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Hiya

Just been to pick up our new 1982 Dandy 6.

However when we got home I turned over the beds and heard a crunch!

The weld has come off a couple of the corners of the bed frames. If you can imagine the bit that the mattress sits in, it would be the vertical bit next to where the corner of the mattress would be.

Would it be easy enough to get it welded?  I think that the former owners have been packing the roof into the body of the trailer before putting the bed ends over. Instead of folding it onto the roof after. Thus putting too much strain on the bits of the bed.

One of the splits is where the padded with vinyl bit is on the edge of the bed. Would I need to strip this off or could it be shielded before it was welded?

Was really looking forward to putting it up today too

Cheers Kim

Contact Ian  at Riva.  They used to make the campers & still do repairs.  Ian is an absolute gent & has helped me with a few tricky jobs.  If you bought the thing recently you could contact the vendor & ask for your money back.  Citizens Advice may be of use, there could be a case for the County Court if they have sold you something that was un-serviceable.

Good luck.

Steve.

One thing to note, the steel parts are galvanised after assembly.  You'll need to remove the Zinc as it gives off fumes if you try to weld it.  Some welders I know will not touch it.

Steve.

Thanks folks

Yes its just the bed surrounds so ill take them off and see if they can be welded or failing that have a corner plate riveted on to pull the two pieces together.

Cheers Kim

my delta is alimunium sides and mine was also cracked and the runners under the bed also ally was bowing so i manage to plate each corner and riveted them in position and i also put a steel bar between the legs so when i open the bed the ally runners underneath rest on the bar done that two years ago and its worked very very well but as steve said if they are galvanised steel take extra care its defenetly gives out dangerous fumes and its true lot of us wont weld galvanise steel                    

       welshrover

Thanks for that. It has been welded before, but obviously not very well!

Think ill try the plate and rivet approach!

Cheers Kim

Our Dandy had an identical problem last christmas (2004 model).  I straightened the short upright pieces, welded the cracks and then welded a small trianglular web between the upright and the bed ( parallel to the side of the camper) to prevent the problem re-accuring.  This part is not galvanised although it is covered in plasticote paint.

I believe this problem is common to our model due to the laws of physics regarding the bed supports.  To put it simply if a load is put on the bed, the supports act like a fulcum and doubles the force in a horizontal dirrection away from the bed hinges.  ie id two people with a combined weight of 150 Kgs lie on the bed approx 300Kgs of horizontal pul is placed on the two thin uprights.  In addition the gas struts are pushing the bed away from the hinge point.

Although I believe that welding in small webs will solve the problem, I have fitted a third support for the front bed which rests on the towball damper box.

Regards Bob

Bob - Im intrigued!

Dont suppose you took a picture of the feat of ingenuity? 

Aw thanks Bob

Kim, I have put two photos on the yahoo Dandy owners web site, here http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dandyowners/photos/album/729825882/pic/list 

I didn't have time to open up the dandy yesterday, hopefully you can see from the photos what I have done.  In order to straighten and weld in the webs I unbolted and removed the beds from the main body as the last thing you want is for apiece of hot sl*g to burn the fabric etc.  when welding I covered the bed bed base with am offcut of ply for protection.  If you have gas struts, I found it easier to fit or remove them with the bed held vertically.

Regards Bob

Cheers Bob!

Gas struts will be something for the future i think