Screwing into my van??

[leesy]

Hi all,
I have a question, i have an outdoor table, TV antena bracket, outdoor croc rubbish bin and perhpas one of the LED bar lights i want to mount on the outside of my Panda. what length and gauge of screw should i be using? should it be stainless and should i pre drill and put a little dab of silicone into the hole too?
I thought i would get some feedback before breaking out the drill!!
Thanks, Leesy

 

[Coastrunner]

I used aluminium rivets to attach a stainless steel towel rail to the side of my van a while back. It holds well.

In saying that I did notice that when the canvaser installed my annexe, he attached the sail tracks using stainless steel screws. I`m not sure of the gauge, and I`m not sure if he used silicon but I like your idea.

 

[Coastrunner]

Picture of Towel Rail riveted to side of van.

 

[SilverFox]

Hi lessy and Coastrunner,

From reading the current brochure on the expanda, it states that the walls are an aluminium frame 19mm tubular, covered with 3mm plywood in between a polystryene foam, covered on the outside with a fibre glass layer. So, these thicknesses should give you an idea of the length of screw to use. Additionally, I would always use stainless steel screws, and if possible pilot drill the hole with a smaller drill bit to the screw, and put a small amount of silicon to ensure that its watertight and will not come loose.

In my old swan camper, I changed many of the screws to stainless steel, as the ones fitted where starting to rust.

I hope this helps.

Cheers

Luis

 

[Capt. Gadget]

Hi Leesy
The Croc Bin and the Strip light would probably be OK with a dab of silastic and a couple of rivets but I would probably try and locate a bit of frame in the wall for extra strength to mount the Antenna bracket, an ordinary stud finder probably wont work too well because of the insulation in the walls but one that you can use to locate metal should do the job also I didnt know what a croc bin was so I googled it and that is just what I have been looking for so I grabbed on off eBay cheers for that

 

[Pace]

leesy,

as for drilling into the wall of the van, its very daunting. from what i seen on the factory tour there are wood pieces around where the the awning screws into the van wall.

you can notice these by knocking on the wall with your knuckle as if your searching for a stud in a house wall. the wood piece is about 400 mm squared. i know this as when i installed the awning a drilled straight into the mentioned wood no issues.

if you remove the fridge vent, you can see clearly the structure of the wall as for the thickness of the fibreglass/ply sheeting. if you have a hws or wall compressor AC, look from the inside to get the idea from what the internal skin is made of, very easy there. also remove the screw holding in the roof lid bracket to see into there what is available. yes i would re silicon up the external threads too. word of warning, wiring run through the wall cavity!!!!

look at my album and you can see there the hws shelf i installed and the wall from inside is visable.

give a hoy if you get stuck. cheers pace.

 

[mrhappi]

Am I the only one who misread the thread title? :mod:

 

[Xpandafan]

Am I the only one who misread the thread title? :mod:

Yep! At least you're the only one silly enough to admit it!

 

[mrhappi]

Yep! At least you're the only one silly enough to admit it!

We're just about to purchase our first 'panda. So I've got all sorts of new experiences on my mind :hug:

 

[leesy]

Hi Leesy
The Croc Bin and the Strip light would probably be OK with a dab of silastic and a couple of rivets but I would probably try and locate a bit of frame in the wall for extra strength to mount the Antenna bracket, an ordinary stud finder probably wont work too well because of the insulation in the walls but one that you can use to locate metal should do the job also I didnt know what a croc bin was so I googled it and that is just what I have been looking for so I grabbed on off eBay cheers for that

No worries, we bought the croc bin a year or so ago and had it on the Eagle, loved it so much moved it to the panda! eny size bag and it keeps the wasps out of the bin!!

 

[leesy]

leesy,

as for drilling into the wall of the van, its very daunting. from what i seen on the factory tour there are wood pieces around where the the awning screws into the van wall.

you can notice these by knocking on the wall with your knuckle as if your searching for a stud in a house wall. the wood piece is about 400 mm squared. i know this as when i installed the awning a drilled straight into the mentioned wood no issues.

if you remove the fridge vent, you can see clearly the structure of the wall as for the thickness of the fibreglass/ply sheeting. if you have a hws or wall compressor AC, look from the inside to get the idea from what the internal skin is made of, very easy there. also remove the screw holding in the roof lid bracket to see into there what is available. yes i would re silicon up the external threads too. word of warning, wiring run through the wall cavity!!!!

look at my album and you can see there the hws shelf i installed and the wall from inside is visable.

give a hoy if you get stuck. cheers pace.

Thanks Pace, great advice, i will have a look at the inside via the fridge vent.

 

[leesy]

Yep! At least you're the only one silly enough to admit it!

Diddnt think about that when i posted... now looking at it i could have used a better choice of words!!!

 

[Burnsy]

If it was me I'd use some sort of silicone or sika as well as fasteners, it would seal plus add extra strength.

Cheers.

 

[rojoberry]

If you are going to use stainless steal ensure you use a good quality as otherwise they will still rust or I have used galvinised screws a dab of silicon in a pre drilled hole.

 

[Brad]

If you are going to use stainless steal ensure you use a good quality as otherwise they will still rust or I have used galvinised screws a dab of silicon in a pre drilled hole.

I have heard that about stainless. How can you tell good quality from bad quality stainless?

 

[Burnsy]

I have heard that about stainless. How can you tell good quality from bad quality stainless?

Hi Brad, you need to buy 316 grade ss (marine grade) this will not rust. A easy way to tell is use a magnet, 316 grade is not magnetic where as 304 grade is and will rust in time, this is because it contains carbon. Alot of places advertise products as SS but if they can't tell you what grade use the magnet and if it sticks it's probably 304 grade so like I said will rust in time.

Cheers.

 

[ROnEM]

Looks like its time to buy a good magnet and head to the screws and fittings isles at Bunnings!

 

[Burnsy]

Looks like its time to buy a good magnet and head to the screws and fittings isles at Bunnings!

Hi Ro, most of the fasteners that are 316 grade are in blue packaging and will say 316. But if in doubt you know what to do

Cheers.

 

[zerosecta]

If you really want a good section of all sorts of different screws \ hooks \ and anything else in this category in Marine Grade Stainless then head to a BCF store if you have one near you

 

[leesy]

Thanks for the advice!