Caulking a large gap?? (pictures)

Had the same great results with Gorilla Glue. It comes in white or the original ivory/tan color. It glues and or foams and expands to seal gaps with a tough skin on the surface you can paint for color matching. Acts kind of like a foam crack/gap filler but between 2 surfaces is a very strong glue thats waterproof when cured.

Have to experiment with a couple pieces of junk wood so you get the idea of how much glue to apply so you don't make a mess. It expands a lot and easy to apply too much! I often cover the area under the Gorilla Glue with clear plastic wrap like Saran Wrap so it have very little or nothing to sand when cured. Just peel the plastic wrap off and it leaves a skinned surface that's water tight. Can always put a little more on as in a second coat if needed and it will foam up again to seal any voids. Must wet one or both surfaces with a little water on a rag especially in a very dry building or down in the desert as it's the moisture that activates it. Great stuff, works and lasts outside! Not expensive.

I have a 2 X 6 X 20' long beam made with 2- 8' long 2 X 6's and a 4' one with a Gorilla Glued 2 X 4 on each side of each joint that holds up the drooping winter snow tent cover for a steep sided cover so the snow slides off, over our one trailerable boat that's kept outside all year and it's been outside uncovered/unpainted the rest of the year for over 8 years now and it's still solid as can be. I love the Gorilla Glue as it's great for so many things because it expands/foams and holds.

silversand wrote:

I've seen that stuff glue some crazy things together....

....me, too. Like the front pocket of my working jeans :B

Works great on waders and scruffy tennis shoes,too!

I've seen that stuff glue some crazy things together....

....me, too. Like the front pocket of my working jeans :B

silversand wrote:


EternaBond: if you go this way, make sure you get the real thing (with a fresh use before date), and not a Chinese knock-off.

S-

Thanks for that tip - it's probably what I'll do if the Proflex doesn't work. But I've seen that stuff glue some crazy things together....

OK. Sounds like you thoroughly dried out that section. Great.

Proflex: ...this is what I used in certain areas of my major camper repairs, this summer. I liked the specs: dry adhesion to aluminum, wood and glass; elongation a break is about 1194%, tensile at peak ~500psi; tac free time ~30 minutes; cure time 4 days...

EternaBond: if you go this way, make sure you get the real thing (with a fresh use before date), and not a Chinese knock-off.

S-

Put a nice wide strip of Eternabond all the way across, and it will look like it was built that way.

Well, I took the easy way out. Metal (not something I'm used to working with) would have been difficult due to differing thicknesses needed. I thought about using a piece of Pool Noodle (closed-cell dense foam). In the end, I turned to a product I've known and loved for years (I owned a pool and spa store and was a certified "Tech"): Geocel Proflex adhesive caulk. On a properly-cleaned surface - this stuff is tenacious. And when you figure the fronts of our RVs are withstanding hurricane conditions as they simply drive down the highway - tenacious is good :-)

I won't find out if my guess was correct until next spring - the next camping trip will be with the 5er. Unless we get some freaky-warm weather for a Michigan Winter (so it's safe to kayak) - and after shoveling a foot of snow out of our driveway this AM - I'm not holding my breath.

Any way you can get a carpenters flat bar worked through the crack to get on the inside of the hole? You could then take a ball hammer and lightly hammer flat or with the ball end, rub flat the damage. You could then get some 1/2" x 1/2" aluminum at the hardware store, drill some holes through the angle and RV metal skin, embed the angle in QUAD caulk or similar, and rivet the pieces together. It looks like you can also rivet to the lip of aluminum where the skin meets. Rivet to that too then trim off the excess if any with a 4" grinder. Use 1/8" x 1/4" stainless steel rivets to fasten.

Not sure if this will work for you but it's an idea.
If it won't, try Eterna Bond tape. Supposed to be pretty tough stuff.

silversand wrote:
Q: what underlying structural/stress dynamics are causing that large "fold" and "wave" in the aluminum skin ?

Suggestion: try and make sure that the "spongy" soft rotting rood is absolutely thoroughly dry before covering it up; not doing so would guarantee your spongy wood turning to powder VERY rapidly, if just covering it up with caulking.

The problem with patching, is that water could not only be infltrating in the immediate obvious area(s), water could be getting in a foot or two + further along...

Good luck.

How long are you planning on keeping the pop-up?

S-

Hi! The dent came from the previous owner pushing an enclosed trailer into that corner. The wood is solid behind that spot (says the lady who pounded it mostly back into shape with a hammer...LOL!)

Re: drying the wet spots: it's been parked (opened) in a heated garage with lots of circulating air for 2 weeks. And it's Michigan in winter - the dewpoint is about 10 degrees....

Today I finished stripping, cleaning, and recaulking the entire TC. At one point, Hubby walked by, and asked me if I was "planning to float that thing", meaning it should be plenty watertight ;-)

How long will I keep it?
A. Until I'm too old to camp? (God willing, that should be a while yet!)
B. I fall SOOOO in love with truck camping that I want something a bit fancier? (Highly possible)
C. It meets the same fate as my pop-up trailer camper: one of my kids falls in love with and it never comes home again. Which is OK - we have 7 adult kids and 15 grandkids and there's nothing I love more than getting the whole lot of 'em out in the woods!!!

Q: what underlying structural/stress dynamics are causing that large "fold" and "wave" in the aluminum skin ?

Suggestion: try and make sure that the "spongy" soft rotting rood is absolutely thoroughly dry before covering it up; not doing so would guarantee your spongy wood turning to powder VERY rapidly, if just covering it up with caulking.

The problem with patching, is that water could not only be infltrating in the immediate obvious area(s), water could be getting in a foot or two + further along...

Good luck.

How long are you planning on keeping the pop-up?

S-