Undercarriage Fabric Repair on TT

[Marauderer]

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 apologize for the pics not being better but being under the TT on my back with the camera , Oh well. Anyway the first two pics are in the fender well area and the last one in just behind the fenderwell







I have searched the internet for the fabric and haven't found any. The fabric that is on it breaths and is not very strong but I got to thinking about the black fabric we use in the garden and other places we don't want to have weeds grow. It looks like it will work. I also have some Shurtape Gaffers tape and I bought a roll of Gorilla tape to try out. I noticed some rust on the frame in places so I got a couple of rattle cans of rust converter and some rubberized undercoating to take care of the rust problem.

All comments and suggestions are appreciated.

[campigloo]

After a blow out on mine, I had the fabric pretty well torn up and used roofing tar as a sealer and galvanized flashing as a protector. Has worked well so far.

[Marauderer]

I was able to dodge through the rain and measure the clearance between the top of the tire and the top of the wheel well. It was 3". If the rain has stopped today I will do the repairs and take some pics. I am leaning towards aluminum sheet metal to line the areas in question after i repair the fabric. I do have a door that has multiple cracks in the inside face of the FRP and will see if I can replaace that without having to get another door. But that will be the subject of another thread after this project is completed.

[Marauderer]

Rickhuntfish wrote:
In the area on my trailer that was already ripped I covered the whole area with FRP board from Home Depot. I covered the back side with Liquid Nails and then screwed it right to the plywood. In the areas that had not ripped yet I sprayed it with the rubber waterproofing similar to that advertised on TV. When that area shows more wear I will probably cover it with FRP also.

How is the FRP holding up on your TT? The description on HD says for interior use only but reading other posts on the net it validates your use of it.

[Marauderer]

steelpony5555 wrote:
Gorilla duct tape.....But I would be worried maybe the suspension is allowing the tires to come in contact with the floor... I have wondered too about that spray rubber coating you see advertised on TV where the guy sprays a screen door and floats it....once you get it patched maybe spray the area with that....

Tires are the correct size. Thanks.

[Marauderer]

hawkhill wrote:
You may want to try the following. It has held up well repairing a spot under our slide.

Thanks Hawkhill. I am going to try the Gorilla tape first with some Shurtape Gaffers tape and see how that works. I bookmark the page a Tweety's for further reference

[Marauderer]

BurbMan wrote:
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.

Thanks Burbman, I measured and I have 3" clearance from the top of the tire to the top of the wheel well. Also the 15" tires are what it calls for. I will get some sheet aluminum up there after the repair to the fabric.

[myredracer]

It's called Darco and they have a tape for repairing it. There's a tape brand called Flex-mend and can be found in many places and on ebay. I bought a few feet x 4" from a local RV dealer for our emergency repair kit and they just cut it off a roll for customers.

Perhaps a local dealer would sell you a small piece of the material for a patch piece. They must keep the stuff in stock for customer repairs.

Some info:

mobile underbelly repair products

more repair info.

If that is damage from road debris, perhaps installing some sheet aluminum, plastic or fiberglass would be a good idea? I wonder how often this happens?

[Rickhuntfish]

In the area on my trailer that was already ripped I covered the whole area with FRP board from Home Depot. I covered the back side with Liquid Nails and then screwed it right to the plywood. In the areas that had not ripped yet I sprayed it with the rubber waterproofing similar to that advertised on TV. When that area shows more wear I will probably cover it with FRP also.

[steelpony5555]

Gorilla duct tape.....But I would be worried maybe the suspension is allowing the tires to come in contact with the floor... I have wondered too about that spray rubber coating you see advertised on TV where the guy sprays a screen door and floats it....once you get it patched maybe spray the area with that....

[WayneAt63044]

You'll want to be sure that whatever you use to repair this is waterproof so that tire road spray does not deteriorate you trailer floor. Breathing is not the issue here, water tight is. Any chance someone put over-sized tires on your trailer causing them to rub?

[RVhiker]

The material on the bottom of my trailers has looked like a poly tarp, and that is what I bought to make a repair: Heavy Duty Poly Tarps.

[hawkhill]

You may want to try the following. It has held up well repairing a spot under our slide.

[BurbMan]

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.

[CampingN_C_]

I had to make some cuts in our old camper to do some repair work. I used black Gorilla tape and it held for years. Just try to clean it the best you can first.
The black fabric can be bought from a mobile home supply store, but I never found it in small amounts.
You might would benefit from placing something rigid across that spot then tape it in, like corrugated plastic or an old for sale sign.

[Marauderer]

It is interesting to mention upgrading the area in question with something stronger that would resist damage better if this happened again in the future. Should I be concerned about letting the area breat, so to speak, or is that a non issue.