So after dropping off the trailer after the last camping trip of the year 3 weeks ago, we left the top up for a couple days so we could clean it out and winterize. Upon returning to the camper, the top had creeped down to the half way position.

The top would go up all the way just fine, but lowering again it would cause it to stop in the exact same position. Now I remember hearing about some safety bar type device that would prevent the top from creeping down past a certain point, so wtf??? Up the top went so we could do our cleaning, and I trip over a 3" tall lump in the floor. The top stayed up two weeks without budging an inch.

Today I jacked the whole thing up and crawled under only to find that the safety bar was actually being rammed upward into the floor causing the lump. The small bit of metal that held the safety bar in place broke from it's very small spot welds then curled up under itself.

So now I have a 12" square hole in the floor of my camper and a useless safety bar. Based on the poor quality spot welds I would say ALL Safety bars are useless. At least the top is now down for the winter and everything else can wait until spring.

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1986 Bon Voyage 27F
Jeep Commander 4.7L V8

Follow me on Twitter! http://twitter.com/sekellus

The same thing happened to one of our club members. They were lowering their trailer when they heard a strange noise. They raised the top and found the safety bar sticking thru the floor. They have a 2007 with a tipout (I think).The factory was interested about what happened but did nothing about it. The dealer made the repairs but couldn't figure out how it happened. Good luck with your repair.

Bob

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2001 2901L Classic
2011 Ford F150

Antares,

In the spring, when you open your trailer, if able please take and post some photos. May help some of us take measures to prevent the same thing happening to us!

Thanks,
Jim

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1967 17' Hi-Lo Bon Voyage (1967-1969)
1969 19' Hi-Lo Bon Voyage (1969-2011)
2004 27' Hi-Lo TowLite (2010-present)
2007 Chevy Suburban

I have 2 HI-LOs and so far no safety bar problems, the 95 does rest on the bar but the 2209 stays up and so far never rests on the safety bar. If the bars are not keep clean there is the possibility that they will rust and weaken them, same thing goes for spot welds. Winter salt on the roads increases rusting, one winter trip in my 2209 and I couldn't believe how must things started to rust under the trailer, was nice black paint before the trip.

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Rich
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(215TL) - 1995 21' TowLite
(2209T) - 2009 22' TowLite
99 Ford Explorer 4DR 4X4

I still have a couple things left to do in the camper so I will take some pics of the carnage. Unfortunately there isn't anything you can do as a preventative measure as the weld in question is on the top of the bar right under the floor. In order to make this into a proper full seam weld it would require pulling up the floor to gain access to the seam. I assume the reason they only used spot welds in this place is that the floor was already installed in the manufacturing process.

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1986 Bon Voyage 27F
Jeep Commander 4.7L V8

Follow me on Twitter! http://twitter.com/sekellus

When I was at the factory in 2004, from what I could see everything was welded on the frame before the floor was put on. But who knows how it was done in 1986.

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Rich
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(215TL) - 1995 21' TowLite
(2209T) - 2009 22' TowLite
99 Ford Explorer 4DR 4X4