Community Forums

rick5963 · 03-14-2016, 05:33 PM

Hello. I am a new member with my first class A. I have a 2013 Itasca 33c.I noticed today that the metal brackets that hold the fiberglass hood are broken. Appear Itasca used a epoxy to bond the metal bracket to the fiberglass front. Looks like they go in a hurry and barely attached the passenger side. Can I buy some over the counter epoxy and redo or do I need to take to a RV place thanks

MnTom · 03-14-2016, 07:47 PM

You should be able to get something that works. If you can go to a place that sells auto body supplies and talk to them about what you want to do.

GumpAir · 03-14-2016, 08:19 PM

Welcome to the crowd. Mine fall off so frequently that I now have them safety wired so they don't go bouncing down the road. The dealer has twice re-epoxied them but...

The first one that came off had maybe half a dime sized bead of epoxy holding the whole thing one. Just poor workmanship and no pride in their work, whoever the tech was who was working that day.

rick5963 · 03-15-2016, 04:37 AM

Thanks for the information.I will check with the local auto part stores. Sounds like I need to get wire ties while I am there also.

rambler62 · 03-15-2016, 03:54 PM

I would suggest you use West System epoxy. It is what I use our boat and I have never had it fail. Great stuff but a little on the pricey side. Just depends on how many times you want to do it.

dabrooks · 03-15-2016, 04:58 PM

Can you post a photo of what you are dealing with? I had a similar problem on our Tiffin.

Johndale · 03-15-2016, 05:27 PM

Drill a few holes in the mount bracket so what ever you use will mushroom out to help hold it in place. I used gorilla glue on my 3 years ago and no issues yet.

Robmat · 03-15-2016, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rick5963

Hello. I am a new member with my first class A. I have a 2013 Itasca 33c.I noticed today that the metal brackets that hold the fiberglass hood are broken. Appear Itasca used a epoxy to bond the metal bracket to the fiberglass front. Looks like they go in a hurry and barely attached the passenger side. Can I buy some over the counter epoxy and redo or do I need to take to a RV place thanks

I had my fiberglass disengage from the metal bracket after I hit a folding seat that flew off the back of a pickup truck on I-95. I took it to a friend that has an auto body shop and he used a two part epoxy that is made to connect fiberglass bodies to frames. The problem is going to be finding a way of clamping the pieces together until the epoxy dries. Apparently Winnebago put the brackets on the fiberglass front before attaching it to the frame so clamping it together was possible. When epoxying them together while the panel is mounted on the vehicle you can't get a clamp to go around the pieces. So my friend ended up drilling holes and bolting it with the plan on going back and removing the bolts and filling the holes and touching them up. I found this 3M Panel Bonding Adhesive on Amazon for $20 - Robot Check

530ktm · 03-17-2016, 08:38 AM

I had to go out and look at mine and I see on mine that there are a couple of threaded metal studs built into the fiberglass that the metal bracket is bolted to. Looks very strong, perhaps they redesigned this for my year coach.

Dutch Star Don · 03-17-2016, 11:00 PM

Go to the Winnebago owner's forum on here and do a search. This has been an issue for years. There are several fixes including bolting them on.

rick5963 · 03-18-2016, 01:11 PM

Thanks to everyone for the help.I found a dealer who had a body shop crew. They fixed the broken parts and repaired a few that appeared weak.They removed all old expoy ,sanded surfaces etc.