Crack on the side of my trailer

[albow]

There is another one similar to this near the other end of the slideout. How do I repair this or stop it from spreading further? I'm not sure but I believe this is bonded aluminum. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1290499044298416&set=pcb.1290499147631739&type=3

[albow]

I will get this done tomorrow, among my other issues. Interestingly, the crack I did not take a picture of originates from under my gutter caulk and had some sort of caulk or material already on it. I have had my rubber roof replaced twice so maybe they saw this at that time and tried to put whatever this was on it. I certainly hope it didn't come from the factory like that and I never noticed until now, but it's obviously been there long at least a year and a half.

[albow]

THank you!

[Timay]

albow wrote:
just penetrate the outside fiberglass/aluminum/whatever it is?

Just penetrate the outside skin...

Tim

[albow]

Flattop wrote:
What Dick B said

Do I drill all the way through the wall or just penetrate the outside fiberglass/aluminum/whatever it is?

[albow]

Dick_B wrote:
Quick drill a 1/16 hold just beyond the end of the crack. Be sure to be beyond and not in the crack itself. The hole spreads out the force that is causing the crack. It's easy to fill the hole with epoxy but fixing the crack is priority 1, of course.

So far, silicone is the answer I have gotten on fixing the crack. Is that the solution, or at least the only halfway economical one? At least that's not difficult. The hole to be drilled-Do I just penetrate the outer surface or go all the way through the trailer? I don't know if it's fiberglass bonded onto aluminum, pure aluminum or exactly how it's made.

[albow]

kennethwooster wrote:
Had a repair service told me to get pure silicone, not just ordinary, get fingers wet with water and work the silicone into the crack. This was in for several years when I traded it off. It worked fine.

Hmmm. Wasn't realizing that silicone was actually the final fix (short of full replacement) but something else I saw in trailer life seemed to indicate so. I assume your trailer was white. Did you use clear or white? I assume you mean the 100% silicone caulk in a tube for about $7 or is it something else?

[albow]

Pictures should be visible now. Thanks.

[albow]

Thanks. Anybody have any other suggestions?

[kennethwooster]

Had a repair service told me to get pure silicone, not just ordinary, get fingers wet with water and work the silicone into the crack. This was in for several years when I traded it off. It worked fine.

[albow]

Ok, so how do I fix the crack after that? Might it have been caused when my slide was hung on my refrigerator door for a couple seconds when I was trying to slide it out? The door seems to have survived.

[Flattop]

What Dick B said

[Dick_B]

Quick drill a 1/16 hold just beyond the end of the crack. Be sure to be beyond and not in the crack itself. The hole spreads out the force that is causing the crack. It's easy to fill the hole with epoxy but fixing the crack is priority 1, of course.

[dblr]

Besides fixing the crack I would suggest finding out what caused the crack. We had a crack at the corner of the bedroom slide, traced had it fixed or so we thought, the repair cracked traced it to a broken pin box.