So I discovered while we were outfitting our trailer and getting ready to hit the road that the right side fender was damaged over the back axle on our T-2199. I missed it when we bought the trailer cause its the first trailer that we have every bought and I didn't know what to look for. Either the previous owner or the dealer had pulled the drawer under the stove and put duck tape over the hole on the inside of the fender. Now I'm a big fan of duck tape, but this seemed like it needed something of a more complete repair.
I would have ideally just pulled the fender and replaced it, but I didn't have the time since we were trying to get on the road and didn't have a good place locally to get the fender from. I may still do that repair completely in the future so if anyone has a source to get a fender from I would appreciate it. Here is the fender damage before -
My dad and I came up with the idea to use some sheet aluminum and pop rivet it in place with sealant around the edges to keep it closed up to the elements. I cut a couple of pieces of aluminum to fit and smoothed / rounded the edges so if there was tire contact I wouldn't lose tread.
I used all weather GOOP to seal the patches and I put this under the edge of the patches, and then sealed the edges of the patch after it was in place.
Once I had the pieces cut and formed in place I drilled through them and the fender and then pressed a pop-rivet through the hole. I used 1/8 inch rivets with backers to even out any stress on the fender. My wife put the backers on from inside the trailer using a flashlight under the stove.
Here are the patches tacked in place with the GOOP
Then the final patches with the rivets and edges sealed.
We've put about 2000 miles on the trailer since we did this repair and everything is good. I was a little worried initially that the edge on the patch might come up if the tire hit and cause problems interfering with the tire, but everything is staying nice and flat and aside from a few scuff marks in the middle of the patch from tire contact all is well.
Overall this was a pretty fast way to fix this fender hole, took a total of about 4 hours with making the patches and installation. If you want to see bigger versions of the picture click
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo...eat=directlink
--Tom
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