Camper Exterior Repair

[GeorgeHayduke]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some advice on repairing the exterior of my 2008 Northstar TC650. During some spirited forest service road driving I hit a pothole hard enough that the whole camper shifted and the cabover deflected enough to hit the rigid satellite antenna on top of the cab of my Ram 2500. I managed to bash in an area that's maybe 8" by 4" and puncture deep enough to damage the interior wood structure.

Pics of the damage:






Any recommendations on the best way to repair this? Should I be looking at a patch job or replacing the whole sheet of siding?

Thanks for the help!

 

[Mickey Bitsko]

Looks like time for a patch.
Try to beat it down from the inside, maybe some JB weld then form a patch of stainless and stainless screws.
Frankencamper.
Or take to body shop and keep it show quality.

 

[Regcabguy]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some advice on repairing the exterior of my 2008 Northstar TC650. During some spirited forest service road driving I hit a pothole hard enough that the whole camper shifted and the cabover deflected enough to hit the rigid satellite antenna on top of the cab of my Ram 2500. I managed to bash in an area that's maybe 8" by 4" and puncture deep enough to damage the interior wood structure.

Pics of the damage:
View attachment 411130

View attachment 411131

View attachment 411132

Any recommendations on the best way to repair this? Should I be looking at a patch job or replacing the whole sheet of siding?

Thanks for the help!

Do you have the 2x2 risers on the bottom that Northstar recommends for Dodges and Ford's? Looking at mine,the clearance wouldn't allow it to do that. My Happijac mounts have stabilizing cones that eliminate side to side shifting. Some filler of sorts and fiberglass cloth should seal it up or as some recommend take it to a body shop.
The torsional independent twisting of the frame demands a couple of inches of clearance.

 

[brian90744]

I have a 2008 N/S 650 and did not know that under cab was fiberglass. Contact N/S factory see if they have any idea's. A thin piece of alum from Home Depot would work? good luck=brian

 

[ripperj]

I would definitely raise the camper a few inches.


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[GeorgeHayduke]

I don't have any risers, but will definitely look into fabbing some up. I have some basic experience with fiberglass layups on boat repairs, should I expect any issues getting a fiberglass cloth patch to adhere to the filon siding? Thanks!

 

[battleborn]

west systems epoxy. some woven and chop strand mat top off with gelcoat.

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[battleborn]

also use some epoxy filler just like you would on a hill of a boat so that the epoxy is like peanut butter consistency so it's not all running down the rest of the camper. west marine sells a small repair kit that may work for you. gl

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[stargaze]

Well you could drill some very small holes in the piece that's broken, thread in a couple of screws so that you can pull the piece back into place. Add some epoxy along the fracture line and once the epoxy cures apply a small fiberglass patch. Alternatively you can remove the part that's broken, cut a clean hole there and then apply a sort of recessed fiberglass patch to avoid this happening again. Personally I would go with the later of the two options.

 

[zidaro]

Lots of great ideas here. I vote for the basic fiberglass patch versions. Try to reshape from the interior, add backing if needed, glass over it.

But. Most important is adding that spacer to the underside of your NS. Looks like your needing atleast 2" to give you some clearance off your roof. These things bounce when you get on terrain, and they need to so they don't tear themselves apart.

One other option for repair. Clean them bugs off around the area, slap some amazing Gorilla Tape on there and call it a memory. No structural damage there, just need to keep water from entering.