Crack clear coat/full body paint on 2011 3171 DS

[SNB]

Well, pulling the 3171DS out for spring break, the enter passenger side of our nice full body paint job is cracked. Attached is just a simple example where you can see the cracks between the window and door. Some cracks are really long, others are shorter. Some of the cracks are on the darker paint areas and not in the lighter paint -- almost like a temperature difference caused the cracking.

Any thoughts on what's going on here? Any thoughts on how to get it fixed up? Camper is well past it's 12 month warranty, but now I'm stuck with 32' of a cracked paint job.

Thanks in advance for any help, -SNB

[Witch Doctor]

Can't really tell from the photo, I could see you taking the picture that's about it. Maybe turn the flash off or take from a different angle. At least I can not see them.

[DAISY BOYKIN]

Appears to be stress cracks in the gel-coat. (Glenn, get yo eyes examined) .Looks like a job for repair at the rally in August.

[Witch Doctor]

Originally Posted by DAISY BOYKIN

Appears to be stress cracks in the gel-coat. (Glenn, get yo eyes examined) .Looks like a job for repair at the rally in August.

How much RUM did you drink?...... How is he getting stress cracks setting in storage, something else is going on with the paint itself. What ever it is it should not have happened. My advice is to take it to a body shop and ask them what could have caused it. At Least that would be a starting point to figure it out. I know I would be pissed off if was mine and they showed up from nowhere sitting in storage. Then I would be on the phone to FR themselves and he would have an idea of how to go about getting it corrected. Even if I had to pay a body shop for a reason and repair cost for the inspection. Also get then to write something down then you would have a case to present. You were in the Navy (sorry about that) but it boils down to the Navy saying CYA.

[DAISY BOYKIN]

Maybe de-lamination in the wall between the window and the door is causing the wall to swell from water intrusion during storage.
For a 2011 model, the gel coat should not be cracking as it shows in the photo. It is still something that I would submit a work order and attend the rally in August for the factory to handle.

At least I drink great Rum

[MillerTime]

Yes those are "spider webbing" or stress cracks. Much like when a plastic bumper on a car is hit in and then flexes back out. The high spots of the area will push out word and crack the outer layer.
Usually these outward cracks will form as a result of pressure from other places. If this area is in the raised up portion of a fifth wheel (the area above the pinbox) I would bet that there was some side contact of the body to the truck body. This type of cracking doesnt happen with out being provoked, or back side materials shrinking. Of course if it is spongy behind the cracks than this is a delam bubble that has cracked from the pressure. But the delam could be from contact of the body or possibly moisture expanding in the body. (Like water freezing and pushing out, or water swelling underlying wood supports). You may check for leaks around your windows.

Here are a couple of rather extreme stress crack pictures. This is from the bumper being hit in a different area and the area that "pooched up" was the area that spider webbed out.


MillerTime- Future Sabre Handler!!

[SNB]

Two updates:

1) I brought it by a local painter who does repair work for the local RV stores. He looked at it and said it was _not_ the type of cracking he's seen before and suspects it may go all the way through to the gelcoat. He didn't do any invasive inspection, but it said in general the paint/clear coating looked to be done well and was sort of surprised at what the cracking looked like. He suggested contacting FR. He did say he he'd fix it, he'd likely plan on sanding it all off and starting from scratch -- $8k-$10k. Yikes.

2) I'll post some more pictures later today, but the cracking is on almost all areas of this one side of the MH except for the Ford chassis door and fenders. It is interesting that it is on the house door, the slide out, and the main body -- so not just stress in one area. The only part it didn't appear on was the painted refrigerator bottom vent -- I'd suspect since that was plastic and not fiberglass.

Thanks so far for the feedback, I definitely need to get in touch with FR next week. -SNB

[Witch Doctor]

Originally Posted by SNB

Two updates:

1) I brought it by a local painter who does repair work for the local RV stores. He looked at it and said it was _not_ the type of cracking he's seen before and suspects it may go all the way through to the gelcoat. He didn't do any invasive inspection, but it said in general the paint/clear coating looked to be done well and was sort of surprised at what the cracking looked like. He suggested contacting FR. He did say he he'd fix it, he'd likely plan on sanding it all off and starting from scratch -- $8k-$10k. Yikes.

2) I'll post some more pictures later today, but the cracking is on almost all areas of this one side of the MH except for the Ford chassis door and fenders. It is interesting that it is on the house door, the slide out, and the main body -- so not just stress in one area. The only part it didn't appear on was the painted refrigerator bottom vent -- I'd suspect since that was plastic and not fiberglass.

Thanks so far for the feedback, I definitely need to get in touch with FR next week. -SNB

So Sorry to hear that from you, you are doing it the right way. Now you can definitely talk with FR. Lets hope they are going to stand up and get counted, they have been so far on most stuff. Keep us informed. And once again sorry that this has happened to you, It can ruin your day. GOOD LUCK and get pushy if you have to........

[ATVer]

I would guess thermal heat stress. Was it stored such that the sun could get to one side? Not sure where you are located but the winter sun can rapidly and significantly change surface temperatures. White unpainted bodies do not heat up like painted ones so it puts more stress on the fiberglass. I once looked at a Corvette which had cracking like that on one side only. Turns out it was garaged under a lean-to like structure but the afternoon sun got to and beat on the one side.

[MillerTime]

Originally Posted by ATVer

I would guess thermal heat stress. Was it stored such that the sun could get to one side? Not sure where you are located but the winter sun can rapidly and significantly change surface temperatures. White unpainted bodies do not heat up like painted ones so it puts more stress on the fiberglass. I once looked at a Corvette which had cracking like that on one side only. Turns out it was garaged under a lean-to like structure but the afternoon sun got to and beat on the one side.

Age has alot to do with what your describing. A 2011 won't have these issues for some time.
I've worked on a few vettes over the years ( look on some of my older posts and profile) and have only seen cracks like this from stress (collision or floor jack) old fiberglass-like 30-40 years old will sometimes have some strand seperation and Uv age damage.

OP I would suggest you take your mh to a RV collision repair center. A nornal dealer doesn't have experiance or knowledge about how to handle stess cracks, frame flex or any kind of real body repair. This sort of damage requires a whole different perspective and knowledge of vehiclular geometry that very few individuals understand or can fixure out a corrective repair plan.
Sorry about your troubles.

MillerTime- Future Sabre Handler!!

[BigJohnD]

Not the first Forester / Sunseeker to have this happen.

[ATVer]

Originally Posted by MillerTime

Age has alot to do with what your describing. A 2011 won't have these issues for some time.
I've worked on a few vettes over the years ( look on some of my older posts and profile) and have only seen cracks like this from stress (collision or floor jack) old fiberglass-like 30-40 years old will sometimes have some strand seperation and Uv age damage.

OP I would suggest you take your mh to a RV collision repair center. A nornal dealer doesn't have experiance or knowledge about how to handle stess cracks, frame flex or any kind of real body repair. This sort of damage requires a whole different perspective and knowledge of vehiclular geometry that very few individuals understand or can fixure out a corrective repair plan.
Sorry about your troubles.

MillerTime- Future Sabre Handler!!

Agreed aged fiberglass is normally where one would see this. I toured the factory and FR makes their own wall panels and slides. If something went wrong with the curing process you might have a problem with these but since the door also has issues, which is a vendor supplied piece, I still think the problem is environmental related. Since the cracks are more prevalent on the darker paint which gets heated by the sun more it also points to an environmental issue. I don't think it is a chassis twist or flex related since it is not on both sides and the slide and door would not likely be effected.

You are correct that lasting repairs for this kind of issue takes special experience and knowledge after the root cause has been determined and remedied.

This got me to check my 2012 which fortunately does not have any cracks anywhere I could see. It is however stored inside a steel building but for the first few months it was outside. In the morning as the sun came on one side I could hear the coach creaking and crackling as the one side heated up. I could also feel the temp difference not only between the sides but also between the light and dark paint. I assume they put flex agents in the paint like you do on flexible car bumpers to handle the expansion differences.

[SNB]

Attached are a few more pictures. In general, it seems like the darker paints have more cracks in them -- maybe because they absorbed more heat, not exactly sure. I'll see what FR says.

[MillerTime]

Looks like they are from side wall flexing or deflection. Usually if paint "checks" or cracks from heat the cracks are much much smaller. If given a chance, look at a darker colored Honda car that is 5-8 years old (if you live in a warmer climate). For some reason Hondas darker colors "check" more than any other manufacture I've seen. This use to be more common back in the days of lacquer paint, because it never actually cured, so as it dryed out it shrunk and started cracking.
But that looks completely different than OP's cracks.
Hopefully you can figure something out soon!

MillerTime- Future Sabre Handler!!

[bgilly]

SNB, I can't offer much help on your gel-coat issue but I would like to have more information about your unit. How do you keep it stored? Is it in an enclosed building or under a fabric type cover or covered at all? What area are you in - extreme cold temps or fairly consistent?
I have a hard time telling if it is the paint that has the spider crack or if it indeed is into the gel-coat.
I am still awaiting the repair on the side wall crack at the living room slide opening on my 3171.
This is my first full body paint RV and on previous RV's I had experienced delamination and oxidation. I was hoping the full body paint and gel-coat wall would virtually eliminate all exterior material problems (less the scratching of the paint work).

Bobby

[SNB]

Originally Posted by bgilly

SNB, I can't offer much help on your gel-coat issue but I would like to have more information about your unit. How do you keep it stored? Is it in an enclosed building or under a fabric type cover or covered at all? What area are you in - extreme cold temps or fairly consistent?
I have a hard time telling if it is the paint that has the spider crack or if it indeed is into the gel-coat.
I am still awaiting the repair on the side wall crack at the living room slide opening on my 3171.
This is my first full body paint RV and on previous RV's I had experienced delamination and oxidation. I was hoping the full body paint and gel-coat wall would virtually eliminate all exterior material problems (less the scratching of the paint work).

Bobby

Two winters it was stored inside. Last winter, it was stored outside here in Montana, so we did get cold as most of the country did.

The irony is that I now have a 30' RV garage at the new house we moved into last summer. It is 2' too short for the 3171DS. We decided to store it outside last winter to save a little money to be able to afford extending the garage to fit it... So, next winter it will be back inside since getting the garage extending is now a priority...

[AprilFool]

Is it possible that this would be caused by the weight of snow load on the roof?