Wheel well repair from tire

[txmike]

I had a blow out or whatever you want to call it. Thw tread departed the tire and did some damage. Looking for ideas ti repair area with out goimg to dealer. Pics of tire amd wheel well. I would like to pit a piece of plywood or metal umder the wheel well but not sure how to secure it to the frame on the inside and make it all water.tight

[rsdata]

If you can secure a good mechanical connection with plywood/metal whatever to the frame, you can do a pretty easy fiberglass job to make it water proof... youtube fiberglass repair to find out how...

did you have a TPMS in use when you had the blowout?

[txmike]

No i dont have tpms. Had checked preasure before trip and all were at 50psi. Believe pressure was same when picked up from dealer a year ago. The stocker and tire says 65 psi cold but thought the 50 may be ok based on dealer set up. Based on the below pic i thimk the tread separation was cause of a puncture from road debris but who know. its an almost clean break through the steel amd nylom belts.....?

[txmike]

Tires are castle rock st. 265-75-r15. Will likely go back with Carlisle or somethimg in LR E.

[rsdata]

did you have a TPMS in use when you had the blowout?

the reason I asked is how long did you drive on the blown tire, without knowing it was blown... i.e. stopping earlier because of a TPMS alert might have led to less damage???

just wondering...

[txmike]

Oh. I knew the instant it blew. Moved to shoulder as fast as i could safetly. With in probably 1/4 mile. I saw the tread come out the back of the trailer and started moving over to stop. I was going about 68 in the second to right lane

[txmike]

Damage is not really bad, insulation and poly cover in wheel well.

[HangDiver]

This has me thinking of preemptively shoring up under the wheel well.

[rsdata]

Like I said earlier, get familiar with working with fiberglass. It really is easy to work with. Get fiberglass mat or sheets and resin with hardener, cheap plastic throw-away cups to mix the resin, a couple of throw away small paint brushes and some latex gloves. Cut some sheets of fiberglass and spread them onto mixed hardener/resin coated underlay. They stick in place and will fill significant gaps. Fiberglass resin is very sticky when fresh and will harden solid in hours. Paint the resin onto the surface using a cheap paint brush covering the applied fiberglass sheet/mat repair. Let it harden. Put on more resin and build up another fiberglass layer to smooth and contour to your satisfaction. File/sand cured resin impregnated fiberglass to desired smoothness and contour. Then spray paint for a professional looking repair. Will dry solid and waterproof. Get fiberglass supplies at autobody supply for best selection of product. This should allow you to repair the damaged underside of your TT.

[txmike]

I read a thread where someone put an alluminum pannel.under there to protect any future tire issues. Dont think fiberglass will bond to steel bery good. Fiberglasss i know (used to do surfboard amd boat repair). Not the best to work with over head though (upside down).

[rsdata]

an aluminum panel would work... cut it, curve it, fit it and screw it down...

I would have to look at my wheel wells in the day light again... but I don't think there is a lot of steel up there, just camper floor and plastic wheel flares screwed onto the outside of the camper, but I have a hybrid

I think the fiberglass might work, maybe better with a sheet of aluminum under it... although I don't think I could reinforce/protect the wheel flares and prevent that from being damaged.

As a side note, I put protective wire loom over all the exposed brake wires and tied them up out of the way with nylon ties.

[Ida Ratherbe Camping]

I had same damage from blow out/ tread separation. I just used gorilla tape and sealed the hole in plastic.

Still haven't fixed fender skirt.

[jrowe0521]

I would get a sheet of galvanized steel from home center. spray paint wood to add future weather protection. trim off edges and add sheet metal with short screws. good luck

[palmetto rogue]

I stopped at the factory following similar damage. The factory gave me a sheet of abs plastic about 3/32" to 1/8" thick. Easy to use and very water proof after sealing.

[locogk]

I purchased some under belly tapr gorilla tape insulation and went to tow with my stapke gun

[Mstrshop1]

Had the same thing happen on a motor home looked almost identical
First I cut the hole out to a rectangle then put in 1X 1-1/2 spacer blocks to secure the new 1/4 inch plywood (yours may be a different thickness) then I replaces the insulation added new plywood cover with screws. Go to a mobil home repair parts store and they have the fiberglass material that will stick on to the wood.
I layered 2 layers of this over the wood for waterproofing. In my situation there was a 1" steel angle on each side of hole under wood, I cut a 1/8 inch aluminum sheet to completely cover the wheel well. Then I held this up with 3/4 metal angle. This angle was screwed into the 1" angle on sides and into the aluminum
sheet on top. just to make everything even I added the same piece to the other side to avoid damage if I have another blow-out
It is doable without dealer just takes time
Good Luck

[OldCoot]

If you have the tools, buy a dual fender from Northern Tool and rework it to fit and then caulk all the edges.

[MOD Guy]

Had to do this on our Hybrid back on 2005. I filled the void area with spray insulation foam, shaved it flat, and covered with aluminum. Sealed under and edges, screwed to foam and other wood area. I also had to replace the wheel well metal at the same time (ordered that pre-formed from Starcraft).

[CaptnJohn]

Sidewall says 65 and tires ran underinflated and ran hot. Only 1 failed??? So far!

[rvnomads1974]

You don't get a TPMS to tell you have a blowout. You get the TPMS to PREVENT the blowout. It tells you the tire pressure and and temperature for each tire in a visual display. It alarms you when a tire gets too hot or pressure builds BEFORE the blowout.

The TPMS is great peace of mind and less expensive than the repairs you'll face after the blowout.