To what extent can fiberglass be repaired?

[dirt33]

Today, the fiberglass seems to have "popped back out" into its normal shape a bit. Last night, the front cap had quite an indentation in it, making it very easy to notice from any angle and distance. Currently the piece has formed back much more closely to its original shape, such that only the large cracks make the damage "stick out". The metal frame around the generator absorbed the blow, and did sustain very slight bending on the very front square tube.

Just two days before I left on this current trip, I spent some time under there re-attaching the fog lights that were pulling loose from the glue, and had purchased a new head light to replace one that is foggy. Both headlight assemblies are now busted loose from the glue that held them in. So, I can say that I am glad I will not be the one that has to "re-do" the glue job on all of that (again).

Dav L, very good info, thank you for the detailed info. You're hired!!!

iowaone, how long did your repair at Alliance/Lazy Days take?

Lt Dan, thank you for the company info. Also, love your photo. We have two Boston Terriers as well. Great dogs.

bgholson, thank you. Glad to know there are some places close. I figure I should be able to find several places locally that can do this work.

Bahamaniac, thanks for the info. I will certainly examine the potential companies/reviews very closely. No jerky, I didn't stick around long.... just drove away with a sick feeling.

firedoc, good to know, thank you.

UFO Pilot, thank you.

Joree, I will plan to do so.

[Excesses]

Originally Posted by dirt33

Hit a deer last night. Upon looking at the damage, my immediate thought was, "oh boy, finding a front cap for a 2005 unit will be fun......" A truck driver that stopped seemed to think that there may be shops that would look to repair this damage as opposed to outright replacement. I know nothing at all about fiberglass, and the extent to which it can be repaired. Curious to know what others may think. Photos below. Thank you.

We had a boo boo with our rig. Our son-in-law law recommended a repair shop that does repairs to the boats for his company. Turns out they were a trucking body shop that did fibreglass repairs on semi trucks. Did a great job. They also have the repair shops that can accommodate the size of an RV.

Cheers🍷

DJ

[tmcgowan]

I backed into a bush with thick branches and punched some holes in our brand new rig. Boy was I an unhappy camper.

Brought it in to General RV and they did a terrific job in both the fiberglass work as well as matching the paint!

[iowaone]

Originally Posted by CountryB

How bad was the damage? Do you have a "before" repair photo?

I'm curious because my coach is at Alliance/Lazy-Days now for a repair (which I guessed would be around $3K. And I thought I was guessing high.

However they are saying the repairs are more like $15K to $19K. The bottom of compartment panels (both in front of drive axle) are damaged and the compartment after the tag axle wont open (but no physical damage to panel). This is from scraping a bolder in NC mountains.

I suppose my estimating skills leave a lot to be desired, but wow that's a lot. Are they jacking up costs when Insurance Co is paying?

I don’t know about jacking up costs, but my insurance company, State Farm, didn’t blink and paid without questions.

[AbdRahim]

I would check with a reputable RV dealer and see where they Sen. their body work. A good RV repair place can get it essentially perfect again.

[TajMahal]

Anybody that's good with repairing glass can repair that, think about all that work on corvettes and they're fiberglass. Good Luck

[Dav L]

Any decent body shop can do this work. Fiberglass is the easiest part of the repair. About 30 minutes of work. The work / time is in sanding and body plastic which is same on metal or fiberglass repair.

Depending on what the access looks like, the fiberglass might be removed from the metal superstructure behind so that the cracks are easily accessible to put the fiberglass mat on the backside (which will be the strength of the repair).

I just glassed my Durango (steel body) to repair some rust damage. And made some new sheet metal body parts for other spots. The glass is used when there is a compound curve to the body that isn't easy to reproduce in metal (unless one has an English wheel which takes some real finesse and time). Every body shop has these skills. Every day stuff.

Just saying that because folks that have little background in the subject want to make it out like its specialty mysterious work that only a few primadonnas can accomplish. That point of view will only make the OP pay multiples of what should be paid for the basic repair this is.

The paint work is the most experience needed and that's the case no matter what one is painting.

It really doesn't make any difference to the repair that it "popped back". The metal cross bar probably just needs to be coaxed back with a "porta-power" hydraulic ram. That's step 1 in the repair usually before the bumper skin gets removed.

[iowaone]

Repair took 2 1/2 weeks

[Dav L]

Originally Posted by iowaone

Repair took 2 1/2 weeks

Haven't seen what yours looked like but 2 1/2 weeks, I'll bet 3/4 of that time was waiting for someone to work on it.
You can do a LOT of work in 2 1/2 weeks. I completely rebuilt a salvage RV in a month. That's when one is concentrating on one repair.
$16K is a lot of body work.
Post a Before pic just for curiosity.

[Cudntherd]

I ran over a Gasoline Power Washer on Highway 75 north of Denison, Tx. About $10,000 in damage. 2011 Berkshire
I had Coach Specialist in Mansfield, Tx. do the repair. The locatiom is almost in Arlington on Highway 157. They did and excellent job and handle all of the Insurance estimate and payments.
Contact is Joe Clark 817-842-1144

[iowaone]

Originally Posted by CountryB

How bad was the damage? Do you have a "before" repair photo?

I'm curious because my coach is at Alliance/Lazy-Days now for a repair (which I guessed would be around $3K. And I thought I was guessing high.

However they are saying the repairs are more like $15K to $19K. The bottom of compartment panels (both in front of drive axle) are damaged and the compartment after the tag axle wont open (but no physical damage to panel). This is from scraping a bolder in NC mountains.

I suppose my estimating skills leave a lot to be desired, but wow that's a lot. Are they jacking up costs when Insurance Co is paying?

[iowaone]

Originally Posted by iowaone

Attachment 263751

They repaired and repainted the hood for generator too.

[Dav L]

iowaone - is that the complete damage? That is trivial if it is.
Drive it to Michigan...I'll do it 1/2 price

[153stars]

Recently someone posted and managed to remold most of a front end of a DP themselves. I was highly impressed.. As a young man at body shop ,we repaired weekly a Doctors rooky year " no race experience At all" late model stock car. Bobby Allison's previous years short track car. Let me tell you it was freaking fast. And wrecked weekly must of had 50lbs. extra glass and paint on it LOL.
A lot of the glass will go back in place after grinding out the folds and relieve that stress. As well as unbolting it from any bent metal. Not the same process but they make archery bows out of fiberglass so its springy.
I would insist on chemical hardend primers over repairs and under paint coat.