I had my trailer in storage recently and the place where I was storing it was painting their facility. I came back to find my trailer completely wrapped in plastic. It's hot and wet here in FL, so obv that's not a great combo with the plastic. I noticed yesterday when waxing my RV that spots were missing clear coat where there was pressure against the RV (tape holding the plastic down, but not stuck to the RV). There are also water marks from where the plastic was wet and stuck to the trailer. Any thoughts on the best way to fix these spots where the clear coat is missing? I saw some clear coat sprays available, but never tried them. This is a brand new trailer and it pisses me off to no end that someone was on my RV wrapping it in plastic and then to find it caused damage is even worse. This happened a couple months ago, but didn't notice the clear coat missing until now. I had noticed the water marks, but figured they would come off with waxing...which they did not. At this point, I don't think I have any recourse with the storage company, but want to make sure my RV is protected. Any help is appreciated.

As you can imagine, I was none too happy to pull up and see this: Unhappy Camper

You would have been less happy to see overspray on it.

That's true, but I would've at least appreciated a phone call before there were guys climbing all over the roof my RV taping **** down to dicor seams and wrapping the plastic around hoses underneath the RV. The roof isn't really walkable and I would've just pulled it out of storage, rather than deal with this.....TWICE!It gets hot and wet in FL and thats a bad combination for plastic and my trailer. It's also bad when pulling up the tape off the dicor on the roof and have it pull up too, since it's so warm.

Are you sure the clear coat is missing in those spots and not just something stuck on the clear coat?

I washed and waxed and used an orbital buffer all over the RV yesterday. There were a few spots that felt different than the rest of the RV. After waxing, everything had a nice slick, glide feel to it. When I got to the parts where I feel the clear coat is missing, it felt more like paper. I tried to take some pics, but it's tough to see because you have to be on an angle spot anything. It all looks fine as of now, but I worry what it might look like in 3, 6 or 12 months. There is nothing I hate more when someone else ruins something of mine that's basically brand new and I have no real recourse.

Clear Coat issue | Good Sam Community

23 Replies

westend
Explorer
Oct 15, 2015
RavensFan24 wrote:
I called Keystone about the situation. They said it's normal wear and tear for that laminate layer to come off a bit due to dust, debris while traveling and other outside elements. They said it's not an issue and shouldn't cause any damage to the trailer in the long run. I'm still going to have the dealer check it out next time I have to take it in.
Try this: Next time you wash and wax the trailer, be prepared with a gallon of Jasco TSP substitute Paint Prep (sold at most of the big box stores). Clean the trailer and then spray on the diluted Jasco. Rinse and then wax. The Jasco will remove all the oxidation in the finish.
Hornnumb2
Explorer
Oct 14, 2015
You might try some rubbing alcohol just to make sure its not tape residue. Buffing will not take that off.
RavensFan24
Explorer
Oct 14, 2015
I called Keystone about the situation. They said it's normal wear and tear for that laminate layer to come off a bit due to dust, debris while traveling and other outside elements. They said it's not an issue and shouldn't cause any damage to the trailer in the long run. I'm still going to have the dealer check it out next time I have to take it in.
RavensFan24
Explorer
Oct 14, 2015
After looking at the brochure, they call it a "laminated fiberglass"
RavensFan24
Explorer
Oct 06, 2015
93Cobra2771 wrote:
Perhaps I'm missing something, but what TT out there actually have a true clear cloat applied to them? Last I saw, it was gel coated fiberglass. Is the front cap actually painted and cleared or is is molded into the fiberglass? Yes, I am aware there are a few TT out there with full body paint, but I don't think the OP has one.

I'm betting that the spots were always there and you are just now finding them. My opinion, of course.

I didn't know what it was called. It must be the gel coat layer that is missing. The cap is fine. It's the sides of the trailer that have issues.
93Cobra2771
Explorer
Oct 06, 2015
Perhaps I'm missing something, but what TT out there actually have a true clear cloat applied to them? Last I saw, it was gel coated fiberglass. Is the front cap actually painted and cleared or is is molded into the fiberglass? Yes, I am aware there are a few TT out there with full body paint, but I don't think the OP has one.

I'm betting that the spots were always there and you are just now finding them. My opinion, of course.
samhain7
Explorer
Oct 06, 2015
Wow. It sucks that this is happening to you. But I would say you have a pretty good storage place. Maybe they didn't call you, but they sure as heck took a lot of time and care to TRY and protect your investment. There are a small percentage of storage places that would do the same....
RavensFan24
Explorer
Oct 06, 2015
westend wrote:
myredracer wrote:
Why would there be no recourse against the storage co.? They and who ever did the painting should be liable or is there something in the fine print? What about an insurance claim? Or no storage policy?

Sorry to hear about something like that.
I think there should be some more investigation by an expert before anyone jumps to conclusions about what happened and who is liable for any damages. By the OP's own statements, the finish on the trailer is only different in two small areas. Since the painter enclosed the whole trailer, a logical conclusion would be that the plastic wrap was not at fault.

FWIW, I've tarped off many different things with similar wrap prior to spray painting and at much higher temps than the 78 f high in Tampa on that day. The plastic doesn't effect anything. It may be that the wrap "leaked" in those areas and there is light coating of paint overspray. That can certainly cause a roughness of surface. Fortunately, nearly all paint overspray is easy to remove. Denatured alcohol is a good solvent for removing paint overspray.

As the OP surmised, the dealer may have some insight as to the cause of the finish abnormalities and would be the best avenue for warranty coverage. If the issue is a gel coat or mold release problem from the factory, a few passes with different rubbing compounds may make the areas disappear.

The wrapping actually happened back in June. Temps were in the 90s consistently and it rained a lot. Turns out this plastic wrap was on it for weeks before I knew about it. I just didn't notice the damage until getting up close and personal this weekend while waxing the trailer. I had only noticed the stains in a few spots from the wet plastic just sticking to the trailer for a long time.

I'm thinking that there is no recourse against the storage company because the incident happened a few months ago and I can't prove for sure it was their fault. I'm sure my contract with UHaul prob says they aren't liable for damage or some BS anyway.

At this point, I'm kind of hoping it's a manufacturer issue. Will update the thread once I've gotten it checked out.
2012Coleman
Explorer II
Oct 06, 2015
RavensFan24 wrote:
As you can imagine, I was none too happy to pull up and see this: Unhappy Camper
It doesn't look like the tape is touching the TT at all. Consider yourself lucky. While in the Navy, I had a black Firebird which I parked off the pier of my ship. Coming back from a short cruise, I found it covered with specks of battleship Grey. Required a repaint to fix.
westend
Explorer
Oct 06, 2015
myredracer wrote:
Why would there be no recourse against the storage co.? They and who ever did the painting should be liable or is there something in the fine print? What about an insurance claim? Or no storage policy?

Sorry to hear about something like that.
I think there should be some more investigation by an expert before anyone jumps to conclusions about what happened and who is liable for any damages. By the OP's own statements, the finish on the trailer is only different in two small areas. Since the painter enclosed the whole trailer, a logical conclusion would be that the plastic wrap was not at fault.

FWIW, I've tarped off many different things with similar wrap prior to spray painting and at much higher temps than the 78 f high in Tampa on that day. The plastic doesn't effect anything. It may be that the wrap "leaked" in those areas and there is light coating of paint overspray. That can certainly cause a roughness of surface. Fortunately, nearly all paint overspray is easy to remove. Denatured alcohol is a good solvent for removing paint overspray.

As the OP surmised, the dealer may have some insight as to the cause of the finish abnormalities and would be the best avenue for warranty coverage. If the issue is a gel coat or mold release problem from the factory, a few passes with different rubbing compounds may make the areas disappear.