2016 Thor Outlaw LS cracked end cap

[Noble6047]

Replaced the top piece and the side piece. Painted and installed both. While there, tightened down my loose dashboard, replaced the door handle (that actually broke on them while there) and installed a lens cover on the top marker light. Cost: $0. Every single person I interacted with was kind, professional, and eager to help. I can't say enough to express how happy and impressed I was with the experience.

[ThePowells]

Originally Posted by Noble6047

Replaced the top piece and the side piece. Painted and installed both. While there, tightened down my loose dashboard, replaced the door handle (that actually broke on them while there) and installed a lens cover on the top marker light. Cost: $0. Every single person I interacted with was kind, professional, and eager to help. I can't say enough to express how happy and impressed I was with the experience.

We had the same experience. My only problem was the end of February and they didn't have water. I found out that I was getting water from the instrument place in the middle of the Thor complex.

Jim worked on ours and took time to answer all of my questions, and took time to find what he needed to show me stuff to help me understand what was underneath.

[Scarab0088]

Originally Posted by Noble6047

Replaced the top piece and the side piece. Painted and installed both. While there, tightened down my loose dashboard, replaced the door handle (that actually broke on them while there) and installed a lens cover on the top marker light. Cost: $0. Every single person I interacted with was kind, professional, and eager to help. I can't say enough to express how happy and impressed I was with the experience.

Any conversation about "WHY" the tail caps cracked?

Too funny that the TriMark door lock broke on them...ours is Bauer unit now. Would never use another Trimark.

Thanks for the updates

[Sandy Swede]

Been following your saga with interest. Congrats and blessings on getting this resolved to your satisfaction. Bet you are looking forward to a good nights sleep. Detailing your plight on this forum may have been instrumental in getting the proper attention from Thor. "Squeaky Wheel" perhaps?

[wildcatter]

I would check the screws holding the D-rings in place, on my 2015 FR toy hauler (previous camper) I trusted the screws holding them down, the first time I hauled my street glide I found 6 broken screws, I got lucky and the bike didn't fall over. After closer inspection I found they used the same self tapping screws they used for the the belly material. Not good.

[Noble6047]

Originally Posted by wildcatter

I would check the screws holding the D-rings in place, on my 2015 FR toy hauler (previous camper) I trusted the screws holding them down, the first time I hauled my street glide I found 6 broken screws, I got lucky and the bike didn't fall over. After closer inspection I found they used the same self tapping screws they used for the the belly material. Not good.

Scooter survived the trip up and back with no issues. Only 330 lbs, so not even close to the stresses of a 800-900 lb streetglide. But good to know about the screws. Will def. keep an eye on them.

[Noble6047]

No conversation with anyone regarding the 'why' of it all. My thought was that in taking full responsibility, perhaps they have come around to the idea that there was an issue with the material. Then again, maybe they looked at it as the easiest way to shut me up


The service facility is in a separate location from manufacturing and their offices, so no one from either of those places spoke with me. I only dealt with the service guys, all of whom were so sympathetic to the issues we were all dealing with.

[Scarab0088]

Thanks for that back-story. Hope they will look at this from a design flaw point.
Ours are almost 12 years old now with no cracking...but still wish they had always been made of metal.

BTW...the D-Rings in the Outlaw's garage are bolted (not screwed) to the floor.



Could the nut holding the carriage bolt separate?...sure, but there is no risk of a screw breaking on these D-Rings.

[Terminex]

When i went to get my 2015 Outlaw out of storage in the spring, I have the exact same "triangle" crack in my rear upper cap, as well as about a dozen cracks between the 2 rear side caps.

I knew Thor would not do anything about it it, so I used a plastic welding kit I had, and then covered them with some touch up paint. not the prettiest fixes, but at a distance you cannot tell.

There is no such thing as Quality Control at the Thor factory.

It is really sad that the poor folks at the Thor service center have to deal with all of the frustrated clients.

Now I have to try to find the leak / leaks that are allowing water into the front of the RV in those boxes that are above the Driver & Passenger windows.

[Scarab0088]

Originally Posted by Terminex

When i went to get my 2015 Outlaw out of storage in the spring...

Now I have to try to find the leak / leaks that are allowing water into the front of the RV in those boxes that are above the Driver & Passenger windows.

First...check the caulking around the front overhead clearance lights.

Water can enter at the wires or the mount screws. We removed and re-caulked ours before a leak was noticed.

In contrast, the front clearance lights on our pick-up do not need caulking to remain water-tight, by design. There is a gasket where the light module sits on the trucks roof, but that does not keep the water out of the truck's cab.

Best luck

[Trvl1]

Originally Posted by Terminex

When i went to get my 2015 Outlaw out of storage in the spring, I have the exact same "triangle" crack in my rear upper cap, as well as about a dozen cracks between the 2 rear side caps.

I knew Thor would not do anything about it it, so I used a plastic welding kit I had, and then covered them with some touch up paint. not the prettiest fixes, but at a distance you cannot tell.

There is no such thing as Quality Control at the Thor factory.

Could you provide more detail and pictures of the repairs you did? Just notice that mine (2016, 2nd owner) now has a big crack on the top cap (this one has appeared since I returned from Arizona in March) and 2 small cracks (that I noticed in Arizona) on the side caps. Trying to decide best way to repair. Thanks!

[MXdad]

Didn’t want to wait 4-6 months for the local dealer to fix and replace my cracked end cap. So I bought a plastic weld kit and doing it myself. Got he mean and extra plastic filled in. Just got to sand and paint and I’ll be done. Will send finished pics.

[Dav L]

MXDad (and others),
You might want to consider using a "real" plastic welder first (hot air gun that melts / stitches the base plastic and adds filler plastic to meld the crack solid again), THEN overlay with the mat cloth / adhesive that it looks like you used. The concern is that the joint will flex and break through soon after you get it all nice and shiny again. You also need to fill the cloth with body plastic before you sand the cloth. You really don't want to be sanding the cloth as it will get too thin and loose it's strength.

Even better is if you can put some mat cloth on the backside of the crack...there you can put many layers on to ensure strength. Hard to tell how difficult the panel is to remove. But keep the cloth you have on it (just as it is) and remove the panel and reinforce the backside. Then, remove the exterior cloth and fix the base crack, reapply the topside cloth, light sanding to get rid of high bumps, then body plastic, sand smooth, sand scratch fill, sand smooth, prime, and paint and replace panel.

Most of the time will be spent from where you are now in the repair to cleaning up after you paint it. It would be a shame to have to do it again if the crack reappears.

Hope that helps!! Go DIY!!

[Mynticelx]

Unfortuanly I just found this thread and have the same roof crack on the top of my 2017.5 Outlaw. Clearly this is a wider issue. Guess I will start the calls to Thor to begin my journey. Any contacts or notes would be more than welcome. Thanks