Scoutman's 'new' Starcraft Pine Mtn on Dodge 3500

[SLO_F-250]

Scoutman,

I was just having problems with my fridge. It wouldn't get colder than 60*. I took the burner apart, wire brushed it, and let it soak in some paint thinner. I was able to get a little buildup out, then I buffed the baffle with some sandpaper and got it smooth. Followed that up with cleaning the "chimney" out. I taped some sandpaper to a metal rod and threw it in my cordless drill. Again, got some minimal buildup out.

This past weekend I had to turn it down it was getting to 33*. I have a dometic RM2193, but they all work the same. Maybe that will help. Those puppies have a very small operating temperature and from talking to a few people and some internet research, that is usually the trick if the cooling unit is fine.....

 

[Scoutman]

Roof repair.

Well it's been a few years since I've updated this thread. A lot has happened since then and a lot more happened this weekend. We've only used it a few times in the past year and the last time being about 6 months ago at Thanksgiving. So when we moved to the new house I sold the canopy that I was parking the camper in. It has sat in my driveway and eventually I covered it with a tarp cause I felt bad leaving it out in the weather. I had noticed that the leading edge had a caulk line that needed some attention but didn't think it was a big deal. Well fast forward to this past weekend and I found out it was a big deal... the hard way. My wife and I were taking a trip to Mississippi to pick up our kids who have been at the grandparents for the past 2 weeks. We left late on Friday and arrived at a campground about 0200 Sat. We got the camper level and when I reached up to pop one of the front clips I noticed that the entire front cap as well as half our roof was GONE!! We were in shock to say the least but had a drink and crashed to deal with it in the daylight.

This is what we woke up to. (picts below)

I still have the fridge issues which are very frustrating.

I'm trying hard not to sell this and find something else.

 

[Scoutman]

The trip home...

So since we were ~4 hrs away from home and we had a camper that was falling apart we needed a plan to get this thing home without further damage. A trip to Lowes and I had a small tarp, a roll of stretch wrap, gorilla and packing tape and some extra ratchet straps. Here's what we came up with...

 

[Scoutman]

So now I'm doing my homework trying to decide what to do with this roof. Should I start a new thread for roof repair or keep it going here?

The original roof was a plastic fiberglass type of sheet. Best I can tell there was a wood frame, filled with foam, skinned with this roofing that was glued down. The inside ceiling looks like a coated board of some sort. The side walls were stapled to the roof frame and then trim'd out on the corners.

The damaged roof skin goes all the way back to the AC unit. That probably means that I need to pull the AC and all the trim and reskin the top. Obviously the front board need to be replaced too but that seems minor at the moment. Improvements I'd like to make while I'm in here are wiring for solar, cut a hole and frame for a fantastic fan, wiring for outside flood lights, and adding some awning attachment strips.

 

[pods8]

Are you handy? I'd take off the AC, side trip, etc. to give clear access to the roof. Peel off all the loose stuff (just like when repainting a house, take off the loose stuff) it all may come off in the glue joint, if so great if not take the loose stuff off and then feather sand the rest. Epoxy and micro balloons mixed up to patch those gouged and such. Then reskin the thing with some commercial FRP sheets (I'd personally glue it down by rough sanding the foam then spreading down an expoxy microballoon slurry with a notched trowel, but other products could likely work as well), then reinstall and caulk in the stuff your removed.

Just my random thoughts.

 

[Scoutman]

Handy, yes to a fault. I have more projects in play than I have time. I really didn't want to get into this but it looks like I don't have much of a choice. I have a buddy that is willing to help too.

That sounds like a good plan. So FRP huh? A quick search comes up with some sheets that are only 4' wide. Can you get it full width and where would you recommend getting this stuff? Benefits over rubber or aluminum?

 

[pods8]

That sounds like a good plan. So FRP huh? A quick search comes up with some sheets that are only 4' wide. Can you get it full width and where would you recommend getting this stuff? Benefits over rubber or aluminum?

Well I'm doing a fiberglass build so it quickly comes to mind. I'm not familiar with the bonding profiles of rubber or aluminum over foam. I do know how to bond fiberglass on it so that's what I suggested.

If you have an RV manufacturer around you might be able to source a singular sheet from their stock?

You can glass it by hand as an option too. The roof on mine took me about 10hrs to do three plys of 8-9oz glass and then a layer of peel ply over it (helps fill the weave). Thayercraft has some well priced thicker 14oz fabric (style 1582) that I'd be tempted to try out if I was starting my build from scratch again and put down two plys of that verse three of a 8-9oz glass (I used a bunch of 1543 and some 7781). I'd practice a bit first (and order a sample of that 1582 if it was of interest) before going full tilt though.

 

[Scoutman]

I doubt I will be glassing it by hand. I've done just enough of that stuff to know I don't want to do it again.

I need to get some calls to local RV shops to see if I can get that FRP locally.

 

[Scoutman]

So I made a few calls around to my local RV places. One wanted the serial number of the camper so they could go directly to Starcraft and get a replacement roof. Another suggested I go with a PVC roof. I'm not sure how that will work on the leading edge of the top.

 

[Scoutman]

Doing some more homework on roofing materials....

I just called Crane Composites who seem to specialize in these FRP roofs for RV's. Problem is that stuff (retail pricing) runs around $72 per foot (96" wide roll). :Wow1:

I also found this website that carries them but they only have 4' wide sheets as does the Lowes website. The price is more reasonable but I wouldn't have a seamless roof.

Fan-tastic fan 5000RBT going on order soon.

PVC roof still may be the best way to go.

Picts to follow.

 

[Scoutman]

I built a quick dolly out of 2x6's and some heavy duty casters I had sitting around. It allowed me and a buddy to push it into the garage by hand. There's a rise into my shop so a Jeep and winch was ready if needed.

 

[Scoutman]

Taking the front strip off. The rest of the top is fine, just the front board. I'll be replacing this with either a board skinned with Aluminum or vinyl or I may just use a PVC board.

 

[Scoutman]

Not much new to report. I bought a PVC 1x6 and made a few cuts to fit it in place of the rotten board. My son helped me clean out the channel that the board fits in and we got the side trim off as well as the AC cover.

 

[Scoutman]

PVC board cut and dry fit in place. I'm working on cleaning all the friggin' butyl tape off the trim and mating surfaces which takes a while. Best method I've found so far is lightly putty knife the big stuff off and acetone the residue off after that.

Fantastic fan 5000 series is now on order along with new butyl tape, trim cover strip, and new matching front lights. I thought about going LED but didn't see the benefit since these clearance lights are only on when the truck lights are on and running and I'm not going to delay this to go back and change the old ones.

I'm also looking for any good ideas on mounting solar up top. I got a small panel for Fathers day so I want expansion room for the future without having to drill more holes. Looking at mounting some T or L track on the roof to attach some aluminum angle frames to mount the panels to.

Any interest in these repairs or am I cluttering up my original thread?

 

[SLO_F-250]

Any interest in these repairs or am I cluttering up my original thread?

Heck no! Keep the picts and documentation coming. Sometimes were just quiet I guess. :sombrero:

Everything is looking good. Quite a project. For solar, if you dont want to penetrate the roof manybe think about the stick on panels. They look to be pretty cool. Just a little more pricey. I would suggest solar as it was probably my best/favorite mod to date!

Keep up the good work! :smiley_drive: