Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 06-07-2013, 11:12 AM   #1
Senior Member
 
DF5.4's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Hilton NY
Posts: 343
Skirts Cracking

After Memorial day I noticed that the fender skirt on the back side (non door side) is getting cracks around the fastener today I noticed that there are cracks on the door side fender skirt. Has anyone else had this? The dealer is saying that it will be a couple hundered dollars just to get the fender skirts!

RVGuy, is there anything Prime Time can do?

__________________
Doug

2011 Prime Time Tracer 3000BHS
2007 Ford Expedition
Reese Dual Cam HP Hitch
Nights Camped 2015-5 in TT
DF5.4 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-07-2013, 01:29 PM   #2
Senior Member
 
zs325RES's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Byron Center, MI
Posts: 430
Just looking at this makes me think that the fender skirts are 'flapping in the breeze' when you are towing. It looks like fatigue at the mounting points. Perhaps you can reinforce from the backside?
__________________
2020 SOB - Jayco North Point 387RDFS
2013 Crusader 325RES Touring Edition - SOLD
TV: 2018 GMC Sierra Denali HD CC SRW L5P Duramax
Curt Q20

zs325RES is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-07-2013, 01:43 PM   #3
Site Team
 
KyDan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Louisville, KY
Posts: 10,518
Mine cracked top to bottom right over the thinnest part, over the tire.
I ordered a replacement and it cracked less than a year later.
I patched them from the back with copper flashing and pop rivets.
Looks OK from a casual glance.
I bet there are a lot of them cracked out there!

Yours do look like they might be flapping as suggested.
How to beef that up and stop it, I donno!
__________________
Peace!
Dan & Rita D
2017 Nissan Titan 5.6L King cab 4wd
2016 Evergreen Everlite 242RBS
29' empty nest model. Blue Ox WD hitch
(1 queen bed, large main cabin and huge bathroom)
Camping days 2010-53, 2011-47, 2012-41, 2013-41, 2014-31, 2015-40, 2016-44, 2017-63, 2018-75, 2019-32, 2020-41, 2021-49, 2022-43, 2023-66
KyDan is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 06-07-2013, 03:23 PM   #4
Mod free 5er
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Concord, NC
Posts: 24,702
Can be done with a small metal brace from the center of the flap down to the frame at an angle or from the bottom center of the skirt up at about a 45° angle to the top of the fender well. Doesn't take much and will stop it from getting any worse.
__________________
OldCoot is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-07-2013, 03:57 PM   #5
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Orange Texas
Posts: 790
Send a message via MSN to Tiggerdad
Agree with Old Coot. I added a bent flat bar brace to one side of mine the other day because I saw it flexing while on the road. Previous rig cracked at the screw holes. Used J B Weld to reinforce from the back and redrilled the holes.
__________________

2013 Crusader 330 MKS
2013 Chevrolet Silverado LT 2500 D/A
Tiggerdad is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-07-2013, 08:53 PM   #6
Senior Member
 
DF5.4's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Hilton NY
Posts: 343
That's what I plan to do.
__________________
Doug

2011 Prime Time Tracer 3000BHS
2007 Ford Expedition
Reese Dual Cam HP Hitch
Nights Camped 2015-5 in TT
DF5.4 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-18-2013, 07:49 PM   #7
Senior Member
 
DF5.4's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Hilton NY
Posts: 343
Finally got my fix done.

fixed the cracks with epoxy


Picked up some 1/16"x3/4" aluminum angle


Attached it to the back with pop rivets and the center mounting screw will hold it.


You can see the pop rivets in this one.


I trimmed the top to clear the body of the camper.


Here it is put back together.


I added washers to the mounting screws to spread out the force and hand tightened all of them. I also picked up some caulk cord from Lowes to put around all the screws between the skirt and camper.

This definitely stiffened up the skirt and will reduce the flexing when traveling.
__________________
Doug

2011 Prime Time Tracer 3000BHS
2007 Ford Expedition
Reese Dual Cam HP Hitch
Nights Camped 2015-5 in TT
DF5.4 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-27-2013, 09:23 PM   #8
Member
 
Medic44's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: SW Missouri
Posts: 33
Quote:
Originally Posted by DF5.4 View Post
After Memorial day I noticed that the fender skirt on the back side (non door side) is getting cracks around the fastener today I noticed that there are cracks on the door side fender skirt. Has anyone else had this? The dealer is saying that it will be a couple hundered dollars just to get the fender skirts!

RVGuy, is there anything Prime Time can do?

Just checked ours and Yep on the door side ours has a small crack, go figure! Better finding it now versus after it came off driving down the hwy.
__________________
Tom & Shawna, (Joey, Chelsea)
2011 Crusader 320RLT
Medic44 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-27-2013, 09:57 PM   #9
Site Team
 
Platokidd's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: top side land of Lincoln
Posts: 7,509
Quote:
Originally Posted by DF5.4 View Post
Finally got my fix done.

fixed the cracks with epoxy


Picked up some 1/16"x3/4" aluminum angle


Attached it to the back with pop rivets and the center mounting screw will hold it.


You can see the pop rivets in this one.


I trimmed the top to clear the body of the camper.


Here it is put back together.


I added washers to the mounting screws to spread out the force and hand tightened all of them. I also picked up some caulk cord from Lowes to put around all the screws between the skirt and camper.

This definitely stiffened up the skirt and will reduce the flexing when traveling.
Nice work could be my future project ! thanks for doing the engineering for me
__________________
2014 LaCrosse 323RST-TE-C
2009 Chevy 2500HD Z71
Seasonal

Zelda the campin dog
Platokidd is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-27-2013, 10:22 PM   #10
Senior Member
 
DF5.4's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Hilton NY
Posts: 343
Try that
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	image-2562575793.jpg
Views:	248
Size:	49.5 KB
ID:	38779  
__________________
Doug

2011 Prime Time Tracer 3000BHS
2007 Ford Expedition
Reese Dual Cam HP Hitch
Nights Camped 2015-5 in TT
DF5.4 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-27-2013, 10:26 PM   #11
Site Team
 
Platokidd's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: top side land of Lincoln
Posts: 7,509
ah yes stress cracks, dont have them yet but i will be keeping a eye on them
__________________
2014 LaCrosse 323RST-TE-C
2009 Chevy 2500HD Z71
Seasonal

Zelda the campin dog
Platokidd is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-06-2013, 06:44 PM   #12
Senior Member
 
DF5.4's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Hilton NY
Posts: 343
Labor Day was the first run with the new braces. They worked exactly as planned.
__________________
Doug

2011 Prime Time Tracer 3000BHS
2007 Ford Expedition
Reese Dual Cam HP Hitch
Nights Camped 2015-5 in TT
DF5.4 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-06-2013, 06:52 PM   #13
B47
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Keller, Texas
Posts: 6,090
Just saw this thread, but we noticed that while pulling our 2012 Silverback 29rk FW at highway speed, that the left shirt behind the most rear axle was flapping a bit more than what we thought was normal.

The dealer installed what he called a "j bar " reinforcement "kit" on both sides and that stopped the flapping - don't know if it is a FR supplied kit/fix or not, but the dealer knew of he problem as they had seen it before.
B47 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-06-2013, 07:13 PM   #14
Member
 
NKARENG's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 65
Ours were cracking on our Puma and a friend of ours used Fiberglass to reinforce the screw holes and surrounding area. Sturdier than when they were new. He did a great job.
__________________
2016 Freedom Express 281rlds
2013 Flagstaff Micro Lite 25DS
2014 Dodge Ram 1500
Days Camped 2015 - 20
Days Camped 2016 - 12
��
NKARENG is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-26-2014, 10:03 PM   #15
Junior Member
 
dgiturbo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Woodstock, IL
Posts: 28
Add me to the list. Both of mine are cracked at the screws and one is almost falling off. Poor design. Prime Time said nothing they can do because I am out of warranty.
Bought new ones from them through the dealer, so now I have to do what DF5.4 did and add the braces.
__________________
2013 Tracer 230FBS - Traded for
2015 Crusader 335BHS Yeah baby..
dgiturbo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-28-2014, 12:08 PM   #16
Senior Member
 
DKRITTER's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Haslet Texas
Posts: 774
We bought a 14 closeout a couple of months ago and found one on our PDI the dealer was great and swapped it out for a new one before we left.
DKRITTER is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-28-2014, 12:52 PM   #17
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Venice, FL Area
Posts: 357
The skirt part number for a 325 res is #10F08496A, price 69.99 plus shipping. PT will not sell direct, can buy from any Forest River dealer, does not have to be a PT dealer. Just give them the VIN # of the RV. Using fiberglass on the back sounds like the way to go. Will try that next week.
__________________
18 Berkshire 34QS, 2023 Jeep Grand Cherokee.

btritschler1437 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Forest River, Inc. or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 09:24 AM.