Damage to side wall

Question

Hi, this is my first question in this forum.

We own a 1981 Class C (Ford Okanagan). Unfortunately we recently had a little run in with a gate that resulted in an approx. 10 in long tear in the side wall (and shattered our plan to store it in our back yard for the winter – neighbors built their garage to close to be able to back up straight through the gate). Only the metal is damaged, the insulation (?) underneath is intact. The siding is some sort of metal (not magnetic).

For now we’ve duct-taped a piece of shower curtain over it (I know, I know), but obviously it needs more permanent fixing. We don’t care so much about it looking perfect, but obviously want to avoid rust and water damage. We thought about using pliers the edges as flat as possible, sealing it (with what?) and placing a decal (decorative fake license plate) over it (best way to attach it?).
Or would a shop be able to attach (rivet?) a piece of siding over it? Do they even have stuff that would work, as the RV is so old?
Any input is greatly appreciated!

azrving · Answer

It's probably aluminum. I would use a piece of thin diamond plate aluminum or sheet metal Prime and paint the metal, screw it on and seal around the edges so water wont run in behind it. People recommend various things on here, Dicor non leveling, Quad seal at Home D, I think Proflex (?). Others will know.

iamichabod · Answer

I had a friend that did the same thing on his old RV and he got it as flat as he could cleaned it up with acetone and put a piece of eternabond over it, then a decal.

It never leaked and he was happy with it.

trackrig · Answer

Not to hijack the thread, but this reminded me of my brother's MH a long time ago. It was about a 32' Class A, maybe a Pace Arrow? He showed up one day with a bra on the front end of it. I didn't think too much about it until he showed me why. He'd lightly hit a moose with the front end that popped out onto the road. It was insured for liability, but nothing else.

After he looked it all over and found the damage to be mostly cosmetic, he priced what it would cost to repair it - that wasn't going to happen. So after much looking, he got the silhouette corrected and then just bought a bra to cover it. Much cheaper, looked fine, and everything was in working order.

He had a lot of fun when he went to sell it. Some people turned around and left immediately when he told them about it. Others that liked the very low price and couldn't tell the difference with the bra on, saw nothing wrong with it. He actually sold it for more that he originally asked.

Bill

gene_in_ne · Answer

Milkyway_06 wrote:....For now we’ve duct-taped a piece of shower curtain over it (I know, I know), but obviously it needs more permanent fixing. We don’t care so much about it looking perfect, but obviously want to avoid rust and water damage. We thought about using pliers the edges as flat as possible, sealing it (with what?) and placing a decal (decorative fake license plate) over it (best way to attach it?). Or would a shop be able to attach (rivet?) a piece of siding over it? Do they even have stuff that would work, as the RV is so old?Any input is greatly appreciated!As has been suggested, I would use some caulking in the cuts or tears.  Then cover the area with a register grill something like this -I would bet you already have something like that on the side of your RV for the furnace, refrigerator, stove vent, etc. :)

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Damage to side wall

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