apachepopups.net
Archived Renovations / Improvements => Living Hinges/Bed End Caps => Topic started by: FiremanPete on June 18, 2003, 09:13:25 PM
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Hi everybody....
Just finished replacing the living hinge on my bed ends and at my folding bed side panels. Very simple.
As promised, I took digital photos and made a "how-to" page. Here's the URL:
http://members.cox.net/peterswanson/livinghinge.htm
WORD OF WARNING: Get a can of bee spray and make sure you check for wasp nests under the ends of the slide-out beds (in the corners especially!) I had four wasp nests; one was in each corner. Since you'll be pulling off the corner end caps, you'll want to spray the nests the night before to avoid getting stung! For some reason, the wasps love those underneath corner spots for building a home!
For those of you wondering "what's living hinge???"...
It's the plastic hinge that allows the side ABS panels to fold down at the pull-out beds, and allows the bed ends to fold up when you set your camper up. When these crack, it makes set-up difficult, and you run the risk of your bed ends "falling out" of your camper and smashing on the ground.
Feel free to take a look and find out how simple replacement is!
Good Luck!
P.S. Webmaster.... feel free to link any of this if you add a section under "Content" along with ABS repair, AC installation, etc. Lots of people looking to replace living hinge. Thanks!
Pete[/url]
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Hi Pete-
What a GREAT article on replacing the living hinge! Excellent detail and
and much appreciated by anyone undertaking this repair. I look forward to any future repairs and projects you take on and hope you continue to share them with everyone.
Thanks... Jon
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:D Great! Thanks for taking the time to assist your fellow Apache
owners. I have a box of living hinges that I had no idea how to go
about installing, now I'll be able to actually complete this task!
Michelle 1957
Leon 1956
Apache Mesa 1977
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I think your article should be loaded on the "How to" area in sections.
:D
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Boy, I wish I had checked here before we installed our new "living hinge". We just did our over the past weekend. The first side took us about 45 mins to figure out, the other took about 10 minutes to do. We are so new to all of this camper stuff, it has been one shameful moment after another, but I feel like we are really learning things...The knowledge is almost worth the 400$ we paid for the camper. We got ours from the folks up in Ontario, they are a real nice to work with, (I didn't even know what the name of the item was that I needed to fix it so I must have been their "doozy" customer of the day.
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Thanks to firemanpete for his informative step-by-step instructions. Our new camper is an adventure for us and this site and the people in this group are very informative and helpful. We really appreciate it!!!
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Just wanted to move this posting back up for all new users to see.
Pete
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It would be very helpful for everyone and easier to find if the administrators would place this great information on road seals and living hinge replacement uder 'Content'. Thanks Pete for moving the posting!
Jon
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Great information on replacing living hinges. I'm a 51 year old female and I'm attempting to do as many repairs to my 1975 Royal as I can myself. I have very little experience in this kind of thing, so it's a real adventure. This article was excellent. I'm about half way through replacing my living hinges and IT'S EASY!!!. Now if someone could do the same kind of thing on replacing road seals and bed end seals it would be great. I've got some leaks I'm having problems with. Love my Apache!!!
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Great article, just what the doctor ordered. Now I can replace my hinges
with your help, instead of trial and error.
thanks san270
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congratulations on the awesome tutorial.....i forgot and thought i was reading a time/life "how-to" book series for a moment! oh yeah and congrats on the promotion!!!!!(deer)
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Hey, thanks Bret....
Always wanted to be a deer.....I guess.
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Trying to get the page with the pics and instructions of the Living Hindge Replacement and get and error message. Does anyone have an updated URL
George
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Hello Fireman Pete,
I read your posting, and I think it's just what I need. I tried to open the URL with the instructions and photos, but the site did not open. I am a first-time owner of a 1973 Apache Mesa, and it's in good shape. I did something stupid this morning, however. I opened it all up to take measurements for new curtains, slip covers for the cushions, etc. I just bought it 3 weeks ago. As I was closing up the bed ends, one of them got out of my hands and "fell out". I felt like a fool. It snapped off the bed and fell to the ground. The living hinges are broken. I hope I haven't done too much damage to the camper. I have a couple of questions:
1. Where can I buy new living hinges?
2. I couldn't open your URL. If you, or anyone, can help list the steps to replacing the hinges, I'd really appreciate it.
I appreciate any help. Thanks everyone!
Steve
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Steve, I have Petes pics saved on my computer. They are tiny, about 2K file size each. Theres about 20 pics. Lemmie know and Ill email them to you. kel
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Sure, I'd love to see the pics. Email them to maineboy67@msn.com. By any chance, has this mishap happened to you? I feel like a fool.
Thanks!
Steve
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Sure, I'd love to see the pics. Email them to maineboy67@msn.com. By any chance, has this mishap happened to you? I feel like a fool.
Thanks!
Steve
Fireman Pete switched internet service providers and thus the How To link is no longer valid. We are hoping he has it back up soon on his new provider.
Pete let us know the new link when it is ready.
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Okay...I'm attempting to put the whole thing back up today....
and YES, the same thing happened to me....I was actually getting ready to repair my bed end living hinge and a gust of wind blew the folded roof section away from me and it broke off clean....luckily for me the ABS didn't break....it just landed flat on the driveway....
I was able to repair the living hinge by putting the new living hinge on the bed end first (sliding it into the groove, then having a friend help me slide the whole bed end onto the top channel of the living hinge from the side until it was in place. Whew!
New pics should be up soon!
Pete
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Okay...I'm attempting to put the whole thing back up today....
and YES, the same thing happened to me....I was actually getting ready to repair my bed end living hinge and a gust of wind blew the folded roof section away from me and it broke off clean....luckily for me the ABS didn't break....it just landed flat on the driveway....
I was able to repair the living hinge by putting the new living hinge on the bed end first (sliding it into the groove, then having a friend help me slide the whole bed end onto the top channel of the living hinge from the side until it was in place. Whew!
New pics should be up soon!
Pete
Whew that is very lucky.
I am glad it did not break. That would be heartbreakingly bad.
Yes, for anyone working on Living Hinges, Please make sure it is a still and windless day. The wind can use it as a sail if you are not careful. Also having a friend to assist is invaluable.
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I ordered living hinge material, and I'm awaiting its arrival. I appreciate the help and support with this project. I know that a small corner of the ABS broke off, and I have the broken piece. I'll have to get the MEK and some ABS somewhere to make the "goo." And I'll definitely get the assistance of a friend when it comes time to replacing the hinge.
If I think of it, I'll take some photos to document the repair. Thanks again.
Steve
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Okay, I'll be creating a new thread for Alan to post in this forum....I uploaded all my old pics to my Apache gallery site...I'll have to rewrite the whole living hinge replacement thread and then link to the pics individually...I'll work on it today at my part time job, and continually edit and save....hopefully it'll get done!
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I ordered living hinge material, and I'm awaiting its arrival. I appreciate the help and support with this project. I know that a small corner of the ABS broke off, and I have the broken piece. I'll have to get the MEK and some ABS somewhere to make the "goo." And I'll definitely get the assistance of a friend when it comes time to replacing the hinge.
If I think of it, I'll take some photos to document the repair. Thanks again.
Steve
Maineboy, you can get the ABS material here (and lots of other good stuff, too......Tim has it all!):
http://imagingperspectives.freehosting.net/sales.htm
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I ordered living hinge material, and I'm awaiting its arrival. I appreciate the help and support with this project. I know that a small corner of the ABS broke off, and I have the broken piece. I'll have to get the MEK and some ABS somewhere to make the "goo." And I'll definitely get the assistance of a friend when it comes time to replacing the hinge.
If I think of it, I'll take some photos to document the repair. Thanks again.
Steve
Maineboy, you can get the ABS material here (and lots of other good stuff, too......Tim has it all!):
http://imagingperspectives.freehosting.net/sales.htm
Thank you for the link. Every little bit helps me to feel less like a complete fool for causing the bed end to fall out. I hope to make the repairs in a few weeks. I'll order the ABS pellets and MEK this weekend. One question...is the MEK available locally, i.e. at Home Depot or Lowe's? I think I'll check tonight.
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More than likely, yes....I found some at a local hardware store, but many automotive parts places carry MEK with their auto body chemicals.
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Yes, I bought a quart can of MEK from my local HomeDepot.
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Hi Peter, I also need to replace the living hinges on my Ranger. I tried to go to your web site and it is not there...RATS!
The job of replacing the ends does not look simple to me!
Help!
Bryan
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You just need to go to the next sticky posting in the Living Hinges/Bed End Caps forum. All the pictures and text are there. It's very good information :)
Fitz
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Thanks to the input of many people on this website, I replaced the living hinge in both bed ends of my '73 Mesa. Not surprising, the first section took a few hours, lots of sweat and some choice language between my helper/friend and myself. Later, I replaced the opposite bed end hinge, and I replaced it on my own in a manner of 15 minutes...much easier the second time around! If there's a difficult way to do something, that's usually my first instinct!
Thanks again everyone. I'll take pictures mid-August when I take my baby out for her first camping experience (I bought it last Fall and am just now in a position to get out to the campground). Talk to you all again soon.
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Hello Pete,
I can't seem to get your pictures of the bed end replacement. I've tried all the posts and your web site, but I've been unsuccessful. Do you or anyone else have a suggestion as to how I can get those pictures and your advice on fixing them? Thanks much from a novice! Scott
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Hudsonite, If you go to galley #10333 there are pictures that show the steps for replacing living hinge. I'm sure it belongs to Fireman Pete but
has not been titled and cross referenced yet because of the new gallery.
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jg, thanks much for directing me to the pictures! It was very helpful and I have printed them out in anticipation of replacing my living hinges. You also introduced me to the gallery section which I did not know existed. There are some great things there! Thanks again. Hudsonite.
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Is it something simple to do by yourself? How costly is it to replace all the hinges and where do you get them from? I am looking into purchasing a 72 or 73 model apache and I wanted to make sure I knew what I was getting into. Thanks A lot!
Tinisha
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Yes, you can do it yourself.
Read through the other threads in this section and you will find places to buy and how to install.
Good luck on the Apache, it is a great trailer.
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Fireman Pete do you still have the how to document? The link no longer works.
http://members.cox.net/peterswanson/livinghinge.htm (http://members.cox.net/peterswanson/livinghinge.htm)
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Not sure what you are looking for as far as living hinge work but try this link:
http://www.apachepopups.net/smf/index.php?topic=6535.0 (http://www.apachepopups.net/smf/index.php?topic=6535.0)
This also references Fireman Pete’s post or link in it.
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Burgh;
Do you realize that you replied to a 15 year old thread? Unfortunately there are lots of well knowing people, on all things Apache that we no longer hear from.
which is unfortunate.
I have never seen Fireman Pete post here, in all the time I have been here. I just looked up my own profile and I have been coming here since 2012. Longer than I thought!
there are several that I remember posting here often when I came on even that I no longer see around the forum.
If you cant find your answer in the search (and Im glad you tried, as many Qs are asked many times over) you might well have to ask fresh.
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I know this is a very old post. Does anyone have the How to pictures?