Front End Repair on 2014 Big Country

[navyAZ1]

Should anyone of you have fiber glass damage as I did from road debris as I did on I-75 here's a way to fix it that is not only cost effective, but also looks good. The damage happened when we were headed N. on I-75 just south of Macon, GA and the 18 wheeler in front of us lost a mud flap, with traffic on my left, and merging traffic on my right I had no chance to avoid the mud flap. It went under the truck and was hit by the right rear tire on the truck when in turn flipped it up and the mud flap came up and hit the lower front portion of the 5th wheel. Estimates were $400 to $600 to patch and paint the damage. A fellow Heartlander suggested the repair method I used and it only cost $70 plus a couple of hours of my time. Now I'm going to try and attach photos, hope it works.

 

[JohnDar]

Looks like it was made that way. Nice work.

 

[priorguy]

Nice job. Looks factory. Actually better because they don't put diamond plate there in the first place.


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[Pizzadigger]

Looks great! hope you sealed or caulked the damage before installing the diamond plate. I think it would look even better to install the plate all the way up to the top of the hatch and maybe even cover the hatch also.

 

[sjs731]

I've thought about doing that even without having damage. It looks great.


Steve and Carrie
HOC#2252
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[cookie]

Thanks for the pics. The repair looks great.
I have similar, although self inflicted, damage and have a 4x8 sheet of aluminum diamond plate in the garage waiting to be installed.
I was going to install it to above the door, but I think yours looks much better.
Now I have some incentive. Nice job.

Peace
Dave

 

[nscaler2]

Should anyone of you have fiber glass damage as I did from road debris as I did on I-75 here's a way to fix it that is not only cost effective, but also looks good. The damage happened when we were headed N. on I-75 just south of Macon, GA and the 18 wheeler in front of us lost a mud flap, with traffic on my left, and merging traffic on my right I had no chance to avoid the mud flap. It went under the truck and was hit by the right rear tire on the truck when in turn flipped it up and the mud flap came up and hit the lower front portion of the 5th wheel. Estimates were $400 to $600 to patch and paint the damage. A fellow Heartlander suggested the repair method I used and it only cost $70 plus a couple of hours of my time. Now I'm going to try and attach photos, hope it works.

Great job!! Looks very professional. What adhesive did you use to attach the diamond plate to your unit?

 

[BouseBill]

Excellent, looks great!

 

[navyAZ1]

Great job!! Looks very professional. What adhesive did you use to attach the diamond plate to your unit?

Used Gorilla Glue after caulking the breaks in the fiberglass. Then I used almond caulk on the edges, this is the type that they use on the RV's at the factory, not regular almond silicone caulk that you would find at one of the major stores. The type the factory uses doesn't seem to mold or mildew as bad, I made the mistake when we had our Big Horn of using some white silicone caulk I bought at Ace Hardware and it molded really bad and stained, it really looked bad. Lesson learned on that one.