Community Forums

Ctrujillo45 · 12-18-2019, 03:55 PM

Hello-

I have a 2004 Tioga 29v, and I noticed the rear fiberglass cap where the roof meets the back wall has a crack in it. How would I go about fixing this? This is outside the RV in the fiberglass piece that extends the back length of the roof. See pictures attached. Do I have to replace the entire fiberglass piece or can I have someone repair the crack? I'm in Southern California. Any recommendations?

A32Deuce · 12-18-2019, 06:32 PM

If you are handy, you can fix it yourself. May just be the gelcoat that is cracked. Probe gently with the blade of a pocket knife to see how deep. If shallow you can fix yourself with white gelcoat.

49Deluxe · 12-18-2019, 07:43 PM

You could drill a small, shallow hole at each end of the crack and put a piece of eternabond tape on it.

youracman · 12-18-2019, 08:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 49Deluxe

You could drill a small, shallow hole at each end of the crack and put a piece of eternabond tape on it.

Just my $.02: If it were mine, that's just what I would do; stop drill it and then cover it with a strip of 2" wide Eternabond. If the white Eternabond is too much of an eyesore to live with, it is paintable, I am told.

A marine repair facility that does fiberglass work could probably make it look like new, but it would likely crack again, adjacent to the crack you have now. In its current configuration, the piece is probably pretty much stress relieved and with Eternabond over it, it will be waterproof and functional for many years. I have used Eternabond in a couple of areas on my roof and after 3 years it looks pretty much like the day I applied it......using their cleaner and applying pressure with a roller as per their directions.

Good luck with the fix, whatever approach you take ........... and Happy Holidays.

marjoa · 12-20-2019, 08:28 AM

You can fix this yourself if you're not picky and don't care if it's not perfect.

After close examination of your good pics....from the top you can see that crooked crack going under your old self leveling Dicor. That old stuff needs to be scrapped off to see the extent of what's going on under there.

Now looking at the back, that crack continues in a straight line down (weird) and then I can't tell if it con't under that lens cap or not. If it doesn't go under the cap then there is where you can drill a shallow hole to prevent the crack from con't to run.

Then I'd get some 2" wide Eternabond like others said, and start from that lens cap area up over the lip and across that top seam. Then put some new self leveling Dicor over that.

Then as a final touch, tape everything off with some blue painters tape and some paper, go to Home Depot and find a can of enamel paint that best matches the color of what you have already and paint that small area that you can see from behind. It won't be perfect of course, but for a coach that's 16 years old that's what I'd do. It will fix the crack and it will be water proof.

I'd also scrape and redo the bottom of your ladder posts up there too while I was at it with the left over Dicor self leveling.

Total cost should be somewhere around $60 or so and a day's work. As someone already mentioned, when you lay down the Eternabond, be sure to use a roller to go back and forth over it to insure adhesion and it also activates to glue. Also at Home Depot.

Just as a side thought...is that black bracket you have mounted on your ladder for a flag pole or something? If so, if it were me, I'd stop using that which could be contributing to the flexing of that back cap ladder area and causing something like this to happen. I'd would at least want to eliminate that possibility of further damage.

Good luck my friend.

Ctrujillo45 · 12-20-2019, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marjoa

You can fix this yourself if you're not picky and don't care if it's not perfect.

After close examination of your good pics....from the top you can see that crooked crack going under your old self leveling Dicor. That old stuff needs to be scrapped off to see the extent of what's going on under there.

Now looking at the back, that crack continues in a straight line down (weird) and then I can't tell if it con't under that lens cap or not. If it doesn't go under the cap then there is where you can drill a shallow hole to prevent the crack from con't to run.

Then I'd get some 2" wide Eternabond like others said, and start from that lens cap area up over the lip and across that top seam. Then put some new self leveling Dicor over that.

Then as a final touch, tape everything off with some blue painters tape and some paper, go to Home Depot and find a can of enamel paint that best matches the color of what you have already and paint that small area that you can see from behind. It won't be perfect of course, but for a coach that's 16 years old that's what I'd do. It will fix the crack and it will be water proof.

I'd also scrape and redo the bottom of your ladder posts up there too while I was at it with the left over Dicor self leveling.

Total cost should be somewhere around $60 or so and a day's work. As someone already mentioned, when you lay down the Eternabond, be sure to use a roller to go back and forth over it to insure adhesion and it also activates to glue. Also at Home Depot.

Just as a side thought...is that black bracket you have mounted on your ladder for a flag pole or something? If so, if it were me, I'd stop using that which could be contributing to the flexing of that back cap ladder area and causing something like this to happen. I'd would at least want to eliminate that possibility of further damage.

Good luck my friend.

Thank you all for the very thorough and detailed reply. It is much appreciated. It sounds like I will need to pickup some Eternabond!