I've noticed this crack just over a year ago, and probably should've dealt with it earlier, but it's grown since to about 3.5". I now keep it covered with blue tape which seals it nicely, but I believe it keep growing and the surface is slightly raised, so I assume some moisture has penetrated. I'm hoping someone can tell me a way to resolve this problem, and I'm probably not as concerned with post-repair looks as others might be. What should I do?

Possible frame failure underneath. Hopefully not. Is this crack up front in the vicinity of the pin box? (Lippert frame?)

That is more than just a gel-coat crack. It appears to be cracked all the way through. You need to find out why this happened, before deciding how to patch it. I'm sure many body shops could do a repair, or give you some advice in repairing.Jerry

To me, that looks like water intrusion that has frozen swelled and cracked the glass structure. Is there anyway to get to this area from the inside? just to see what is happening ?

This area is the corner of the bedroom slide, which is what you see in the picture. Sure, it's easy to get to the inside and I can say there is nothing adverse to report. I suspect if the outer layers were pealed back, you'd see minor water intrusion. I guess the thing to do is a procedure similar to removing skin cancer - start cutting until all the bad has been removed, then start re-building. My question is rebuilding the fiberglass portion.

An old aviation trick is to drill a hole in the fiberglas at the end of the crack to stop it from spreading. Just penetrate the fiberglas and then seal it until a permanent repair can be made...I agree with the freezing water theory.

Gel coat cracking | Good Sam Community

downtheroad
Explorer
Mar 02, 2017
Possible frame failure underneath. Hopefully not. Is this crack up front in the vicinity of the pin box? (Lippert frame?)
MFL
Nomad II
Mar 02, 2017
That is more than just a gel-coat crack. It appears to be cracked all the way through. You need to find out why this happened, before deciding how to patch it. I'm sure many body shops could do a repair, or give you some advice in repairing.

Jerry
Tom_Barb
Explorer
Mar 02, 2017
To me, that looks like water intrusion that has frozen swelled and cracked the glass structure.
Is there anyway to get to this area from the inside? just to see what is happening ?
mielock
Explorer
Mar 02, 2017
This area is the corner of the bedroom slide, which is what you see in the picture. Sure, it's easy to get to the inside and I can say there is nothing adverse to report. I suspect if the outer layers were pealed back, you'd see minor water intrusion. I guess the thing to do is a procedure similar to removing skin cancer - start cutting until all the bad has been removed, then start re-building. My question is rebuilding the fiberglass portion.
the_bear_II
Explorer
Mar 02, 2017
An old aviation trick is to drill a hole in the fiberglas at the end of the crack to stop it from spreading. Just penetrate the fiberglas and then seal it until a permanent repair can be made...I agree with the freezing water theory.
Hondavalk
Explorer II
Mar 02, 2017
looks like a stress crack that they typically use H molding to repair

http://www.crossroadsowners.com/forums/f25/what-is-this-10764.html
camp-n-family
Explorer
Mar 02, 2017
the bear II wrote:
An old aviation trick is to drill a hole in the fiberglas at the end of the crack to stop it from spreading. Just penetrate the fiberglas and then seal it until a permanent repair can be made...I agree with the freezing water theory.

This is what I was thinking too. I'd guess stress crack based on location at the corner of slide opening which may have worsened from water intrusion.
chesterb
Explorer
Mar 02, 2017
I've seen this type of cracking in other instances with slides. It is a weak point where the bottom of the bed slide is applying pressure against the bottom, and added movement in the bedroom will cause it start this process.
westend
Explorer
Mar 02, 2017
At the least, I'd drill the crack and sand/fill with resin. If you can get at the back of that panel, I'd also suggest to reinforce it. Resin/mat and a perforated steel piece would be a good reinforcement. If you can attach the steel to any frame member, things get a lot stronger, quickly.

Good luck with the repair!
Veebyes
Explorer II
Mar 02, 2017
Frame flex at best. Frame failure at worst. Not an uncommon fault.

The usual fix is to cut from BR corner, where it started, down to bottom of the overhang area & put in a spacer so that it can move. Fixing the crack without fixing the cause of the crack will only get the crack right back.

For crack repair carefully grind out just a little & use a very strong product like Marine Tex. Available in white.

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