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J0ker · 08-06-2013, 07:23 PM

Hi guys. I'm new to the site and need some guidance. I purchased a 2003 Wildcat 27RLS. There is a small area of delam (approx 12x12 inches) on the left side of the trailer. It's in the middle of the wall and the area around it is fine. I would expect that if it were due to a leak that it would start at a seam, opening or fixture. When I whack it with a mallet it sounds solid and there's no flex. Any idea what could have caused this? If I do discover a leak and the wood is still solid do I need to replace it? I was thinking of drilling some holes and injecting epoxy behind it to bond it back. Anyone else have this issue with the same model trailer. Thanks in advance.

J0ker · 08-07-2013, 04:03 AM

Correction. The model is a 2003 Wildcat 27RL.

hjsdds · 08-07-2013, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J0ker

Hi guys. I'm new to the site and need some guidance. I purchased a 2003 Wildcat 27RLS. There is a small area of delam (approx 12x12 inches) on the left side of the trailer. It's in the middle of the wall and the area around it is fine. I would expect that if it were due to a leak that it would start at a seam, opening or fixture. When I whack it with a mallet it sounds solid and there's no flex. Any idea what could have caused this? If I do discover a leak and the wood is still solid do I need to replace it? I was thinking of drilling some holes and injecting epoxy behind it to bond it back. Anyone else have this issue with the same model trailer. Thanks in advance.

It probably was not bonded well in that area from the beginning. Delamination plagues all companies from time to time. I have seen a million dollars Prevost being stripped to deal with the problem (fiberglass panels not sticking to the stainless steel frame). Most of the sidewalls these days are bonded as a wall unit, either on a vacuum press or a panel press and then all the openings are routed out with routers and a jig. The main bonds occur to the wood framing embedded in the wall for structural stiffness and frames around windows and doors. Most likely they skipped the epoxy or glue in that area or it didn't set right. Water probably didn't have anything to do with it, unless it it was in there for a long time and rotted the wood inside.
Your solution is a good one, the trick is to find the wood member behind the panel. If you do than I would inject the epoxy in there and "temporarily" screw the panel into the member to apply some pressure on the bond. Few extra holes wouldn't matter you can epoxy those over "after the fix". Another trick is to set vertically a long 2 x 4 or 2 x 6, catch the ends of the plank with long ratcheting straps around the rig, put a small piece of 2 x 6 between the the plank and the area you are re-gluing and tighten the ratchets. That should put pressure on that small piece of 2 x 6 and "encourage" the bonding. I actually have seen a whole new wall bonded like that at a high end fifth manufacturer, although their jigs were a little more "elegant" than 2 x 4s.

hjs

J0ker · 08-07-2013, 06:31 PM

hj..thanks for the input. According to FR the walls were vacum press bonded and the frame is aluminum. Does this impact how I approach the repair?

hjsdds · 08-08-2013, 08:59 AM

That eliminates wood out of the consideration. There are differences bonding to wood vs. bonding to aluminum. There is much wider selection of adhesives for fiberglass to wood vs. fiberglass to aluminum and some sort of epoxy would be my choice dealing with aluminum. Again, finding the (aluminum) stud becomes more critical in that structure, since that's where the bonding takes place with nothing in between. I played with some exotic epoxies on one product we produced which were used to bond aircraft skins, etc. Incredible stuff with incredible strength but a PITA to use and cure. Your local Ace Hardware will have a selection of metal to metal, or metal to "anything" epoxies which will work just fine. There is a product I used few months ago, comes in three strengths, can't recall the brand but been told it's been around for a long time. Bought a tube for few bucks, it did a a hack of a job fixing metal handle on a fancy door lock no longer made.
The only problem I see is that even if you find the stud, there will be a layer of crap on the fiberglass and the aluminum that didn't bond and the epoxy might not like it if it's not compatible. Maybe Forest River would be "gracious enough" to tell you what they use. There are other ways to fix it, but it might require a more of a "fiberglass surgery" in the area. Fiberglass is actually pretty easy to repair (and "surgerize") but it requires a little bit of experience (doing it once), sounds like you are "handy".

hjs