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BROKEN SCREWS-REPAIR FACILITY IN NH (FOLLOW-UP)

CATEGORY:  ON THE OUTSIDE

TOPIC:   Repair Facility Needed Near N.H.
Posted: 16 Sep 2018 17:19 #1
Posted By:  msw3113

See Forum Post HERE

msw3113: Screws that hold the trim on one corner of the “chin” area of our Cameo are popping loose and won’t screw back in.  Trim piece, therefore, won’t stay fastened to the sidewall.  Underneath, the edge of the horizontal sheet metal in that corner is becoming exposed.  I fear that our unit has fallen prey to the often-discussed fault of the brand. Even the work involved in taking the trim and sheet metal apart to inspect what

may be underneath is way outside my modest skill set.  I’d be grateful for a recommendation of a facility in or abutting NH that can handle this kind of repair.  I will assume that welding, possibly aluminum welding, will be involved.  CW is close but not an option.
Thanks,
Mark

TimnJo: I wouldn’t bother with an RV repair facility, take it to a local welder, they can take screws out to assess the situation and have the necessary skills to effect a proper repair.

JohnD222:  X2, A welder, or a welder with a portable welder can easily take the sheet metal apart.  You might think that the taking apart and inspection may cost a little less per hour than fabrication and actual welding, but do not count on it.  A portable welder will have limited raw stock material on the truck to complete the repair, but maybe a lot more convenient than trying to get your camper into and out of a welders’ parking lot.

I suspect that very few welders are any good at applying new caulking.  After a sharp razor blade is used to cut/separate the caulking at a 45-degree angle, the trim is easily removed – that leaves a lot of cleanup on the wall and trim but allows the welder to quickly get into the area needing inspection.  Denatured alcohol or white gas in a spray bottle applied to those parts speeds removal of the old caulk.  The cutting of new parts and welding will take much longer no matter how slow you think you might be on cleanup.  I have seen pros use the white gas Coleman stove gas) in spray bottles directly onto the caulk while it is in place without cutting.  Let stand a minute or so, pick up a now looser edge of caulk, and it pulls right off in a long (or several short) string(s).  Regardless when the white gas is used, be sure to spray the area after the cleanup with a fair amount of fresh water from a separate spray bottle or hose.  The gas will take off any wax regardless, but you do now want it to attack the paint or its residue to inhibit the attachment of fresh caulk that will be applied later.

The removed panels are fairly large and can fly away in the wind.  Laying them in the 5er or in the back of a pickup with a bit of weight will protect them until the job is complete.  However, I removed the panels, cleaned all of the caulk off the trim, panels, and sidewall,  and then put all panels back on the 5er using just a few screws, so everything came off again very quickly.  I drove 10 miles to the welding shop in this configuration and removed the panels again while waiting for the welder to complete his conversation with another customer.  I arranged this arrival with the welder in advance so he had set aside time for an inspection and measuring.  I did all these ages ago, and think it cost about $500 including inspection, fabrication (cutting raw stock into the needed pieces), and welding.  Portable unit to my site 10 miles away in very light traffic probably would have cost another $250 not just for travel time for inspection, but because of running back and forth for raw stock and fabrication.  I would guess another $200 for removal and reinstalling of panels and trim -another $100 if cleaning is included.

There is no way anyone can estimate this repair cost without opening up the nose.  It is esentially time at a fixedvrate per hour plus materials.  Find a good welder who elds and fabricates for a living, not a mechanic that welds a lot.  Mention the need to fabricate and attach several corner gussets and couple of C-channel frame parts to prevent excessive flex in the frame (some flex is good), and maybe fix a broken weld.  If eyes glaze over move on.

Google “welder in __________, NH” inserting a few larger towns near you.

What to do about new caulk after the repairs are complete?  Any portable RV service should be able to do that.

Good luck, John

 

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FOLLOW-UP

With advice and encouragement from other members, I opened up the chin area and took the coach to a local welder.  Removing the sheet metal revealed far more broken/rusted screws than anticipated.  However further inspection of the structure revealed some rusty areas but no broken welds, no broken bolts, and nothing visibly bent or otherwise deformed.  Welder put in 20 feet of 2×2 square tubing creating an “A” shape with the tips of the “A” straddling the pinbox.  He also welded in some gussets and short straight braces running fore-and-aft between the existing side-to-side span pieces and into an existing lateral 2×2 in the front storage area.

 

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While we didn’t find an obvious defect, the added structural support will make me feel better.  To quote the welder “You have enough on your mind while towing.”   Will report again after we’ve put some miles on it.

 

subframe:  Hi all….Does anyone know if the Lifestyle version was built the same or did they modify the chin structure from the Carriage version?…Thanks, Rich

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