Community Forums

cracker1 · 08-26-2012, 05:59 PM

Hi, it was only my 2nd trip and i damaged my trailer pulling it out of our driveway for gods' sakes!!
I hit my retaining wall while trying to go a little wide, which was a mistake. Check out the pics. and please let me know any info. on repairing.
I suppose i will try to make a claim and let insurance cover it.
It is a fiberglass exterior. For now i just caulked the area that was damaged.
Anyone have any estimates on how much it might cost?

TXiceman · 08-26-2012, 06:10 PM

Whoops....You really need to take it to an RV shop and let them do an estimate. Frrom the photos, you cannot see if there is any interior damage.

Ken

cracker1 · 08-26-2012, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TXiceman

Whoops....You really need to take it to an RV shop and let them do an estimate. Frrom the photos, you cannot see if there is any interior damage.

Ken

na, no interior damage, just a bad scrape

IWillRVToo · 08-26-2012, 06:42 PM

Dang!!
I hit the neighbors truck when I brought our brand new TT home...

bttravel · 08-26-2012, 09:19 PM

Mr_D · 08-26-2012, 09:34 PM

Seems like any damage is going to cost around $3,000 if professionally done.

We had an awning broken in a sudden rain storm in Fresno in late March. New awning and paint touch up where the arms hit the storage bays was $4,400. We have full body paint but the gel coat wasn't even damaged, the OP's gel coat needs redoing too. In some cases it would be cheaper to replace the whole side of the TT. I don't think it's needed in this case though.

Razzman · 08-27-2012, 11:39 AM

Coincidently our Damon coach is in the body shop this week due to someone backing into the front lower corner. It has a fiberglass front cap and the damage doesn't look anywhere near that bad and the estimate is $4200.00. Of course as they have to pull the invisible mask to repair I get a whole new mask! Just as a reference, I would have thought $2500 max so definately go get an estimate!

450Donn · 08-27-2012, 11:43 AM

Get an estimate from an auto body shop. If it is fiberglas the repair is fairly straight foreword and they could do the job pretty easily except for the one piece of corner molding.

TQ60 · 08-27-2012, 01:35 PM

The photos look like the trip is torn off with some removal of the panel.

Good news is if this is an "in production" unit the trim can be ordered.

Bad news is it needs to be replaced.

The area behind the trim looks chewed up, but if that area only holds the trim and there is no other support, then one could mix up some bondo and fill it back in, making it look like the rest, then snap the trim back into place.

I would suggest sending the photos to the manufacture and ask specific questions regarding the repair.

Get high res photos of all angles so they can see what is there.

IF it is only the trim area, AND the trim can be ordered, AND it can be snapped in or otherwise replaced in the filed without major work you may be able to DIY and avoid the hit on the insurance.

The manufacturer also can gove good avise on the local company that they would suggest do the work and possibly how many hours it shoui;ld take so you can insure the estimate is in line with what the manufacturer suggests, keeps them honest.

ahicks · 08-27-2012, 03:44 PM

That corner molding (trim) is pretty standard stuff. Many manf's use the same stuff, have been for many years. The bigger question would be finding it in the right color, to match. Also, I would want to find a shop that doesn't want to make this a bigger job than it needs to be. To minimize chances of delamination in the future you don't want them replacing any more of that siding than absolutely necessary. I wouldn't replace any of it. Prefer to spend some time patching/fixing up what's there to maximize the original structural integrity. It probably looks much worse than it really is. That's me though, just looking at the pic's. -Al

cracker1 · 08-27-2012, 03:48 PM

ok, bad news is i dont know if this will be covered by our vehicle insurance. My wife never told our rep we bought a trailer. She called today and he is checking to see if it is covered.
If it is not covered i will be trying a DIY with some filler and who knows what else. I do not have the $$ to pay out of pocket for this.

ahicks · 08-27-2012, 05:41 PM

Do you normally do your own maintenance? Ever work with fiberglass? This would actually not be a bad do it yourself project if that were the case.

cracker1 · 08-27-2012, 05:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ahicks

Do you normally do your own maintenance? Ever work with fiberglass? This would actually not be a bad do it yourself project if that were the case.

yes, i do my own maintenance so far, i only owned the tt for 2 months, but removed all the caulk on the exterior around the windows and seams and resealed. I also cleaned the roof and caulked the roof seam.

But to answer your question i never worked with fiberglass. Any input?

ahicks · 08-27-2012, 06:49 PM

To patch it so that it's not leaking and is structurally intact would not be difficult. To patch it and have it look like there was never a repair done there takes some experience?

If you decide to tackle it, the best advice I can give you is do not let the size of your repair extend more than an inch from the actual damage. Keep your repair as small as possible. That'll keep whatever you do not so noticeable. Many rookies will take a damaged area the size of yours and make a repair that's huge in comparison.

Here's one source for that molding, to show you it's not hard to get at all. Something like a buck a foot.

Aluminum Extrusion - Factory RV Surplus

With luck you can find somebody doing a lot of repair work nearby. It's common, so if they're doing a lot of repair work they'll stock it. They may also be willing to match a sample you hand them? Just cut a piece of that damaged area off, maybe 4-6" of it? If you can find it local you won't get stung so badly for freight. -Al