Fender Braces

[Cougar25]

Our Cougar 25RDS is only a year old. I noticed that I was missing a number of screws from the black fenders that are over the wheels. When I got underneath to see what was going on, I found two problems.

First, only 3 or 4 screws in the middle of the fender had something positive to drive into. (Self tapping metal screws). The ones that fell out, at the beginning and end of the fenders only had the extremely thin-walled siding. I fixed it with small screws and nylon washers.

Second, the side walls around the wheels are supported by thin, braces or struts. They are nothing but cheap aluminum and I found I had 3 broken ones! We don't boondock, and the closest thing we've been to a really rough road would be I-95 between I-24 and the Georgia border. (It is in horrific condition.).

Anyway, I recommend that you check the fender/skirts and sidewall struts.

[chuckster57]

What you found was most likely the result of a worker at the factory over tightening the screws and stripping out the holes. The material for the supports is common across the industry and allows adjustment (bending) to get the correct alignment.

[sourdough]

There have been many threads/posts on those flimsy fenders. With a search you can find many suggested ways of repair and reinforce them. Here's a link to one thread but there are many more;

https://www.keystoneforums.com/forum...t=fender+brace

[Socaldave]

Just repaired and reinforced my left one last week. Previous owner had a blow out and it mangled the cheap thermoformed skirt pretty bad and took out the flimsy braces. I was going to buy new but changed my thought process once I looked at pricing for those cheap *** things. Laid some resin and 2 or 3 layers fiberglass cloth down on the damaged areas and it's stronger than new. After I reinstalled it I had some .125" aluminum channel laying around so cut/bent that up to size and braced the right side as well. No more wobble at 65mph now. Yore results may vary...