Cracks in End Caps July 31, 2005, 05:14:07 pm Yahoo Message Number: 56319Hello Lazy Daze Memebers,We have a 26 1/2 foot mid bath purchased in May 2002 that has been under cover for most of the time we have owned it. It has 25,000 miles on it. When we returned from a recent trip I was washing and waxing the LD and noticed that there are some cracks around the screws that hold the end caps in place close to both front doors. I even have a very slight crack at the mid point of the front fender skirt where it joins the body of the cab! The end caps are also starting to separate from the coach where there are no screws and they are (were)held only by the 3M V.H.B. bonding tape. There has been no trauma or forces to explain these failures.Has anyone else out there experienced these problems? What is the best remedy? I am concerned about a gradual worsening of this condition leading to leakage and water entry into the underlying wooden framework. I am considering taking the LD all the way back to Montclair, but would really like to make the repairs myself if they are not too sensitive or techinically challenging.Thanks for your help,Tom and Kathy Sherman Prescott, AZ (928) 771-7530
Re: Cracks in End Caps Reply #1 – July 31, 2005, 05:26:09 pm Yahoo Message Number: 56320wrote: noticed that there are some cracks around the screws that hold the end caps in place close to both front doors. I even have a very slight crack at the mid point of the front fender skirt where it joins the body of the cab! The end caps are also starting to separate from the coach where there are no screws and they are (were)held only by the 3M V.H.B. bonding tape.--------- Tom, if you look at the home page of the message board, you'll see a link to Art's "searchable archive". The search phrases "end caps" and/or "end cap separation" will bring up MANY posts on this topic. One very thorough explanation/solution is a post from Don McG -- #48422.Joan
Cracks in End Caps Reply #2 – August 02, 2005, 04:05:50 pm Yahoo Message Number: 56378Quote We have a 26 1/2 foot mid bath purchased in May 2002 that has been under cover for most of the time we have owned it. It has 25,000 miles on it. When we returned from a recent trip I was washing and waxing the LD and noticed that there are some cracks around the screws that hold the end caps in place close to both front doors. I even have a very slight crack at the mid point of the front fender skirt where it joins the body of the cab! The end caps are also starting to separate from the coach where there are no screws and they are (were)held only by the 3M V.H.B. bonding tape. Tom & Kathy, Our 2002 MB with 22,000 miles has no cracks on the front of the coach as you have described. We do have slight separation of the end cap but not serious enough yet to began the remedy that Don McQ has offered.The problem you describe does not seem to be related to end cap separation. I would suggest you contact Steve at LD for advise.As a sidenote I did discover shortly after delivery that the top of the cab over had hairline fractures running side to side for about 18 inches. Steve told me not to worry as it was the gelcoat that cracked and not the fiberglass. He asked for me to bring it to the factory. At that time we lived 2,800 miles from the Mothership.Keep us posted.Good luck,Malcolm
Re: Cracks in End Caps Reply #3 – August 02, 2005, 05:31:22 pm Yahoo Message Number: 56382This is the one thing on Ruby that is concerning me. This has been a brutally hot summer back here with temps over 100 over a half dozen times so far and in the 90's too darned many times to count. Ruby sits outside {hard as heck to locate covered storage} and when I went to see her this weekend, the rear end caps had alarmingly large verticle separation between the cap and the aluminum siding. I moved her so the back end was away from the sun and after an hour, the "fissures" closed up darned near completely. I now park her nose into the parking slot. This makes her more difficult to pull out but now those rear endcaps point toward the morning sun {less intense}.Since she's an 04, she has the end cap "bands" with the screws on each end and these have had some "up and down slippage" causing some dark, "rub marks" above and below the band. I noticed all of this not long after getting Ruby {almost a year ago to the day} and sent picures to and spoke with Steve at the M'Ship last fall and he told me if the vertical fissues and the areas around the end cap bands showed any substantial openings, I should use the OSI 255 on the spot.Problems with this fix - white sealant on the red stripes - no confidence that this will hold very long {confirmed by Don's experiences with OSI 255 use on the end caps}.There are certain big disadvantages to living 1500 miles from the M'Ship and not being confident enough in one's repair abilites to attempt fixes beyond globbing the OSI 255 in the cracks. Sooooo, I'll use the sealant and hope for the best.DaveRuby the red 04 RK
Re: [Life With A Lazy Daze RV] Re: Cracks in End Caps Reply #4 – August 02, 2005, 06:26:11 pm Yahoo Message Number: 56384this is probably an ignorant question, but I was going to buy a cover for mine; wouldn't that help alleviate the problem? Jackie Dave devans3@...> wrote:This is the one thing on Ruby that is concerning me. This has been a brutally hot summer back here with temps over 100 over a half dozen times so far and in the 90's too darned many times to count. Ruby sits outside {hard as heck to locate covered storage} and when I went to see her this weekend, the rear end caps had alarmingly large verticle separation between the cap and the aluminum siding. I moved her so the back end was away from the sun and after an hour, the "fissures" closed up darned near completely. I now park her nose into the parking slot. This makes her more difficult to pull out but now those rear endcaps point toward the morning sun {less intense}.Since she's an 04, she has the end cap "bands" with the screws on each end and these have had some "up and down slippage" causing some dark, "rub marks" above and below the band. I noticed all of this not long after getting Ruby {almost a year ago to the day} and sent picures to and spoke with Steve at the M'Ship last fall and he told me if the vertical fissues and the areas around the end cap bands showed any substantial openings, I should use the OSI 255 on the spot.Problems with this fix - white sealant on the red stripes - no confidence that this will hold very long {confirmed by Don's experiences with OSI 255 use on the end caps}.There are certain big disadvantages to living 1500 miles from the M'Ship and not being confident enough in one's repair abilites to attempt fixes beyond globbing the OSI 255 in the cracks. Sooooo, I'll use the sealant and hope for the best.Dave Ruby the red 04 RKStart your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[Life With A Lazy Daze RV] Re: Cracks in End Caps Reply #5 – August 02, 2005, 08:11:08 pm Yahoo Message Number: 56388Quotethis is probably an ignorant question, but I was going to buy a cover for mine; wouldn't that help alleviate the problem?QuoteJackie Too many horror stories heard about covers {trapping moisture - nearly impossible to handle, on and off and on and off, tearing in wind [plenty of wind in these parts] etc.} and I think the heat would still be intense but I have to think it would help some being out of direct sunlight. I'll see if parking away from the most intense rays of the day will help.DaveRuby the red 04 RK
Re: Cracks in End Caps Reply #6 – August 04, 2005, 11:48:32 pm Yahoo Message Number: 56470Hi Dave, Maybe you should invest in a tarp or one of those Class C RV covers. I had one on my white SOB coach years ago. It worked very well in keeping the marine salt moisture and the very hot California sun off the coach. Regards,Rubin -
Re: Cracks in End Caps and NE heat Reply #7 – August 05, 2005, 03:31:24 pm Yahoo Message Number: 56487QuoteThis is the one thing on Ruby that is concerning me. This has been aQuotebrutally hot summer back here with temps over 100 Hi , Dave. We came through NE 2 weeks ago tomorrow, spending the night at the KOA in Grand Island, on our way to Madeline Island in the Apostle Islands, just off Bayfield, WI in Lake Superior. The drive along I-80 seemed worse than the desert. By afternoon, we finally turned on the genset and ran the roof air - and ran it all night and through the next day and night in S. MN. It was 108 in G Is when we arrived.There were six of us + a dog in our 2002 30' and we kept plenty cool with the roof + dash a/c. We also slept fine with 2 adults in the pull-out couch bed and 2 children in the pull-out dinette for which I have made convertible into a bed.It is beautiful and the weather is perfect on Lake Superior.Chris Horst Denver
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