Front Filon Cap repair or replacement

tdp6022 wrote:
From a little research, its obvious that Filon front caps have this problem, industry wide, no matter how much maintenance one does. So would it be better to replace the filon front cap with aluminum or even diamond plate the entire front end? Has anybody out there done anything like this?

Our previous truck camper used Filon and it delaminated so I have some experience with this. I'm of the opinion that it's almost always due to sealant failure. The Filon itself is waterproof on the outside just like fiberglass, but once water gets behind and soaks the cardboard-like material it's game over.

I thought I had everything well sealed, but it only takes a tiny break in the dicor to let in enough water to delam the Filon. You might not even see it. Sometimes it detaches from whatever it's attached to and you can't see it until you poke and push it around so you can see the separation. Water gets in even if it's not easily visible though.

So the first step will be to have it repaired. $1,700 doesn't sound too bad. Arctic Fox was going to charge me $2,000 for a similar repair. After that you just need to keep water out. Eternabond is a popular choice for a more permanent seal. You can probably do most of your roof seams for $100 worth of Eternabond tape.

As far as Diamond Plate, I've never seen the whole front of a TT done that way. 3/16" steel diamond plate weighs 7.66 lbs per sq. ft. That's 735 lbs for 96 sq. ft. Adding that much weight to the front of a trailer would be crazy. Aluminum 17 gauge diamond plate weighs only .8 lbs / sq. ft, but it's very labor intensive to weld so unless you are prepared to do it yourself it won't make $ sense.

Some do-it-yourselfers have drilled small holes and injected glue in, then applying pressure to make the Filon flatter and the delam less noticeable.

Lastly, you could just re-seal and leave the delam alone. It's not going to hurt anything once it dries out -- it just looks bad.

I know some folks have had an issue like that and IIRC, they had a Keystone TT. Certainly, post up some pictures.

westend wrote:
Do the smaller ripples radiate from attachment points (like the edge trim)?

The ripples are not right on the edge, they start about 3 inches from the edge trim, far beneath the parking light about 4 feet below, closer to the bottom half of the front panel. They are not huge, about 6-7" in diameter. But then there is the larger wave or bulge that radiates from there and seems to expand and contract a bit, unless its just the angle of the sun playing tricks on my poor vision! I will search again for wavy front ends (the first search took me to my own post). A good suggestion about removing, strengthening (if needed) and allowing to stretch. I will look into that as well. When I get over to the storage yard, I'll take some pictures. Some may say do nothing. But I can see it when I tow and it bothers me...

I'm guessing an aluminum cap would have less potential movement and be just as durable as Fiberglass. I'd also bet the price is high.

I thought you might search on this Forum to see if someone with the same year/model had a wavy end cap instead of delamination. If it's just waves or bulges, you may have choices beyond replacing it. Just a WAG but removing the cap, maybe strengthening the frame, and then reinstalling with the fiberglass allowed to stretch, might cure most of the problem. Do the smaller ripples radiate from attachment points (like the edge trim)?

I'm not 100% sure Westend, thanks for the reply. My damage is small ripples that lead to larger waves or bulges. I'm told the filon has to be removed, to have the frame inspected then replaced with either another piece of Filon or Aluminum. Not sure I have seen any Fiberglass trailers with Aluminum front caps. Wondering if anyone has done that or something else to solve this front cap problem.

Are you sure the problem you see is delamination? There have been a few posts on the Forum about "wavy" end caps and some of those had to do with lack of framing under the cap that let the cap develop indents. This happened more frequently in areas of higher heat or if the end cap faced the sun continually.