trailer cap turning white

I was hoping they had the issues worked out on the colored gelcoat after seeing all those 1990s tan fiberglass Fleetwoods and blue/gray fiberglass Dolphins turned to chalk in a few years. Guess not.

We did full paint this time, not that it is immune to issues either.

Our 15 month old 2014 Cedar Creek front cap has started to fade at the top. I have kept it waxed regularly with Meguiar's 50 Marine/RV cleaner wax. It IS NOT oxidation. It is fading of the Gel Coat. My dealer told me it would probably have to be painted. It will be interesting to see if Cedar Creek will cover it under the second year warranty I purchased. I won't hold my breath on this one.
I have been told that Keystone was not standing buy their warranties on almost brand new units that are fading.
Gel Coat is pretty to look at for a while but anything other that white Gel Coat seems to be trouble.

Oh, those RVs with the colours sure are purdy! Those who bought those purdy gel coat colours are finding out what boaters have known for a long time.

Gelcoat can be any colour, as long as it is white. The darker the colour, the more work it takes to keep it looking good. There is no restoring it once it has been neglected.

The only other option is painting. The best paint is going to be a marine grade paint like Awlgrip, a 2 part epoxy paint that is not cheap & is labour intensive to apply but lasts for years & years. The cheaper way is an automotive coating with a clearcoat. Not cheap either but needs less maintenance than gelcoat.

I had my local body shop come look at the cap he said they would sand paint clear coat and spray on a uv protector. Remove and replace the decals all for 780.00 dollars I talked to the dealer and they have to pay 2500.00 dollars to get it done.

C-Bears wrote:
I wax the entire thing once a year but the cap gets a wax job two or three times a year. Over time constant sun will suck the oils/moisture out of almost any gel coat and it has to be protected.

I am pretty sure there is no one that waxed their brand spanking new Big Country more than I. I actually treated it with Rejex, usually once a month. Treating it only delayed the fading...it was not oxidized. Our caps lasted longer than many because of the Rejex but by the time we got rid of it the caps were well on their way to dingy white from a very pretty gray and we live in the great "Northwet" with only moderate amounts of sunny days.

If I have occasion to purchase another new rig it would either be white or painted. Colored gel coats don't seem to be perfected yet.

My 2012 Outback TT faded horribly. It was just outside the 1 year warranty window and Keystone refused to do anything.

Last Keystone I buy. I recently sold the TT and it was worth less with a faded front cap. Literally cost me money. What a joke.

I contacted the manufracture and they said to wet sand and polish but they would not help anymore with price I called my local body shop to come and look at it to give me a price to fix I told keystone that im going to put a sign on front that said keystone paint jobs how can you sell with that kind of front cap without taking a big hit

I had this issue on my 2013 Kodiak. I learned from a boat owner to use polishing or rubbing compound to remove the oxidation and then use a good carnauba based wax to bring back the shine. It worked very nicely. The downside is that it needs to be done frequently to keep it from reoccurring and the upper areas are VERY hard to reach. And avoid using the compound on the graphics.

SH wrote:

B.O. Plenty wrote:
The only "Real" fix is to have it painted. Heartland has gone to this after many of their front caps and sometimes rear caps did this. Mine was painted with a base coat clear coat finish under warranty and the problem is gone. It's not necessarily cheap gel-coat. Most RVs are white and you don't notice it. B.O.

This is correct! Our previous 2011 Big Country developed "fading" gray caps. Something about no UV protectant in the gel coat. There is nothing that can be done except painting the caps. Heartland sent us new graphics and $800 but that was not nearly enough to cover the expensive job. We no longer have that rig and opted for a white one this time.

X3 - non-painted Redwoods had the same issue. The only fix is paint because the color has already washed out. Original Dealer attempts to buff and polish only lasted a few months and only recovered the shine, not the color.

We spend 4-5 months in SW Florida, another 3-4 months in warm weather up north, and another 3-4 months traveling. Our FW gets a lot of sun all year. I wax the entire thing once a year but the cap gets a wax job two or three times a year. Over time constant sun will suck the oils/moisture out of almost any gel coat and it has to be protected.