aft. This will add two more attachment points to the aluminum battery box frame to help with side to side vibration and an absolutely strong attachment to the trailer frame.
BTW, I think that LL supplies the frame and battery box, the dealer supplies the battery.
David
[quote timestamp="1477353619" source="/post/25547/thread" author="@ssd"]Just want to say that those of you with QS8 or 10's don't have the single tongue hitch like the 6.0. This particular design doesn't have the v hitch, so there's less stability. [/quote]If I remember correctly, even with the V tongue on my qs10 I think the battery is still mounted on a single frame rail, and not supported or mounted to two rails..
I think there must be more to this. Two bolts/screws may not be the best option but without some other force I can't see them being broken like that just driving down the road.
[quote source="/post/25545/thread" author="@ssd" timestamp="1477353429"]
Quote from: @catmanriff" timestamp="1477352262" source="/post/25542/threadThat's too bad....and the first report of such a happening I've seen. I put a couple heavy zip ties all the way around the battery and frame rail on our QS10.
Weird how this could have happened just driving straight down the highway...I just don't see the side to side torque needed to put the correct kind of strain on the bolts. I agree that it's not the best engineered bracket but in a typical use at least the weight is centered. You'd think the off road versions would encounter the most adverse torque loads and would see failures.
I wonder if the battery is a dealer installed assembly item? Kind of makes you wonder if someone stood on the battery, sat on it, moved the trailer by means of battery.. or something that could have pre fractured the bolts.
still , it's sad. Sorry. How traumatic...and lucky in a way.
A couple welded on L brackets on each side of the frame rail with bolts and nuts might be in my future
I'm going home to check out ours..
Obviously there's others here who have noticed the flimsy mounts as well. The actual bracket comes from the factory installed on the camper with two screws total. Just looking at it you can see it's not a solid configuration. The dealership put the battery on for us just before we left, andthere was no pressure put on this particular battery except normal highway driving. The fact that a person feels compelled to reinforce such a thing means it's subpar. And it was VERY lucky no one was killed dodging the parts & pieces.[/quote]The mount is not flimsy. It was poor workmanship to overtorque the screws to the shearing point.
But you now have the opportunity to make it how you want - either 4 screws and don't overtorque them, or my preference which would be 4 1/2 bolts through, OR u-bolts.
Quote from: @sandroad" timestamp="1477353061" source="/post/25544/threadI think @pinstriper has it right. Those bolts were over-torqued when the dealer installed the tray and it was pretty much ready to pop off at any time. All OEM LL battery trays I've seen are held on with 2 self-tapping screws, not just the QS line.
However, don't let a "trip home" disaster stop you from enjoying your camper! We've all had awful experiences of some sort; my Camplite popped off the hitch on the trip home because the dealer technician didn't seat the ball in the receiver and I was too trusting to have double-checked his work. Like you, neither the dealer nor LL offered to repair the damage. We fixed it and headed out camping anyway, wiser and more careful and less trusting.
I installed dual batteries before our first camping trip and used simple U-bolts all the way around the frame to hold the battery box on, similar to what @fasteddieb did for his rear tray. A U-bolt would work for a single battery tray too, as would the heavy duty wire tire mentioned earlier. Home Depot has wire ties a half inch thick used in construction that will definitely hold the battery down.
THIS
my stock single battery mount was held in by two rust screws to the middle frame rail. it wiggled under the weight of the battery since there was no support out at the ends.
easy enough to fix with angle and lag bolts though. used the same method the fuel tank as well
(http://i350.photobucket.com/albums/q439/mushr00min/camper/sm20150315_135206_zpsd4t7rh3f.jpg"%20style="max-width:75%;)
[img style="" style="max-width:75%;" src="http://i350.photobucket.com/albums/q439/mushr00min/camper/ce34d849-bdce-4027-914c-b82655c81090_zpslc4rkvt9.jpg"]
[p]I did just about the same Fix as thudd3r, my stock battery mount almost failed as well on my BC16FK, one of the mounting self-tapping screws was busted clear off under the battery box, no doubt done by the installer (Dealer installed).[/p][p][attachment id="1877" thumbnail="1"][/p]