Reversed into post

[Fontie]

Had to happen sooner or later i suppose, reversing the van today I went into a post heard a crack drove forward got out, i have split the rear panel 4 inches running top to bottom there is no compression damage just the split and some green paint that is smooth and will t-cut out. I am thinking of sticking something over it to hide the split and forget about it, will it get any bigger doing that and nothing else. what would you do ?

 

[Cheshirecat57]

Personally, I would cry. What a bummer.

 

[irnbru]

Ouch, I think that would annoy the hell outa me and I'd have mohave it fixed. I have a marker in my driveway that shows me how far back I can go.

 

[BRASH]

I'd blame the wife

 

[pappajohn]

If you do hide it under a sticker first drill a 1/16" hole at each extreme end of the crack.
That will prevent the crack creeping with vibration.

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[Fontie]

I did cry, only myself to blame although I did try blaming the wife for not being there to see me back. Looks worse in the picture, might well get it fixed or just slap a sticker over it...dunno yet

 

[BRASH]

I did cry, only myself to blame although I did try blaming the wife for not being there to see me back. Looks worse in the picture, might well get it fixed or just slap a sticker over it...dunno yet

I knew it, it was the wife's fault. These things normally are

 

[Fontie]

If you do hide it under a sticker first drill a 1/16" hole at each extreme end of the crack.
That will prevent the crack creeping with vibration.

My wife watched a YouTube video that said to do that. I was sceptical but makes sense I guess.

Thanks

 

[Carolyn and Kev]

Im really impressed with your wife ! My hat is off to her! Kudos to you missus!
Now...What was you doing??

Kev

 

[GAVLAD]

I feel like crying for you.
I once reversed into a static caravan on a French campsite.
Fortunately, I had the bikes on the bike rack.
Unfortunately I had to go back and pull a pedal out of the static caravan!

If it was me, I’d claim on my insurance and have it repaired. But covering it with a sticker will put you on.

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[Lenny HB]

Find a good boat repair man and get the job done properly can only get worse if you leave it.

 

[Polobonnie100]

I actually managed to rip off the whole panel with lights and wires hanging, when it caught in a branch on a French camping municipal. Really scary. ADAC were brilliant, Low loaded me and mine including chien to a motorhome repairer on a Friday afternoon. They did a fab job for far less than in the UK. Vive la difference!

 

[boxerdog]

as above dont just cover that crack it will only grow needs sorting

 

[Mikeco]

You could try some gel coat filler in the crack then rub it down with some wet and dry paper.

 

[Fontie]

Don't want to claim on my insurance, how much can it be to repair can't be anymore than £200-300 surely. Doubt I will have time to get it done properly as we are going to France and into Spain Monday week for 5 weeks this couldn't have happened at a worse time. think i'll drill holes either end and get some gel coat filler in the crack and hope it holds till we get back.

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[pappajohn]

My wife watched a YouTube video that said to do that. I was sceptical but makes sense I guess.

Thanks

Works in any hard material, plastic, metal, abs, fiberglass, even glass to an extent.
The crack has nowhere to go in a circle.

 

[Fontie]

Would this be ok as a filler Gel coat filler. What would you use.

 

[Minxy]

Don't want to claim on my insurance, how much can it be to repair can't be anymore than £200-300 surely. Doubt I will have time to get it done properly as we are going to France and into Spain Monday week for 5 weeks this couldn't have happened at a worse time. think i'll drill holes either end and get some gel coat filler in the crack and hope it holds till we get back.

You might need to drill more holes as it seems from the picture as if the jagged edges may have cracks running sideways too ... make sure you drill them all.

 

[ChrisL]

Drill a couple of small holes one at each end of the crack, If you can get to the back of it lay up a couple of layers of glass fibre cloth with resin behind the crack then use a dremel to V out the crack and use your gel coat filler to fill the V'd out crack, once it's gone off use some fine wet and dry paper to smooth off the repair and give it a little paint to try and match it in.

 

[Minxy]

You could get some of these and once you've drilled and filled/sealed the crack stick one over the damaged area, this will make it look better and also strengthen it too ... obviously put a matching one on the other side ... and use the remaining 2 for the post ...

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[Minxy]

Just downloaded your photo, cropped it and altered the contrast and I can definitely see some other cracking going on so make sure you deal with them before covering it all up.

 

[Fontie]

Thanks ChrisL, can't get anything behind the bathroom is in the way, I'll drill and cut a V using a dremel then fill and rub down and cover with Minxy Girl's reflectors

 

[Fontie]

Just downloaded your photo, cropped it and altered the contrast and I can definitely see some other cracking going on so make sure you deal with them before covering it all up.

I see what you mean I will be sure to drill them all

Thanks

 

[Mr Chrysalis]

When I someone damaged my wheel arch ( a few days after I bought the new Moho) by driving off with the wheel clamp in place, the damage was about the same magnitude - 6 in crack. I had it repaired at a Caravan body shop. Cost about £300. I couldn’t leave a crack like that in the rear panel, even covered as I would still know it was there. If you are confident that you have the skills, fix it as you’ve described, if not try a Caravan bodyshop

 

[Landy Andy]

My concern would be that a temporary repair may make harder/more expensive to do a proper repair later.

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[funflair]

OK Fontie are you sure that the panel is fibreglass as sometimes they are ABS plastic, Landy Andy is right that if you do anything it needs to be done properly otherwise a bodge will just make somebody else's job harder.

Assuming that it is fibreglass you don't need to worry about drilling the end of any cracks as the nature of a fibreglass matrix is that it is reinforced with random glass fibres which stop any crack propagation, if you are going to get a proffesional repair done just cover it with tape for now to keep muck and dirt out, if you want to repair it yourself V out some of the larger cracks as suggested and remove any flakes of loose gelcoat then stabilise it by wetting the crack are a with a polyester resin and warming the area slightly with a hair dryer keep applying the resin as the crack soaks it in, before the resin is fully cured just clean up the area with acetone.

At this point the strength is back in the panel so now you just need to make it look better so any previously V'd cracks that have filled with resin can be cleaned out a little bit again just to make a clean V that the gelcoat will take into, mix the gelcoat and then apply to the V's as level as possible and then cover with a plastic or PTFE film as this will make the gelcoat cure without remaining sticky, when this has cured you can either apply a little more gelcoat if it needs or you can carefully rub back with a wet/dry paper on a block 600 or even 800 grit should be OK depending on how level the area is, if all still looks good go to 1200 grit and then polish and then stand back and take stock, if the gelcoat was a good colour match you will hardly see the repair but otherwise it will still need hiding, a body shop would most likely paint the back panel after repair.

Good luck

Martin

 

[Minxy]

I doubt if it will be a fibreglass panel (heavy and expensive), and looking at my close-up photo there's no sign of any 'whispey' bits plus it looks too thin for fibreglass, so looks to be an ABS sheet and the cracks can run if not drilled at the ends.

 

[Norfolk Red]

Works in any hard material, plastic, metal, abs, fiberglass, even glass to an extent.
The crack has nowhere to go in a circle.

The last line tickled me, you mean like sitting on the loo. I will get my coat.

 

[funflair]

I doubt if it will be a fibreglass panel (heavy and expensive), and looking at my close-up photo there's no sign of any 'whispey' bits plus it looks too thin for fibreglass, so looks to be an ABS sheet and the cracks can run if not drilled at the ends.

I wasn't sure from the photo which is why I started my reply with the caution that I did, looking at Swifts web site the 2019 Escape range have,

• White extruded skirts link with full GRP rear panel

But not sure about the Spirit,

Martin

 

[Minxy]

I wasn't sure from the photo which is why I started my reply with the caution that I did, looking at Swifts web site the 2019 Escape range have,

• White extruded skirts link with full GRP rear panel

But not sure about the Spirit,

Martin

You may be correct, I can't find the exact spec for a 2018 version, if it is GRP its very thin, from my experience they usually have to be a bit thicker than that, but I haven't 'played' with GRP for a while!

It looks like they changed the materials between 2015 and 2018, the first brochure has no mention of GRP, the second one mentions it, so it depends on what model year the OP has.

http://storage.highbridgecaravans.co.uk/brochures/Escape-2015-Brochure.pdf

http://storage.highbridgecaravans.co.uk/brochures/2018SwiftEscape.pdf

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