2017 Dutch Star 4369 - Radiator Shroud Broken

[Tobias7000]

Originally Posted by Tobias7000

Noticed mine vibrating loose the other day. Will see how I can repair before completely broken. Fresh tape and drill a new hole for a bolt, washers, and nut?

Turns out nothing is broken. Only the double sided tape has come loose. I cleaned the shroud and radiator frame with a damp cloth and reapplied about 7x more tape than they used originally. This stuff is super sticky, thick, and I hope it holds for a while.

[LK23]

Tobias,

I hope you don't mind, I reposted your photo after rotating it 180 degrees. This is the best photo of the backside of the radiator shroud. You can see a slight edge of the double stick tape adhering the plastic to the underside of the radiator.

I wonder if a strip of Eternabond tape along that edge would hold better than the double stick tape.

Rex

[Tobias7000]

Originally Posted by LK23

Tobias,

I hope you don't mind, I reposted your photo after rotating it 180 degrees. This is the best photo of the backside of the radiator shroud. You can see a slight edge of the double stick tape adhering the plastic to the underside of the radiator.

I wonder if a strip of Eternabond tape along that edge would hold better than the double stick tape.

Rex

LK23, Thankyou! Here is an image of the tape. It is super tough... much like Eternabond but I think different stuff. One peels off the red plastic and once this stuff sticks, it seems to form a bond that is very difficult to break.

Thanks for fixing the photo to be right side up! Strange, once I uploaded this photo, it turned on its side as well. I am apparently unaware of how to change orientation once uploaded. Thanks again.

Toby

[Winepress]

Originally Posted by Tobias7000

LK23, Thankyou! Here is an image of the tape. It is super tough... much like Eternabond but I think different stuff. One peels off the red plastic and once this stuff sticks, it seems to form a bond that is very difficult to break.



Thanks for fixing the photo to be right side up! Strange, once I uploaded this photo, it turned on its side as well. I am apparently unaware of how to change orientation once uploaded. Thanks again.



Toby

The material is VHB from 3M. I had a project where this material was specifically called for. The material is very durable and works well in harsh environments. I'm not sure this is the material that Newmar is using. Goes without saying that both sides must be clean for assembly. If it were me, this is the tape I would be using to reassemble this part.

http://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-u...94857497&rt=r3

[Ricci]

Hi - I don't mean to be a killjoy but might that be a bit of overkill. I watched some of the videos of this material. While excellent it would appear to be a real challenge to remove it without damaging the plastic part, should that be necessary. Could be replacing one issue with another. I'd think that if Newmar thought the plastic panel was a permanent fixture they would have used something more robust. Just a thought.
Tom

[Tobias7000]

My educated guess: the plastic panel is a rock guard to protect radiator fins. So unless the radiator is being replaced, the panel should be just as permanent. Guess I'm "stuck with the decision" I made to use this tape[emoji56]

[Tobias7000]

Originally Posted by Winepress

The material is VHB from 3M. I had a project where this material was specifically called for. The material is very durable and works well in harsh environments. I'm not sure this is the material that Newmar is using. Goes without saying that both sides must be clean for assembly. If it were me, this is the tape I would be using to reassemble this part.

http://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-u...94857497&rt=r3

Agreed. One point to add: I did leave gaps in the tape so water could drain.

[ftharrisiii]

I checked my 2016 DSDP 4369 and also found that the double sided tape had failed and that the shroud was flapping around and vibrating noticeably and looked close to breaking.

I removed the old tape and cleaned the shroud and radiator and installed new heavy duty outdoor double sided tape similar to the 3M product listed above.

I also found that a 3/4" Unistrut pipe clamp (Superstrut Cat No:Z703 3/4EG at Lowes for $1.74) has the same offset as the radiator base frame. I installed 3 along the length of the radiator base and secured with a bolt, fender washer and locknut. See photo.

For me, this is a backup in case the tape fails again while I am on the road. I'll be checking this frequently.

Tom

[LK23]

Tom,

Did you have to drill holes for the bolts or use existing bolts?

[ftharrisiii]

LK23,

I only drilled holes in the plastic shroud. There are no existing bolts in this area.

I actually put double sided tape on the back of the pipe clamps and put them in place before I drilled the holes. Once you open the hinged louver to access the radiator, there is plenty of room to get a drill in there.

Since the shroud is plastic, I may need to add additional reinforcing at the bolts or add more brackets. I'm going to keep an eye on it for the next few weeks to see how everything holds up. However, right now with the new tape and the brackets, the shroud is solid and does not move at all.

Tom

[LK23]

Tom,

That is a great idea — now that I understand how you attached the bolts. I will work that into my fix.

I am waiting on the new part to be delivered this week.

Rex

[LK23]

Tom,

In what Lowes department did you find the clamps? Plumbing?

Rex

[tyoneonit]

Just checked mine. Four months old...

[tyoneonit]

Thanks for posting. Just checked my 4 month old DS 4369. Same problem.