Aluminum Siding and Front Cap Material???

[97 Intl 4700]

Hi, I'm posting this in a few forum areas to see if anyone has any sources for aluminum siding and front cap material. Thanks!

I'm a rebuilder, hardly ever buy new, semi-retired, so, I have time to fix stuff.

I just got an '02 Thor Wanderer Wagon 32 ft. Tandem Axle 5th Wheel Toy Hauler with interlocking corrugated aluminum siding that has some good size dents in the front cap, so, I want to replace it with a clean one.

Does anyone have any sources west of the Mississippi for this material? I don't need decals or anything fancy like that, just the material or a pre-fab cap piece. It doesn't even need to be painted. I do all that. If it is painted, that's fine. Just trying to expand my sources.

I also may need a couple long aluminum strips for the top of the right side. The seam has separated, so, not sure if I can re-seal it or just put on new ones.

I'm going through the entire trailer now, looking for leaks/floor rot, etc...

Does anyone know of a good chassis-side sealer if I find any rips in the underside membrane? Maybe just undercoat the whole thing?

What do you all do for roof repairs? I'd like to know your solutions. I don't think the roof leaks right now, but I want to be prepared in the future.

I have good solutions for seam sealer/trim, etc... just want to make it look quasi-normal so the girlfriend doesn't cringe when she sees it.

[dayle1]

Is the roof aluminum or rubber?

Aluminum siding is not cheap, especially for the long sides, high crating and shipping costs. If only the front needs replacement, rather than use aluminum, you could replace it with fiberglass sheeting that you can buy locally. Remove the aluminum on the front, repair any wood damage underneath (should be thin plywood under the aluminum) and then glue the fiberglass on. You can buy 4x8 sheets of FRP (fiberglass reinforced panel) at the big box stores for about $35 plus 'H' trim for the joint. You may need a 2nd layer of thin plywood to stiffen the front prior to the fiberglass.

For the right side, you might just try caulking the separation to close it up. I used that technique many years ago. Worst case, carefully add a few screws at the studs and caulk them. Since siding is installed from the top, you would have to remove every panel and windows, etc to actually replace the separated panel with a new one.

Another option is to locate an RV junk yard near you for the parts you need.

As for the underbelly, depends on what is there now. Some have no underbelly fabric. Others use a tough flexible fabric (Darco), clean any tears, use gorillia tape and caulk along the edges of the tape. Others use a rigid underbelly and while it can be purchased as a full length piece, it will also cost. But go to any plastics distributor or outdoor sign company and ask for 'Coroplast', it is a plastic version of corrugated cardboard, 4 x 8 sheets, 4mm thick cost less than $10. You can make patches installed with screws and caulk or install full sheets and 'H' trim at the joints.

[97 Intl 4700]

Excellent logical ideas and solutions.

I'll just start tearing into it later next week and meanwhile, I'm sourcing RV wrecking yards, raw materials, etc...

I sincerely appreciate everyone's help on this!

Happy Hauling!