Truck canopy

[nucktaco]

So I picked up a canopy that I scored for free for my tacoma. Only issue is the corner is cracked by the backglass. I’m assuming there’s a fair amount of people on here that have worked with fiberglass before.

Would just reinforcing both sides of the crack hold up or should I glass both sides, sandwich the crack with some aluminum and rivet together then glass over top?

Truck does see mainly camping/wheelin. The plan is to build a rack around the canopy to put my rtt on.

Any advice on repairing would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[trailscape]

I wonder if a good two part epoxy would be adequate. Maybe fill it from the back with some 3M 5200. That crack doesn’t appear too bad, but I suppose any flexing of the area might be an issue.

I think rivets might create more problems.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Ducky's Dad]

Watch this video and then find Andy's followup video on finishing. If you are planning to paint the shell (strongly advised), then you can make the repair strong and invisible. From what I can see, the best approach would be to remove the aluminum frame and cut the crack to clean things up and get a good bond. Grind both inside and outside surfaces, but dish the outside a little so that the thickness of the glass mat doesn't leave a lump on the surface. You can build up a couple of layers of mat on the inside for extra strength, but be sure to feather the edges. Everything you need is available from a local auto body supply, but if you call Jamestown Distributors they will give you good advice and ship you the right stuff. A fiberglass shell is just like a boat. I am assuming that you want this repair to look good when you are done.

Fixing Fiberglass Stress Cracks with Andy from ‘Boatworks Today’
http://www.totalboat.com/2018/12/28...tm_content=Boatbuilding+with+Boatworks+Today+

 

[nucktaco]

Thanks for the advice! I will check the video out how. I want it to look the best it can. Though I’m more into function over form.

 

[CactusJackSlade]

Honestly, it looks like the problem was that it was not correctly bolted to the bed and the base spread out and caused the cracks. If it were me I'd just use 20 or 30 minute epoxy (not the 5 minute as it never gets completely hard) squish it into the cracks and pull the sides together, adding a layer of fiberglass cloth on the inside.

You may want to put it on your truck, pull the base together where it needs to be, drill your bolt holes (or get your clamps ready), release the base and do what I described above... then squeeze the base back together to hold it into position after you apply the resin and glass patch.

This is a "quickie" solution... you can always pull the windows and do a full blown repair, I guess it depends on how long you are going to keep it