Undercarriage Fabric Repair on TT
I have a new to me 09 Puma 29FQS that I am quickly learning about. I was up underneath checking things out and saw this damage in the right side wheel well and some forward and aft of it. I apolog...
Forum Discussion
The fabric is called Darco and is difficult to find in the proper thickness in small amounts at retail. I have patched mine in a few places and Gorilla Tape is excellent at sticking on there and staying stuck on there. Just clean the area good first.
Sorry to see one of the areas that mfrs skimp on is leaving off the sheet metal wheel wells liners. If the OP has a blowout, it's fairly likely that he will wind up with a hole in his floor. The sheet metal doesn't have to be very thick to absorb the energy of an unraveling tire. I'm with therink on this one, I would tape up the Darco and figure out how to get some sheet metal up in there.
It looks from the photos that the Darco has been gradually abraded from the tires, and it may be the angle of the photo, but it looks like insufficient tie clearance. There should be 2.5" - 3.0" clearance above the tire to allow for suspension travel etc. From the looks of this, every time the TT hits a dip in the road, the tire bumps up and rubs the Darco briefly. Do that enough times and you get what we see in the photos.
So to summarize for the OP:
1. Gorilla tape on the Darco;
2. Get some sheet metal up in there;
3. Measure clearance above the tire and repair suspension as necessary.
Sorry to see one of the areas that mfrs skimp on is leaving off the sheet metal wheel wells liners. If the OP has a blowout, it's fairly likely that he will wind up with a hole in his floor. The sheet metal doesn't have to be very thick to absorb the energy of an unraveling tire. I'm with therink on this one, I would tape up the Darco and figure out how to get some sheet metal up in there.
It looks from the photos that the Darco has been gradually abraded from the tires, and it may be the angle of the photo, but it looks like insufficient tie clearance. There should be 2.5" - 3.0" clearance above the tire to allow for suspension travel etc. From the looks of this, every time the TT hits a dip in the road, the tire bumps up and rubs the Darco briefly. Do that enough times and you get what we see in the photos.
So to summarize for the OP:
1. Gorilla tape on the Darco;
2. Get some sheet metal up in there;
3. Measure clearance above the tire and repair suspension as necessary.
