Community Forums

jpjack · 10-25-2019, 07:18 PM

Any cure for the dreaded faded cap of Forest Rivers?

Dealer said no amount of buffing, waxing etc will fix it?

RoadrunnerII · 10-25-2019, 07:23 PM

Only real long term fix is sand 3 coats of paint and 3 coats of clearcoat with good automotive commercial paint and clearcoat. Then wax it regularly multiple coats. Just had the front cap on our trailer done. Thankfully it was covered under warranty. 5 coats of wax on it.

RoadrunnerII

grindstone01 · 10-26-2019, 11:14 AM

If it's the clear coat that is fading, I've had good luck with this sealer on our fifth wheel.
https://shineononline.com/

gottoys · 11-06-2019, 08:34 PM

It's not clear coat. There is no paint on most of them It's fiberglass gelcoat. The only real cure is to have it painted with a quality automotive base coat clear coat process. I've had this problem with two of them and had them both painted. Find a good heavy truck body shop they will have a large enough paint booth. RV dealers don't usually do this work and send them out.

Newmar2856 · 11-06-2019, 09:32 PM

Which 5th wheel do you have and what year is it?

consolenut · 11-06-2019, 09:58 PM

I took polishing compound. not rubbing compound. then a cleaner wax by mothers and two coats of turtle wax paste wax and got a really nice shine on the nose of my current 5th wheel and the last one.

wash it with car wash and dry after the polishing compound. prior to waxing with cleaner wax

BSHGTO · 11-07-2019, 02:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by consolenut

I took polishing compound. not rubbing compound. then a cleaner wax by mothers and two coats of turtle wax paste wax and got a really nice shine on the nose of my current 5th wheel and the last one.

wash it with car wash and dry after the polishing compound. prior to waxing with cleaner wax

And this you want to do on a real regular bases. Sold the last 5er for this very reason, lasts a little while. the only real fix is paint and clear coat, about $1800.00 to $2000.00, about $900.00 if you keep the dealer out of it.

spock12 · 11-08-2019, 11:25 AM

$1966 for a new paint job

gottoys · 11-08-2019, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BSHGTO

And this you want to do on a real regular bases. Sold the last 5er for this very reason, lasts a little while. the only real fix is paint and clear coat, about $1800.00 to $2000.00, about $900.00 if you keep the dealer out of it.

100% correct, especially the keep the dealer out of it part!

consolenut · 11-08-2019, 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BSHGTO

And this you want to do on a real regular bases. Sold the last 5er for this very reason, lasts a little while. the only real fix is paint and clear coat, about $1800.00 to $2000.00, about $900.00 if you keep the dealer out of it.

i wax my 5ver 3 times a year. the hard paste wax is really tough. so yeah it stays shiny. Wash once sometimes twice a month. dont like it dirty. even if have to pack up and go wash ill do it. Dont really like clear coat. subject to oxidation. Id rather use a poly urethane based paint. Like what centauri used to be. Emron is another one that comes to mind. Shines, durable dont oxidize.

Cumminsfan · 11-08-2019, 02:24 PM

The gel-coats used in the 20012-20?? were not nearly as good as the earlier stuff.
Also white was the predominant color choice back then.
White may chalk up but nothing like the dark colors of the mid 2000's.
You can see the MFG's were trying to deal with it as they started to go with lighter colors around 2016+.
Now I see many are going to white.
Junk gel-coats are only fixed permanently by painting.

jpjack · 11-09-2019, 06:51 PM

we have a 2015 Prime Time Crusader Lite 28RL. I am not even sure if it is Oxidation or fading!! Or gelcoat fail!!

Cumminsfan · 11-10-2019, 08:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpjack

we have a 2015 Prime Time Crusader Lite 28RL. I am not even sure if it is Oxidation or fading!! Or gelcoat fail!!

You caps the dark brown thats been plagued by fading.
If you wax it and the greyish white color appears after 4-5 weeks then it's the gelcoat.
Even a 3 step of buffing and waxing with an RO buffer will not bring back a long lasting shine.
Painting is the only long tern cure.

Coincidentally there's a 2015(?) PT 5th wheel thats parked on a side street near where I usually get gas. Up until last year it looked pretty good. Now it's starting to show fading on the very top. The owner kept it covered a lot too. I was surprised that he went as long as he did before the fading stated.

PulNSerenity · 11-15-2019, 09:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BSHGTO

And this you want to do on a real regular bases. Sold the last 5er for this very reason, lasts a little while. the only real fix is paint and clear coat, about $1800.00 to $2000.00, about $900.00 if you keep the dealer out of it.

That price is just to paint the cap correct? I wouldn't think you could get the whole trailer painted for that much?