Broken Skirt

[ldnail]

Can someone point me in the right direction for the part skirt part in the pictures.

Also has anyone devised a way to cinch this down while in transit?

[SeaDog]

You know that is a problem with most of the rigs that have slides, when you get the slide adjusted correctly like on my rig it looks like your. I would stop drill the crack and glue a thin doubler to the inside of the faring. I have no idea of how make it fit flush or fasten it to the rig. If you figure out something let the forum know.

[dieseldodge]

I would try putting a piece of aluminum behind the crack and pop rivet it in place. With white paint on the rivets they would almost disappear and the added aluminum would give things some badly needed support.

[ldnail]

Thanks for the feedback. I think I'll drill 2 stop holes then fill and paint them.

I'm thinking of the pop-rivet idea, but just running a riveting a velcro strap back from the bottom or side to the frame. Pic's when I get to it.

[Macdonald]

I had the same issue with my front slide catching wind. Before I realized that the braces had fallen off behind the skirt, the wind had broken off the plastic end cap and flexed the skirt to a point where the screw hole had enlarged and deformed the panel. I bought a new panel and both plastic end caps, built my braces and rebuilt the panel like new.




The bracing is really poor from the factory.

[ldnail]

Originally Posted by Macdonald

...built my braces and rebuilt the panel like new.

I was thinking about building new braces, but do you have a pic of the new braces you created & mounted?

[Macdonald]

Originally Posted by ldnail

I was thinking about building new braces, but do you have a pic of the new braces you created & mounted?

I will get a couple of pics this weekend. Home Depot had the aluminum I needed, but I will load a couple of pics from the underside when I get them. Definitely stronger than it was. FR uses a very thin gauge channel brace. I'm certain that it is engineered to do the job, but I feel more comfortable with my design. When returning to Dallas from Montana this past July, it's about a 2000 mile trip the way we go, so we experiences some 40 to 50 mph crosswinds while passing through Amarillo and met a major storm in Wyoming that produced severe winds and the snow. The roadway was covered just north of Casper for about 10 miles. And this was in July.

[Macdonald]

Originally Posted by Macdonald

I will get a couple of pics this weekend. Home Depot had the aluminum I needed, but I will load a couple of pics from the underside when I get them. Definitely stronger than it was. FR uses a very thin gauge channel brace. I'm certain that it is engineered to do the job, but I feel more comfortable with my design. When returning to Dallas from Montana this past July, it's about a 2000 mile trip the way we go, so we experiences some 40 to 50 mph crosswinds while passing through Amarillo and met a major storm in Wyoming that produced severe winds and the snow. The roadway was covered just north of Casper for about 10 miles. And this was in July.

I haven't forgotten! I will try to get pics of my braces soon. My daughter moved in and has piles her furniture around our trailer, in the shop. I'll move some stuff around and get the pics! LOL

[ldnail]

Originally Posted by Macdonald

I haven't forgotten!

No worries... life happens. My kids have moved back in a time or 2 as well.

[TitanMike]

Panels like this can also be made more rigid without punching any holes in them for braces.

Clean the back of the panel well and sand with some 80 grit paper to give a rough surface. Get a fiberglass repair kit that includes resin and some glass fabric. Apply a coat of the resin and then stick a piece of doweling on it, vertically. Can also use a hot glue gun to tack the ends to the bare surface before adding resin. With the resin in place lay the fiberglass on top of it and over the dowel to form a rib. More resin and more fabric.

The rib formed by the dowel and glass/resin will stiffen the panel and stop the flex that causes the cracks and often just pops out any fasteners on the end of bracing.

If you want a larger "rib", just take some cardboard and fold it in a "V" then lay up the fiberglass over it.

May be more work but it leaves no holes and in the end gives a more rigid panel than one that is merely braced at each end.

FWIW, the skirting on my slide has a rib like trim on both ends that keeps it from fluttering.

[5picker]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

Panels like this can also be made more rigid without punching any holes in them for braces.

Clean the back of the panel well and sand with some 80 grit paper to give a rough surface. Get a fiberglass repair kit that includes resin and some glass fabric. Apply a coat of the resin and then stick a piece of doweling on it, vertically. Can also use a hot glue gun to tack the ends to the bare surface before adding resin. With the resin in place lay the fiberglass on top of it and over the dowel to form a rib. More resin and more fabric.

The rib formed by the dowel and glass/resin will stiffen the panel and stop the flex that causes the cracks and often just pops out any fasteners on the end of bracing.

If you want a larger "rib", just take some cardboard and fold it in a "V" then lay up the fiberglass over it.

May be more work but it leaves no holes and in the end gives a more rigid panel than one that is merely braced at each end.

FWIW, the skirting on my slide has a rib like trim on both ends that keeps it from fluttering.

Good info Mike.

In addition, epoxies have come a long way too.
3M was in our facility and did a demo of gluing two pieces of metal together.
The joint was as strong as welding. They also did plastic to metal and the plastic broke before the glue joint did.

[wildcatter]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

Panels like this can also be made more rigid without punching any holes in them for braces.

Clean the back of the panel well and sand with some 80 grit paper to give a rough surface. Get a fiberglass repair kit that includes resin and some glass fabric. Apply a coat of the resin and then stick a piece of doweling on it, vertically. Can also use a hot glue gun to tack the ends to the bare surface before adding resin. With the resin in place lay the fiberglass on top of it and over the dowel to form a rib. More resin and more fabric.

The rib formed by the dowel and glass/resin will stiffen the panel and stop the flex that causes the cracks and often just pops out any fasteners on the end of bracing.

If you want a larger "rib", just take some cardboard and fold it in a "V" then lay up the fiberglass over it.

May be more work but it leaves no holes and in the end gives a more rigid panel than one that is merely braced at each end.

FWIW, the skirting on my slide has a rib like trim on both ends that keeps it from fluttering.

I would do what Titan suggested, I fixed mine with 5 minute epoxy and a thin piece of plastic I had laying around, sanded both the skirt and plastic, used a propane torch to heat the plastic and molded it to the contour of the skirt and clued it on. Traded the camper in approx. five years later still no issues.

[wildcatter]

Originally Posted by 5picker

Good info Mike.

In addition, epoxies have come a long way too.
3M was in our facility and did a demo of gluing two pieces of metal together.
The joint was as strong as welding. They also did plastic to metal and the plastic broke before the glue joint did.

X2, I have even used epoxy to modify dash and stereo face plates when changing car stereo's.

[ldnail]

Looks like I'll go the epoxy route... just gotta wait for the right weather.

[Macdonald]

Originally Posted by ldnail

No worries... life happens. My kids have moved back in a time or 2 as well.

[benchmarks]

Originally Posted by Macdonald

I had the same issue with my front slide catching wind. Before I realized that the braces had fallen off behind the skirt, the wind had broken off the plastic end cap and flexed the skirt to a point where the screw hole had enlarged and deformed the panel. I bought a new panel and both plastic end caps, built my braces and rebuilt the panel like new.









The bracing is really poor from the factory.

How did you reinforce it?

[benchmarks]

Originally Posted by Macdonald

I will get a couple of pics this weekend. Home Depot had the aluminum I needed, but I will load a couple of pics from the underside when I get them. Definitely stronger than it was. FR uses a very thin gauge channel brace. I'm certain that it is engineered to do the job, but I feel more comfortable with my design. When returning to Dallas from Montana this past July, it's about a 2000 mile trip the way we go, so we experiences some 40 to 50 mph crosswinds while passing through Amarillo and met a major storm in Wyoming that produced severe winds and the snow. The roadway was covered just north of Casper for about 10 miles. And this was in July.

Pics?

[Macdonald]

Originally Posted by benchmarks

Pics?

Pics above in this thread. I bought heavy duty aluminum bar stock at Home Depot and bent it in my vise to the desired angle. It's much sturdier that the flimsy original tin channel.