fading front cap on 2016 Crusader 5er

Every brand that has a darker colored gel coat front or rear cap has this problem. It's not just the Crusaders. Your warranty should cover it. The ONLY cure is to have it painted with base/clear coat automotive type paint. The problem is from a lack of UV protection in the gel-coat. If they try to appease you by buffing it out, I can promise you it will come back in a few months. Get it painted and be done with it...

B.O.

They had a problem with the brown caps are now using a off white one.

Wow. That seems like really cheap manufacturer workmanship. You think I should go thru my dealer and present this to them or contact the manufacturer? Hopefully I will not get the run-around and get it fixed....properly and permanently.

When manufacturers started using darker colored gel coat front caps it was not long before complaints started being posted about them fading from the top down, just like yours. As noted above, painting seems to be the only solution. Apparently some manufacturers are doing that as a warranty issue. And it is a problem across multiple manufacturers.

Go over here and read about all the other ones that have faded and what they've had done. Luckily you've had it show up while under warranty.
http://www.forestriverforums.com/forums/f210/my-crusader-has-the-dreaded-white-fade-cap-92762.html

So much for them(all manufactuers) having the problem fixed.I had our early model 2015 Chaparral repainted in November.The covered it under warranty.They told me it was because ours was a early 15 and it had a 14 nose cap.Hope all is well now and you can get yours done too.

As stated above, its the type of paint and coating the manufacturers are using. The ONLY solution is a repaint. You can buff, scrub, try everything, but it will not get better. It will only get worse.

My Outback is a little over 2 years old. Early last Summer (2015), noticed the front cap fading along the top, and blotchy round spots on the front. I tried about everything to buff and shine it out.

Took it to my dealer (for a different fix), and we talked about the cap. He said paint was the only fix. We delayed a repaint, but in October we had it done. Keystone ended up paying under warranty for the paint, but we paid for new graphics since there was nothing wrong with the graphics. The total bill was a bit much, but with Keystone covering the paint, it wasn't too bad.

Here's the before and after photos. We got the camper back on Oct 30, 2015 for the repaint. Last 2 photos are from our trip to Georgia and Florida over Christmas 2015. Cap shines real nice now.

Dealer told us the front cap paint will last longer than the camper now. (I hope he's right).

In the first 2 photos, a slight color shift distortion from the camera, it really not that gray, but it wasn't brown any more either.



The top of this was horrible rough. Felt like steel wool, even after trying to wax it out:



The day we brought it home after the repaint:




Trip to Florida in December: This was our stop in Georgia:



This was at Florida Caverns State Park, Christmas day .... NICE and shiny!



Repaint is the only solution.

Prime time painted ours after a year off warranty. Just like new now. Contact Rick in the warranty department at pt if the dealer won't help. And yes this an industry wide problem with the gel coat failing on brown and grey caps. Paint is the correct repair.

Dutch, that is very similar to the way mine is looking. I have faded areas and what looks like long streaks from maybe a roller during application of color. This is very disappointing for me. Yours looks great after the repaint. Did they give you a warranty on the repaint against future fading/discoloration?


Paul Clancy, thank you for that info. What should be my first order of business....contacting the dealer or Prime Time MFG?

The dreaded fading showed up in our '13 Arctic Fox about 14 mo. after we took delivery. Contacted the factory and was told to buff it & apply a UV wax. After 18 mo. it was obviously a gelcoat defect & required painting, so I asked if they were taking care of the problem. Nope, the paint cost is on me & no free decals either. Probably our first & last Northwood product.