Bolt in flooring

[Papa-T-XRD]

So noticed this past October that we had a bolt pushing up through the vinyl flooring in the living room area of our 5er. So, before our April trip I decided to attack it. I watched some YouTube videos about similar issues. The main solution that most did was to cut the flooring and screw the bolt back down. Before I cut the floor; which I knew would drive me crazy, because I would always notice it. I found a video where someone cut an access in the bottom of the Corrugated Poly to access the bolt. But, before I did that I decided to unscrew the side and see if I could see the bolt. So, I measured from inside and took those measurements and decided approximately where the bolt would be. After removing about 15 screws on the side that holds the bottom on. I was able to pull the side down about 7 or 8 inches. With my flashlight I was able to see the bolt from the flooring going into a metal cross support. Long story short, after removing the front wheel to gain more room, I was able to reach in from the side with vice grip pliers and lock on to the bolt. With about 15-20 half turns of the bolt I was finally able to get it screwed back down. After walking on the vinyl a few times, you can’t even see where the bolt was. No cutting the flooring and no cutting the bottom corrugated poly. Leaving tomorrow for a month at Hatteras NC.

 

[Lloyd S]

Good deal Ted. Glad you figured out a way to take care of the situation, and still feel good about it.

Enjoy your trip.

 

[Rrizz]

Sounds like a fair amount of effort for one bolt, but saved yourself alot of irritation in the future eyeballing the "fix". nicely done.

 

[mark5w]

Good brainstorming. You came up with a great idea. Not many would think of turning the opposite end of a bolt instead of the head.

 

[Papa-T-XRD]

Thanks for the replies. Took some time but happy with the end result.

 

[Yakherder]

That took a bit of ingenuity and time but you got the job done without marring or doing damage to the floor. Great job!

Still, what was that bolt doing at that location. Was it attached to a support member?

 

[Papa-T-XRD]

That took a bit of ingenuity and time but you got the job done without marring or doing damage to the floor. Great job!

Still, what was that bolt doing at that location. Was it attached to a support member?

I believe it was holding down the subfloor and yes it went into a support cross member.

 

[Duke4857]

So noticed this past October that we had a bolt pushing up through the vinyl flooring in the living room area of our 5er. So, before our April trip I decided to attack it. I watched some YouTube videos about similar issues. The main solution that most did was to cut the flooring and screw the bolt back down. Before I cut the floor; which I knew would drive me crazy, because I would always notice it. I found a video where someone cut an access in the bottom of the Corrugated Poly to access the bolt. But, before I did that I decided to unscrew the side and see if I could see the bolt. So, I measured from inside and took those measurements and decided approximately where the bolt would be. After removing about 15 screws on the side that holds the bottom on. I was able to pull the side down about 7 or 8 inches. With my flashlight I was able to see the bolt from the flooring going into a metal cross support. Long story short, after removing the front wheel to gain more room, I was able to reach in from the side with vice grip pliers and lock on to the bolt. With about 15-20 half turns of the bolt I was finally able to get it screwed back down. After walking on the vinyl a few times, you can’t even see where the bolt was. No cutting the flooring and no cutting the bottom corrugated poly. Leaving tomorrow for a month at Hatteras NC.

Thank you for sharing your fix.

 

[Papa-T-XRD]

Hope it will help someone else down the line.

 

[Papa-T-XRD]

So made our second trip so far of the year. Eight hour drive to the coast (Hatteras NC) for a month stay. Noticed yesterday that the dang bolt had worked its way back up and I could see and feel it through the flooring. I’m at the campground and all set up. I didn’t want to take off the front wheel this time so I decided to cut an L in the Corrugated Poly where I can access the bolt easier. Retighten the bolt back down (Even tighter this time) which pulled it down and away from the inside flooring. The L shaped that I cut in the Corrugated Poly, I used two self screwing bolts going into the steel crossmember then used Gorilla tape to cover the two side cuts. I figure I’ll have to do this again since it seems to loosen on a long trip.

 

[Yakherder]

I see you are back at that one, PapaT. Hopefully that is the last you see of that problem.

BUT, if it returns, I was thinking. This must be the nut end of the bolt you had retightened onto the cross member. Could a nylock nut and/or lock washer be attached to that bolt. Just a thought to keep the nut from coming loose.

 

[mark5w]

Use some thread locker gel on it. That should solve the problem.

 

[Lloyd S]

Use some thread locker gel on it. That should solve the problem.

X2
Or, double nut it.

 

[Papa-T-XRD]

I see you are back at that one, PapaT. Hopefully that is the last you see of that problem.

BUT, if it returns, I was thinking. This must be the nut end of the bolt you had retightened onto the cross member. Could a nylock nut and/or lock washer be attached to that bolt. Just a thought to keep the nut from coming loose.

I tried that yesterday. But I had messed up the thread’s because I had to use vice grip pliers to tighten it the last time. Next time I might have to use some thread lock gel as Mark suggested.