The Lost Spoiler Club

[gmcgene]

Quoted from May 31 post by Astasoftride "I almost joined The Lost Spoiler club"

I actually lost my spoiler on a dead end street on a Sunday morning in a small California beach town that has almost hourly trash removal. I was able to retrieve it from a dumpster at the city yard a couple hours later. I got lucky- Monday morning it would have been transferred to the land fill.

The loss occurred on my first trip and less than 1000 miles after remounting my rear view camera. The spoiler seemed tight and secure at the time.

4 of the 5 metal brackets were lost. Luckily I have one to use as a pattern to have replacements made.

This club seems to be gaining new members regularly.
Any suggestions on fabricating new brackets and remounting the spoiler.

The wiring for the clearance lights was broken off at the rear cap and is not retrievable from the top outside the cap. And it's unreachable from inside the cap. Is the solution to open the hole and fish new wire down from the top and splice it down by the engine access door or lower down if I can identify the correct wires?
Any and all suggestions will be appreciated.

The underlying message here for all Alpiners is: This club seems to be gaining new members regularly.
Inspect your spoilers you don't want to join this club.

[Astasoftride]

2003 36MDDS

My clearance light wiring was not an issue. The wiring went to the drivers side. Then basically fell down to behind the tail light. It was easy to run the wires back up from there. I would have been able to do that with a fishing tape.

The clearance light wiring on the spoiler was actually more of an issue. They glassed in plastic wire loom. The wires were passed through the loom. There was no way to rerun the wires that way. I took a drimel and cut openings into the loom through the glass. Then passed the wiring that way. I used led bulbs to cut down the power draw. This way I did not worry about the current draw.

For others who haven’t joined the club, watch the camera - if it still mounted to the spoiler. Excess movement in the camera’s image could point to a lose spoiler

[Terry W]

I check my spoiler fairly regularly and it always feels strong and like the attachment points are holding well.

I have wondered if there is a way to run an 1/8" cable through the whole thing and join the ends down below so that if it came off it would still be attached.

I will say that this is just a thought and that I haven't really checked out the mounts and whether or not this is even possible or practical.

Just a thought.

Terry

[Astasoftride]

Terry,

I don’t think that is a bad idea. Even if nothing more than if the ends of the wire were simply attached with screws.

If you are consistently looking at the rear view monitor, you would notice a wacky camera angle.

Maybe just enough additional warning before it flies away

[Terry W]

I also think of it as a liability issue if it comes off on the freeway in heavy traffic.

[Jim A]

Originally Posted by Astasoftride

Terry,

If you are consistently looking at the rear view monitor, you would notice a wacky camera angle.

Maybe just enough additional warning before it flies away

That's what tipped me off to the fact that mine was about to depart. The camera was pointed down by the spoiler bouncing on it.. I was able to take it off before it left. My reinstall has lasted for many years.

[Terry W]

Just curious, does a chunk of spoiler fiberglass break out at the brackets, do the brackets pull out of the roof or do the brackets pull out of the spoiler. i just checked mine and all seems OK.

Just wondering where to keep an eye on.

Thanks

[Astasoftride]

On mine the brackets broke. I guess they just broke due to fatigue. They were aluminum. I made new with steel - we will see if that was a smart choice or not.

Just look at your brackets and see if they are cracking/broken. You might have to push/pull on the spoiler.

[Xmcdog]

[QUOTE=Astasoftride;5838141]On mine the brackets broke. I guess they just broke due to fatigue. They were aluminum. I made new with steel - we will see if that was a smart choice or not.

Just a thought but wouldn't stainless steel be a better choice? No rusty streaks. I'm not familiar with the setup so I'm likely suggesting something silly. SS difficult to work with for sure.

[Astasoftride]

You are right, but……

I don’t have what I would need to work with stainless.

[gmcgene]

Only the center bracket remained attached to the coach when my spoiler came off. All the other brackets were gone. The rivets were all broken off. At least I have the center bracket to use as a pattern to make new ones.

Is riveting the only reasonable method of mounting the spoiler?

Thanks for any new ideas.

[Theturboman]

This does not sound like a club I want to be a member of. Better check mine!!

[Ljwt330]

Originally Posted by Terry W

Just curious, does a chunk of spoiler fiberglass break out at the brackets, do the brackets pull out of the roof or do the brackets pull out of the spoiler. i just checked mine and all seems OK.

Just wondering where to keep an eye on.

Thanks

Originally Posted by gmcgene

Only the center bracket remained attached to the coach when my spoiler came off. All the other brackets were gone. The rivets were all broken off. At least I have the center bracket to use as a pattern to make new ones.

Is riveting the only reasonable method of mounting the spoiler?

Thanks for any new ideas.

The major cause is having the brackets break due to metal fatigue, but it could be argued that loose rivets might play a factor as well.


Once one or more of the brackets weakens by either breaking or losing the rivets, the vibration of the spoiler is amplified, and within a shorter period, other brackets will flex and break and/or more anchoring rivets will work loose. Vicious circle.



The bottom line, however, is the spoiler is lost, eventually, due to broken brackets, but the number of loose rivets on any given lost spoiler has not typically been reported. Replacement rivets like shown below can be used if you are concerned about them pulling out.


Replacement brackets of steel will survive the stress of amplified vibration much better than aluminum, and that seems to be the best solution. Rivets can be replace by screws and nuts on the spoiler itself, but riveting into the rear cap is probably required. If steel is not used due to rust issues, certainly thicker aluminum can replace a bracket. Given the OEM metal, a good, solid aluminum replacement out of heavier gauge stock would be ample.


Note the picture below of a broken bracket. You can see how thin the metal is and how easily the aluminum could break. Note also the rivets in the cap are intact and holding, but the rivets from the spoiler may or may not be, as that part is missing. Still, you can see the partial hole for the spoiler rivet which leads one to think the rivet remained but the bracket tore away.






From that same coach, here is the right side bracket. This was the one that was last to go, apparently, being pulled away by the force of the loose spoiler. The cap rivet has pulled out, but the top of the bracket that connected to the spoiler has broken.




Here is the middle bracket. It is still secure on the cap but the rivets have pulled away from the bracket. Being the middle anchor spot, it is subject to less vibration from wind once the outsides become loose. The metal does not flex as much but the pressure to pull away is extreme.



Bottom line, the bracket are weak due to the metal used and the thickness. Constant vibration from wind pressure can and does initiate a break or increased ability of the entire spoiler to move. That increases the overall stress on all the brackets and, to a degree, the rivets. Overall, the rivets hold until the final collapse. Only when extreme pressure from a departing spoiler is applied will a rivet pull out.


Thanks to Sid & Janet from an early thread for the photos.
https://www.irv2.com/forums/f104/air...ent-62725.html

[Jim A]

Originally Posted by Terry W

Just curious, does a chunk of spoiler fiberglass break out at the brackets, do the brackets pull out of the roof or do the brackets pull out of the spoiler. i just checked mine and all seems OK.

Just wondering where to keep an eye on.

Thanks

In my case none of the above! The brackets broke at the sharp 90° bend where the bracket is riveted to the fiberglass spoiler. The rivets were all tight. The bracket where it attached to the roof was solid, and had a nice radius on it. Those are still in use today. I bolted steel corner brackets to the uprights, and riveted them to the spoiler. That upper bend should have had a radius. Very poor fabrication in my opinion.

But from previous threads on this problem, it is obvious there are other causes that affected others.