lylefikse Report post Posted January 28, 2014 We live on our 2007 Damon Tuscany for a good part of the year, traveling in the summer and going south in it during the winter. We bring a lot of clothes. The rod that holds the hanging clothes has a bracket on each end and one in the middle that is put in the ceiling with two screws. This bracket has pulled out several times, the rod bends until it comes loose from the sides and all the clothes end up on the floor. Major pain. Not sure what material the ceiling above this bracket is made of. Seems to be wood. Bigger screws worked for a while but now they have pulled out. Any ideas to strengthen this bracket? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wolfe10 Report post Posted January 28, 2014 Lyle, My recommendation would be to call Damon, talk with the foreman who builds them to see his suggestion. Would be like having X-ray vision of what is up there. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rossboyer Report post Posted January 28, 2014 We had the same problem. Ours was the wire type shelves with a rod below. I added a wood board 1"x2" as long as the shelf to keep the shelf from bending by using fender washers and screws from below in to the wood. Not only does this strengthen the shelf, the 2" high wood keeps items on the shelf. Also added 4 additional brackets to support the rod. All of the additional parts were available at a big box store. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hermanmullins Report post Posted January 29, 2014 Lyle, You could cut two 1" X 3" boards long enough to reach from the floor up past the rod. drill a hole large enough for the rod to go through. Stand the rods up, one at each end and secure them to the walls. Several screws to secure the boards will hold up the rod and support the weight. Herman Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sandyhepburn Report post Posted January 29, 2014 At one time we had a Triumph fifth wheel, made by Fleetwood, that had a similar issue in the wardrobe. The clothes rod was screwed in to the "ceiling" inside the closet, and it came down. It turned out the ceiling was nothing more than the same 1/8" luaun plywood that was used for the walls! The screws holding the clothes rod were basically screwed into cardboard! I ended up rebuilding the closet, putting in some real wood to hold the clothes. That was one of the MANY poor quality issues we had with what Fleetwood was trying to pass off as their "flagship" fifth wheel after they retired the Avion line. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
medico Report post Posted January 29, 2014 Perhaps the use of the type of screws that are used in sheetrock, the types that have 2 wings that spring out when pushed through the whole. You then tighten the screw and the wings press against the back of the material. This might work for wood, even light wood. May not work for the cardboard type luan mentioned above. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bizsmith@yahoo.com Report post Posted January 29, 2014 My suggestion would be to replace the brackets and maybe the rod with stronger brackets. Stronger brackets should be available at any big box store. Beefing up the support with 1x3s as previously suggested might be advisable even with stronger brackets. It is not rocket science. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hermanmullins Report post Posted January 29, 2014 Medico, What you are referring to is called a "Spring Wing Toggle". And you are correct that it may not work in the very thin luan material. The best thing to do on this material is to spread the load. But who wants to mount a 12" X 12" piece of wood to mount a 1" wide bracket. Herman Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kaypsmith Report post Posted January 29, 2014 I agree with bizsmith. On a former motorhome, I replaced the cheap rod with a one inch pipe, used wood 1X6 cleats cut to the width of the inside of the end walls. A hole drilled into the center of each 1X6, then screwed to cleats that are inside of these end walls. Up to eight feet, there is no need for center supports. Also, I go to an auto parts store and acquire a round black wire cover, the kind that is split one side so that it will slip over the pipe. This has ridges and works to keep the hangers from sliding back and forth while traveling Good luck with whatever you do, Kay Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lylefikse Report post Posted January 30, 2014 I did call Thor/Damon. They advised me to take the ceiling down and beef it up. I thought great. why didn't you do that when you built it. I think I will try the molly screws before I go that route. I just wanted to be able to find the ceiling joists. I'll try a stud finder first. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lylefikse Report post Posted March 7, 2014 Took the light down in the wardrobe area and could see the ceiling was made from 3/8 inch plywood. Drilling a little bigger hole and using molly screws did the trick. I hope we don't pull the whole ceiling down now but it appears a lot stronger for now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
