SEARCHING FOR 2009 Alpine Limited SE Wall Panels

[Zane Wetzel]

We had a recent water problem (roof leaks) that warped the wall panel in front of the slide - next to the driver's seat. To ascertain the damage the wall panel will have to be pulled off.

The dealer does not seem to know how to obtain a matching panel. Does anyone have any information that could lead us to locating a business that handles these?

Our unit is a 2009 Alpine Limited SE, Model 40FDSS; Style is "Riviera".

Many thanks!
Zane

[EngineerMike]

Zane- If I'm understanding this correctly, that is the wall area w/the driver's window?
The interior is luan laminated to the wall frame/insulation by vacuum bonding, and the exterior is fiberglass sheet (also vac-bonded to the aluminum framing/insulation in the wall).

If that's the wall panel in question, you may want to find a different repair outfit who understands motorhome construction better. Places that do this kind of work regularly shouldn't have to ask IMO.

[TerryM]

Zane,

Just out of curiosity, did you figure out where exactly the roof was leaking? Seems I have a bit of a leak there also that I haven't located yet. I've tried to stay in dry places, like Quartzsite for DRR last month, but that didn't turn out to be very dry .

[OldForester]

Zane,

IIRC, the whole wall panel on the side above the floor is one vacu-bonded panel with the cutouts for the slides and windows. I'm not sure you can buy a piece of it; you will probably have to repair the spot that's damaged, and would agree with E-Mike that you probably need to find a repair facility that knows how to repair vacu-bonded panels.

Terry,

We have been fighting a leak over that driver's side window for a long time. Finally figured out ours was coming from two places: 1)the area above the window where the horizontal lap joint is created where the wall panel joins the roof cap (re-caulked with clear silicone caulk), and 2)the area where the front cap joins the roof over the steering wheel. Fixed that at Quartzite with some new caulk across the whole front end cap joint. We have a flat spot in the roof where water pools behind that front cap over the driver seat/steering wheel, and water was running in there. Both places were leaking, and the roof cap/front cap joint was leaking into the roof cap/wall panel joint above the driver's side window.

Don't know if that helps, but that's what was causing our leaks.

[EngineerMike]

Zane- I had a heckuva time getting all the roof leaks in check. Under the antenna mounting plate there is a cable entry that was caulked around the edges but not at the exact cable opening. Didn't find it till the coach was parked w/just the right slope so it poured in. The Driver's side roof/wall seam was not cleaned before putting in the sealant, so it separated along quite a bit of its length; I pulled it out front to back & redid it (took maybe 2 hours) but did that in December so I couldn't get it bone dry. The coax entry behind the Kingdome was sealed w/two types of sealant, one of which failed early (same w/front & rear roof cap edges- 2 kinds of sealant & 1 failed); I trimmed those out clean & recaulked. When it dries out & warms up I'm going to redo both side roof/wall seams from scratch so I know they are good for several years.