Fiberglass dented

[Eastcoastpat]

Hi, I have devolved a dent in the top front of my 1999 shasta 26 travel trailer. It appeared all of the sudden. Looks like it was whacked by a football or something. I do not believe it to be from water damage. I have tried to pull it out with a suction cup but it just goes right back. Any info on how to repair this would be appreciated.

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[pbohart]

That certainly seems like delamination to me. I have seen it look like bubbles, or ripples in a white sheet. This looks like the latter.

Sorry...check roof seems especially around the AC unit.

[Carluvr]

aarond76 wrote:
I would cut a hole in the backside of the cabinet and have a look. I'm betting you are going to find water damage. Did you just buy this camper? I see the eternabond on the seams and am wondering if there was a leak and that's why the seams were eternabonded.

My thoughts also.

[Terryallan]

Built foberglass boats for years, was even the "boat doctor" meaning
I fixed them. As a general rule Fiberglass dosen't dent. It breakes, just like, well.. Glass. So it muist be some sort of defect, like the delamination. If it is air under it. It will soon crack like an egg.

[padave]

I hate to say it...but it looks like the dreaded d word to me....delamination. I hope I am wrong. Good Luck

[Highway_4x4]

Random Ideas,,, inspect back side from inside. If the dent is pulled out easily, repair inside inspection hole and fill area behind dent with expanding foam to hold out dent. Might sound nuts but if it works......... good luck.

[aarond76]

I would cut a hole in the backside of the cabinet and have a look. I'm betting you are going to find water damage. Did you just buy this camper? I see the eternabond on the seams and am wondering if there was a leak and that's why the seams were eternabonded.

[wrenchbender]

Delamination may be the culprit.Best to get behind it and survey the problem.If it is delamed than after repairs the culprit for the delaming has to be found and corrected.

[Francesca_Knowl]

O.K...

Got a look at the pics at Photobucket.

Could be just the angle of the pictures, but that looks like delamination to me, especially given the location and the lack of evidence of anything having struck the trailer. When the fiberglass skin comes unglued from the substrate, it "bubbles" like that.

Delamination is usually caused by water intrusion though there was a rash of plain glue failure in some makes awhile back.

[Eastcoastpat]

The cabinet over the bed is on that wall. Should I pull everything out in order to repair? How dificult a job is that? do i have to replace the molding? Another option is to cut out a square inside the cabinet in the back and see what I got. Maybe just push it out and shove something in there to pop it out.

[1492]

Moved from Forum Technical Support

[Francesca_Knowl]

Not seeing a picture...

Taking a shot in the dark, however: I don't think such a panel can be "pulled out", like one might do with aluminum or even (possibly) straight fiberglass like that on boats/molded trailers.

It's typically a sort of sandwich of plywood with a skin of fiberglass over the top, and as such it doesn't have what you might call "memory". You'll probably have to push it from the inside- and even then, if the wood is torn or wet it might not go back to the original shape.