Hi all, just picked our 2012 Starcraft Outback from Cairns where it has been raining solid for the past two weeks. The front fabric panel behind the front gas bottles has started to come adrift. Has anyone else had this happen and , if so, how did you repair/replace it. Thinking of either thin aluminium checker plate or that paint that they use to line Ute trays. Any suggestions please.
A bit over a year ago, we were traveelling to Brisbane with our Jayco poptop. The weather was attrocious - 38 Deg C, a howling gale, dust, smoke from the fires - you name it, it was there and all at once. We were following a RTA ute when a roadworks sign blew out onto the road. The ute ran over it, but no way was he going to stop and clear the debris. The wind must have been at least 70 0r 80 km/h, direct headwind. We ran over the sign as well, but the left rear wheel flicked the frame up and did minor damage to the rear bumper on my Pajero, but more importantly, punched a hole in the front of my Jayco. We kept driving and that night I patched the hole with some duct tape.
When we returned home, I set to and repaired the hole. It was about the size of my fist, but luckily was down low in the front storage boot area and the galvanised lining had not been damaged. I carefully pulled the torn aluminium back roughly into shape and sealed this with a tube of silicone. The vinyl was also torn, and I managed to carefully pull the shards together. I 'soaked; the fabric backing of the vinyl with more silicone and carefully pressed it back in place. Now, I know it is damaged and repair, but the casual observer probably would not notice this at all. There is a bulge where I put too much silicone in the aluminium repair, but otherwise it looks good.
So for your case, I would consider cleaning up the affected area as much as possible, and getting some silicone and smearing a layer maybe 2 or 3 mm thick on the fabric backing of the vinyl and then carefully pressing it back into place.
-- Edited by erad on Tuesday 27th of April 2021 08:22:26 AM
Thanks for the suggestions, which Sikaflex product do you recommend. Some are sealants, some adhesives, some both, some silicon based, some polyurethane. Too many choices. I need to check back with the van over the weekend ( in storage) and see if the fabric is not too stretched to repair. Then I need to work out how to hold or clamp it in place while it dries. Another complication is that there are 2 layers, the visible outer layer and a thin wadding layer. If the Sikaflex penetrates the wadding then I should be good to go. If not I will have to glue the wadding to the van first, wait for that to dry, and then glue the outer layer to the wadding. I am wondering now that, assuming the fabric is not stretched, if I should use a contact glue where I can then coat the van and the fabric/wadding, wait for them to get tacky and then push them together. That way I dont have to worry about holding it in place while it sets.
Sika Pro is a good one as it does not need the primers that some of the high grade adhesives do such as 252. Pro is both a sealant and adhesive and for your application will be more than adequate. Available at the big Green shed.
