Gang:
Here is my most recent update. After moving the rig from Chula Vista to Menifee (about 70 freeway miles), I did my internet research, got a list of 10 potential repairers generated, took my laptop with the pictures of the problem, and planned a day of driving in So. Ca. to visit/interview them all.
Temecula RV was helpful, but had a backlog until the end of June. They DID give me a loose ballpark estimate of $4K - 6K for the repair.
I went over to Hemet Trailer Supply, and although they had 3 service bays, THERE WAS NO ONE PRESENT AT THE SERVICE DESK FOR OVER 10 MINUTES, AND NO EVIDENCE OF ANYONE WORKING IN THE SERVICE BAYS. There was even another customer waiting ahead of me. I walked out.
Next stop was my preliminary favorite from their website, All Magic RV Repair in Norco. They were very sympathetic and attentive, and were ready to send a mobile estimator the 40 miles to Menifee where the trailer is set up. Their facility, though, is on a major active street, with a small front lot up a small hill. I had terrible images of trying to get my 57 foot rig just into their asphalt, and I don't think they had a forklift for moving the rig around. They didn't want to make ANY financial estimates immediately.
I then went to Fontana to (Snells) RV Paint Department (
www.rvpaintdepartment.com ) I met with Raymond Lopez who runs the facility. I explained that I am a fulltimer, had enough room on my credit cards to pay only $5K, and wanted it fixed/upgraded correctly so that the problem DOESN'T RE-OCCUR. Raymond said that they would do the job for a MAXIMUM OF $5K, if their costs overran that they would eat the difference, if they took the front cap off and determined they couldn't do the job, they would replace the front cap and let me go with $0 charge. Once the front cap was off they would have the rig moved to an independent certified welder's shop (although they routinely do welding at their business). The welder will come up with the RIGHT fix (I am going to supply them with printouts of Marc's technical posts) and then the rig will be returned to RV Paint Department for final re-assembly. The only qualm I have with this proposal is that Raymond gave a time estimate of 1 to 2 months. My brother and his wife are comfortable with me staying with them for a month, but I do have other relatives in the area I could stay with. I am hoping that Raymond is way long on his time estimate, and the fact of small business cash flow will speed the job along.
So, I got on the roof with a heat gun yesterday and removed the Eternabond tape over the top front cap seal (the tape backer came off easily, the underlying adhesive goo took a lot of heating and scraping). I then defrosted the freezer and am unpacking the fridge/freezer for transport to my brother's house. I have a big checklist of stuff to take to my brother's house for my stay starting today.
I would like to look into moving from the MorRyde pinbox to one of the more Air Isolated ones as soon as I can build up my credit lines some.
Thanks for everybody's advice and commiseration, and I will keep the forum updated on the repairs. I hope to get internal pictures of the damage/problems/fix.