I have a 2003 Fleetwood Bounder that has the Bounder dashboard bounce. I’ve scoured the site for fixes and have gotten some good leads like finding a number screws loose or missing inside under the dash. But I think my real problem is under the hood. I still have a bouncing dash,and the edge of it moves up and down relative to the window when driving on rough surfaces.
Several folks have found loose and missing screws where the front edge of the body is attached to the frame, and after feeling around I can tell there are several missing and others which can’t be tightened.
Bobs guides has great pictures of his fix but my rig seems to be built differently. While the screws on his are visible with the hood access open, the screws in question on mine come from the from the outside in. The heads of the screws face the side of the front cap, as if they were screwed in before the front cap was mated to the RV (I promise to get a picture up a little later).
On the passenger side I can just barely reach a ratcheting wrench in there to drive a hex head sheet metal screw in where a screw is missing, but there is too much in the way on the drivers side. Further, I don’t trust sheet metal screws to hold up for long and would much rather use bolts and locknuts.
So here’s my crazy idea... To install three bolts on each side I could drill three quarter sized holes through the fiberglass front cap where the bolts would go. Use those for access to drill holes for bolts, and then use a ratchet and wrench to secure things. And finally close the holes access holes in the cap with some kind of finished looking plug.
Am I totally nuts here? I can’t see any other way the solve this problem, short of removing the entire front of the RV, and that isn’t an option.
Mike