Forum Discussion

wvmtb's avatar
wvmtb
Explorer
May 30, 2017

Body Repair....

Had a little accident with my TT the other day. Wondering if any of you have been in this situation and what and how you got it fixed.

I was in a hurry to get out and enjoy the weekend and when I was heading out of my driveway I tagged the overhang of my house with the corner of the camper. It damaged the front top corner of the camper. I loaded it up with silicone, plastic & tape to it to keep it from leaking. But it needs repaired correctly. I called my local RV store and they were pretty much useless in helping in getting it repaired. They said only place that could fix it is 2 states away. I was really surprised that they couldn't fix it at their shop. I called another place that's a good distance away from me and they said they could fix it but since I'm so far from them they recommended me just finding a good auto body shop to do the repair. My TT is a fiberglass body.

Is it typical to have an autobody shop do these type of repairs?
  • wvmtb's avatar
    wvmtb
    Explorer
    Jun 05, 2017
    Found a body shop that can fix it. They cant duplicate the "rough" finish. But once he patches it they will pait or decal over it and "make it look good".
  • wvmtb's avatar
    wvmtb
    Explorer
    May 31, 2017
    Thanks for the info. I'll be sure to tell the repair man everything I know.
  • valhalla360's avatar
    valhalla360
    Navigator
    May 30, 2017
    wvmtb wrote:
    valhalla360 wrote:
    When you say tagged a corner...is that the side wall or the fiberglass end cap.

    If it's the end cap, a fiberglass boat guy should be able to make a repair that is invisible to the eye.

    If the side wall or the roof is involved, not sure they would want to get involved. While the side walls are sort of fiberglass, they are different.

    FYI - While I understand the response, silicone slopped on may be an issue. Near impossible to remove all traces of it and nothing sticks reliably to it. Just throwing it out there in case someone else has a similar incident.


    Honestly I'm not sure what your asking. Maybe you can answer your own question with the link I posted to the pic of it.

    I put the silicone on the exposed wood behind the shell. Only tape is on the fiberglass body.


    The difference is a lot of RV's have a fiberglass end caps (front and sometimes back) that are just regular fiberglass like most boats use (although pretty thin as they don't need much structural strength). Any good fiberglass boat guy should be able to handle repairs to those.

    The side walls though referred to as "fiberglass" is a different material with different repair requirements. Bubba fiberglass guy may or may know what to do with this material.

    It's hard to see from your picture but it looks like your rig uses a different method where they use the same sidewall material on the nose. Because it's just a gentle curve, it works.

    Let the guy know about the silicone. He may just cut the hole a little larger to remove the traces but at least if the repair fails, you can point to the fact you informed him of the issue.

    Good luck.
  • wvmtb's avatar
    wvmtb
    Explorer
    May 30, 2017
    valhalla360 wrote:
    When you say tagged a corner...is that the side wall or the fiberglass end cap.

    If it's the end cap, a fiberglass boat guy should be able to make a repair that is invisible to the eye.

    If the side wall or the roof is involved, not sure they would want to get involved. While the side walls are sort of fiberglass, they are different.

    FYI - While I understand the response, silicone slopped on may be an issue. Near impossible to remove all traces of it and nothing sticks reliably to it. Just throwing it out there in case someone else has a similar incident.


    Honestly I'm not sure what your asking. Maybe you can answer your own question with the link I posted to the pic of it.

    I put the silicone on the exposed wood behind the shell. Only tape is on the fiberglass body.
  • wvmtb's avatar
    wvmtb
    Explorer
    May 30, 2017
    SuperDutyFiver wrote:
    Some auto-body shops are equipped to make RV repairs-any chance that you can post a pic of the damage?


    I snapped a quick pick before my temporary fix to get me through the weekend. I was in a hurry to get out of there so I didn't take many detailed pics. Not the best pick but here's what I have...(sorry I can't figure out how to upload a pic only a link)
    http://s108.photobucket.com/user/zdavez/media/20170526_115359_zpsu1jhjtx8.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0
  • wvmtb's avatar
    wvmtb
    Explorer
    May 30, 2017
    Jay Pat wrote:
    If I was in your shoes, I might consider a boat repair place.
    Don't know if they would consider working on a rv.
    Hope you find a place close by.

    Pat


    I had a guy at work tell me the same thing. He even gave me a shop but that shop doesn't have a door big enough to get the TT in. That's a common problem I'm having with the body shops I've called so far. Out of about a half dozen reliable shops I've called I've only found 1 shop so far.
  • valhalla360's avatar
    valhalla360
    Navigator
    May 30, 2017
    When you say tagged a corner...is that the side wall or the fiberglass end cap.

    If it's the end cap, a fiberglass boat guy should be able to make a repair that is invisible to the eye.

    If the side wall or the roof is involved, not sure they would want to get involved. While the side walls are sort of fiberglass, they are different.

    FYI - While I understand the response, silicone slopped on may be an issue. Near impossible to remove all traces of it and nothing sticks reliably to it. Just throwing it out there in case someone else has a similar incident.
  • SuperDutyFiver's avatar
    SuperDutyFiver
    Explorer
    May 30, 2017
    Some auto-body shops are equipped to make RV repairs-any chance that you can post a pic of the damage?
  • Jay_Pat's avatar
    Jay_Pat
    Explorer
    May 30, 2017
    If I was in your shoes, I might consider a boat repair place.
    Don't know if they would consider working on a rv.
    Hope you find a place close by.

    Pat

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