Slide-in pop-up camper roof damage buckeled

[sjz]

Hi I'm Steve, I'm new to the forum.
I am currently gearing up and getting back into doing some camping.. While inspecting my camper I found this new roof damage. I have no idea how this might have happened? The camper has been just sitting on saw horses for the last 15 years. I thought maybe it is due to thermal contraction over time. Does anyone know if this damage is repairable, and if so, how one might approach going about it?
I'm attaching a picture. Hopefully it shows up..

[sjz]

Originally Posted by sjz

Hi I'm Steve, I'm new to the forum.
I am currently gearing up and getting back into doing some camping.. While inspecting my camper I found this new roof damage. I have no idea how this might have happened? The camper has been just sitting on saw horses for the last 15 years. I thought maybe it is due to thermal contraction over time. Does anyone know if this damage is repairable, and if so, how one might approach going about it?
I'm attaching a picture. Hopefully it shows up..

UPDATE:
Nobody responded.. So I decided to just jump into the project. I'm sharing what I learned in case someone else may have the same issue.


Inside the pop-up support frame tubing there are Torsion bars to relieve the load when cranking up the top. The constant tension at the anchor plates that are lag bolted in place eventually twisted and tore completely through the top. It didn't help that there was no metal reinforcement in there, only wood. I will post some pictures of the repair. You can see the large 2 1/2 inch wide steel angle bracket I had to make for each side. I will post so more pictures of the finished project..

[Reverse_snowbird]

Looks like you are well on your way to having it ready for camping season. That's information that someone may use in the future. Thanks for sharing.

Welcome to the forum!

[sjz]

Originally Posted by sjz

UPDATE:
Nobody responded.. So I decided to just jump into the project. I'm sharing what I learned in case someone else may have the same issue.


Inside the pop-up support frame tubing there are Torsion bars to relieve the load when cranking up the top. The constant tension at the anchor plates that are lag bolted in place eventually twisted and tore completely through the top. It didn't help that there was no metal reinforcement in there, only wood. I will post some pictures of the repair. You can see the large 2 1/2 inch wide steel angle bracket I had to make for each side. I will post some more pictures of the finished project..

Finished the majority of the project. I plan to re-calk the corners and seams, then clean and re-coat the entire top with fiberglass RV roof coating.

[Virginian]

Nice looking repair! Well done! As stated above, thanks for posting, as it could well help someone else.

[5picker]

What a great post and a great job!
Thanks for sharing.
Enjoy your efforts and go camping!