Help with fender repairs

I have a 09 BH 3370 and the fenders on the slides have all busted at the screw demples and the bracket on the door side has also broke loose. Has anyone else had this happen. I need to know what kind of material they are made from so I will know what to use. My dealer told me to call Heartland, they might send me a new set. I called and they told me I could buy a new set from my dealer. I need to repair all the cracks in the demples and build up the demples so when I tighten them they will tighten against the 5er and not pull out the demple again. Thanks

That happened to mine while still under warranty. I installed the new one myself. I fabricated a bracket out of 1/8 flat stock to match the existing one and bolted it and the existing one together to give the fender more support. I saved the old fender, trimmed it a little and using an automotive glue, glued the old one to the back of the new one. Then mounted this to the Bighorn. It doubled the thickness and bracket weight. This has been on my rig for two years now and no problems. They make the fenders too thin and overtighten the screws. Had this happen on SOB also. You could also use some left over shower stall material or something similar to add strength to the dimples to help hold the screws again using a good automotive glue. I am a little of a pack rat and keep left over pieces for these things.

I had the same problem with my old Big horn, and I found what worked for me was to go the hardware store and get enough rubber washers for each screw on the fender and I removed each screw from the fender and placed a rubber washer between the fender and body of the coach and was able to tighten down the srew as needed and did not have any further problems, I had since traded the Horn for a 09 Landmark and did the same thing to it and several miles later still working!

I bet new fenders aren't cheap! I have the same issue and will eventually try to reinforce it from behind with some type of fiberglass patching kit. I have enough to do already on this trailer so this project may have to wait. Both the fenders and the facia (lower skirting) are just marginal at best anyway. All in an effort to save weight and money I guess.

I had a similar problem. Bought a new skirt from Heartland (+- $50)!!! My North Trail didn't have a support bracket so I made one from a wire shelf support arm. I also used spacers behind the skirt as the dimples do not set flush with the body. Wish I had thought to "line" the back of the new one with the old one!!!

My fenders are doing the same thing. I was wondering about using some of the white duct tape available these days. That and the suggestion earlier about fiberglass repair. Does anyone know how much a set of new fenders are for a 5er? We recently had a minor 'fender bender' scrape on the door side. It cracked the tire fender area. I patched it underneath with duct tape and it's holding, but I'd like to improve it. Also around the screw spaces that are cracking. Also, minor abrasions around the skirt area need to be cleaned up a bit. Any ideas?

I just just replaced one on my 2008 BH3370RL Door side. I called heartland parts. I can;t find the charge for it but it was not more then $50.00. Heartland uses different sizes so measure yours before you call will save some time. Ernie

Thanks Ernie. I will see what I can do to repair it, and then give Heartland a call. My observation is that all the fenders need some repair around the screw dipples. Fifty bucks apiece could get high quickly. I'm going to try reinforcing them first. I appreciate your comments about the cost. Thanks, Dan

This will sound weird, but we've had good luck using acrylic fingernail material for patching compound. I used to do my own nails, so got the thought to try it on broken ABS and plastics. A refrigerator shelf I patched 5 years ago is still good. The trick is to clean the area well. You can get small kits with the liquid and polymer at walmart for under $10 and it will do quite a bit. The material can be sanded, drilled and painted after its dry. It may take a little experimenting to get the right consistency to work, (better too wet than too dry).

DEB, wHY DO YA THINK YOUR IDEA SOUNDS WEIRD ? Thank you very much for educating us all ! Your idea sounds like a GOOD one

RollingHome said:

DEB, wHY DO YA THINK YOUR IDEA SOUNDS WEIRD ? Thank you very much for educating us all ! Your idea sounds like a GOOD one

Click to expand...

Well, I can just picture all these guys going in and buying acrylic fingernail supplies... LOL

I had the same problem with my 2010 BH 3670RL. I sent pictures and talked with Eric, the Heartland rep for the midwest. Heartland is replacing the fender. The screw broke first, dealer put another screw in, it broke and took the bottom of the fender with it. I have seen several with white duct tape on them and it looked like it had been holding for a long time. I am also getting my 4th slam door, each time they replace it the new one lasts longer. I hope this one will be the last. We have just been thru the factory, Brian took us when they weren't in production. It was like going to my Mecca. we loved it and Brian was great. We really learned about the quality construction and materials used in the BigHorn.

Eric suggested that we go to Capital RV in Elkhart for the repair work. Good choice! They really worked with us to schedule us in and out as quickly as possible.

Perhaps,someone could post a picture of this problem. It's not easy to picture the issue when people talk about demples, dipples and dimples. I like to hear of these potential problems so that I can watch out for them, and I appreciate all of the above postings.

This sounds like a good idea for several areas with the poly/acrylic material of the fenders. The price sounds reasonable. I think it's worth trying.
Thanks, Dan

One of the causes of this problem is the way the material used to make the supporting bracket. Had a similar problem with my old 5r. As you travel down the road, watch how the bottoms move/flap at the bottom. This puts more stress on the fender where they are attached tot the body at the dimples. I made new support brackets using large "L" braces where the brackets attach to the body and doubled the material for the brace down the middle. Will have to check my new Greystone's fenders and will be doing some reinforcement.