FR3 Front Bunk Supports

[Chas-and-Rho]

On our 2015 FR3 30DS, the wood screw holding the passenger side magnet broke on the way home from Cali. A piece of the screw is stuck in the ceiling. Anyone have a fix for remounting the magnet. (In the future, I will add the secondary supports made of wooden dowels.)

[twojump36]

Originally Posted by Chas-and-Rho

On our 2015 FR3 30DS, the wood screw holding the passenger side magnet broke on the way home from Cali. A piece of the screw is stuck in the ceiling. Anyone have a fix for remounting the magnet. (In the future, I will add the secondary supports made of wooden dowels.)

My passenger side magnet pulled out of the ceiling while on I-90 in Montana last week....
The whole screw and magnet came out. I was able to screw it back in but I have a feeling it is a temporary fix.

You may have to move your magnet slightly and re screw it into that little wood block. Just be sure not to use too long of a lag screw.

[drivmsafe]

Originally Posted by twojump36

My passenger side magnet pulled out of the ceiling while on I-90 in Montana last week....
The whole screw and magnet came out. I was able to screw it back in but I have a feeling it is a temporary fix.

You may have to move your magnet slightly and re screw it into that little wood block. Just be sure not to use too long of a lag screw.

Got really tired of the front bunk falling. Magnets never did come unscrewed or anything. The bunk would just drop off magnets so I decided to prop them up to alleviate the problem. Very easy to do with 1" round stock and chair leg bumpers.
Sorry about the pic. The top is to the left of the photo.

[JBDALHB]

Had the same problem of the magnet screw pulling out. Reset by screwing back in and using 4000lb epoxy. Also did the same mod as drivmsafe. No more problems.

[Finch]

Don't know whether this will help or not but we ran into another FR3 owner while on vacation. We both had experienced the same bunk dropping issue. The dealer told him, that the magnets should not be tight to the ceiling so that there was play when as coach flexed while driving. The other owner told us that this had fixed the issue. I did not try this, preferring to use the dowel fix which works once and for all but it is food for thought.

[drivmsafe]

Originally Posted by Finch

Don't know whether this will help or not but we ran into another FR3 owner while on vacation. We both had experienced the same bunk dropping issue. The dealer told him, that the magnets should not be tight to the ceiling so that there was play when as coach flexed while driving. The other owner told us that this had fixed the issue. I did not try this, preferring to use the dowel fix which works once and for all but it is food for thought.

The magnets on our FR3 were slightly loose. This was told to me by FR and others on this forum. The bunk still dropped. Thus the addition of the dowels as others have done. Best idea that totally works. 👍🏻

[twojump36]

Originally Posted by JBDALHB

Had the same problem of the magnet screw pulling out. Reset by screwing back in and using 4000lb epoxy. Also did the same mod as drivmsafe. No more problems.

Where did you find the material?... the rod and the rubber end caps?

That looks like what I need. I was going to try a shower rod. The type that is adjustable. I want something that looks ascetically correct in there and the wood looks better than a shower rod for sure.

[drivmsafe]

Originally Posted by twojump36

Where did you find the material?... the rod and the rubber end caps?

That looks like what I need. I was going to try a shower rod. The type that is adjustable. I want something that looks ascetically correct in there and the wood looks better than a shower rod for sure.

Home Depot

[JBDALHB]

Got my stuff and the stain which matches the unit perfectly at my local Ace Hardware.

[TLAK]

After a season without trouble the bunk came down while we were driving a couple weeks back. Wife raised the bunk until the electric moter stalled and it never came down again. I guess it wasn't fully in the 'up' position.

[Cigarman]

Had mine for over a year now and never had the bunk drop. Even on some of the rough roads to and from the Oregon and Washington coast no issues. My magnet mounts on the roof are very loose and was told to leave them this way as if they are tight and don't wobble the bunk will fall.

[Gatch]

My bunk used to fall all the time. I loosened each screw one full turn and the bunk has never fallen since.

[twojump36]

Originally Posted by Gatch

My bunk used to fall all the time. I loosened each screw one full turn and the bunk has never fallen since.

The screws that hold my upper bunk are not loose, but the magnets are a bit wobbly. I believe it was designed that way from the onset to compensate for some flex and some jarring on the road.

My lag screw was pulled completely out of the wood block that is in turn screwed to the ceiling. That wasn't cause by design and it sure wasn't caused by normal bobbing around and the occasional pot hole. The screw was ripped out of the wood because of the Interstate 90 in Montana is so bad that it completely failed. I'm surprised the head of the screw didn't snap off.
The bunk never came back down after we got off of that goat path I-90

I am going to make something that keeps it from ever falling again.

[JBDALHB]

Another reason I went to epoxying in the magnet bases is when they were loose, the noise from the rattling drove me nuts. Perhaps only mine was noisy but after fixing the dash rattles, these rattles became more of a nuisance. So the wood dowels actually helped me reduce noise as well.

[Finch]

We, like you, were on the road when this happened to us. We stopped by Ace hardware. They had the dowels and the feet in either cream or black. Ace even cut the dowels to size for us. We rubbed the wood down with Olde English dark, let it sit for an hour or so and put on the rubber feet. My measurement was perfect for one side but was a little short for the other side. A inside the foot solved the problem and with 3,000 additional miles everything continues to work fine.