Front Cap Repair

[Ctct84]

Welcome any suggestions for better page to post this...

Currently repairing a roof/wall leak and replacing the front cap as I cracked the original when removing it. 1/8ish ply already glued down over the entire cap and transitioning pretty smoothly to the roof deck, with additional framing near the transition, and rigid foam underneath to give some firmer backing.

#1 - any preferences on painted 4x8x.040 aluminum vs 1 pc of filon? Similar pricing and availability.

#2 - can either be installed without fully adhering to substrate? Having trouble seeing major issues with fully fastened edges and a now much more rigid layer beneath. This is my first TT, so I may be naive to what's possible. Wrinkles or bubbles? Movement while towing from air pressure differentials?

This is an Outback 23rs. Thanks for any ideas.

[chuckster57]

Welcome to the forum

As a rule Filon is bought in a roll, and should be adhered to a sheet of backing prior to installation. In your case wanting to curve I would use the thinnest Luan you can get. We use a spray adhesive, I can give you the name when I go to work tomorrow.

Since either filon or sheet metal will only be secured at the edges, make sure you place the fasteners as close to the edge as possible so the corner molding covers them.

FWIW, I do RV collision work for a living now, so I may have an insight.

[Djrnno]

I'm having to replace the backing on my front cap as well due to water damage, it's an 08 Outback Sidney edition. What was the adhesive you mentioned to glue the Filon to the Luan backing?

[chuckster57]

It’s called sta-bond. We use a spray gun to apply.