Hi,
Great pic!!! This helps a lot.
I'm not sure what model and year your camper is, but I remember your screen name, and by the picture, it appears you have an '80s something camper. This means you have a metal camper roof. Around 1996, the roofs began to transition to an EDPM rubber roof membrane, and the way they come apart differs from that of a metal roof.
If the large hole, to the right in your pic, has rotted wood inside and the screw will not hold, then there needs to be wood repair.
Now, how to take a look inside and repair the wood? I'm assuming you have the metal roof, correct? The metal roof makes it more complex to lift the right front corner of the roof's metal membrane.
Here is something to try before you take anything apart. Using an ice pick, probe the large hole to determine its depth until you reach solid wood. That is, if there is any wood at the end of the hole. The wall is only approximately 1 to 1 1/2" thick. If you shove the ice pick in 2 to 3", then there is no wood inside, as you are into a wall or the ceiling cavity. The hope was that there was some level of solid wood behind the existing hole, allowing a longer screw to be used if enough wood remained. Odds are slim, but there's a chance there's wood, so you should at least check.
Do you have the old screws that were in there? What size and length are they that screwed into the camper?
You can try poking around in the hole to see how rotten the OD of the hole is. The threads of the old screw likely rotted the hole, making it larger in internal diameter to accommodate the screw, and the extent of the rot may have been minimal or significant. If by pure luck, (it does not happen often, but maybe?), there is still solid wood at the OD of the hole, then there may be options on how to create a fix into that solid wood you can screw into. Have a look and see what you can find.
Next, I will provide a general overview of what is involved in accessing the area to replace the wood. I think this may be more than you want to deal with, or not. Again, I hope you have some solid wood on the OD of the hole to work with.
1. The front right corner molding (I think you call this trim) is screwed in from the front wall into the corner wood. There may be a vinyl screw cover that lifts out of the molding and exposes a series of screws starting at the roof line all the way down the molding to the bottom of the camper. Those screws are removed, and then, using a heat gun, you warm the molding. Starting at the top, apply lifting pressure, heat some more, lift, heat, and it will come off. The old putty tape will soften with heat. Just keep the heat gun moving, not in one spot, to prevent burning the paint.
This post with pictures will help illustrate that the front right corner molding is coming off. NOTE: This is a rubber roof, and it is made differently than your metal roof; however, the pictures will still be helpful
2004 T2475 Repair - Project Camper No 2
2. Once the corner molding is removed, you need to remove the awning rail. You may only have to remove approximately 4 to 5 feet of screws, leaving the rest in place. Same thing, take the screws out and use a heat gun to soften the rail, then gently pry it away from the camper. This will then expose the metal roof membrane that is folded over the side walls of the camper. This is a pic from a 1979 Sunline showing the metal roof folded over the side wall
3. Using hand-seamer pliers, like these from HF or other places,
3-1/2 in. Hand Seamer. You gently lift the folded section of the roof membrane to straighten it out (with a 90-degree bend only), and the fold over will now be flat with the main roof. You only need to lift about 2 to 3 feet from the front. Your goal is to be able to pivot the top piece of siding back to open up the top of the wall cavity, but you can't pivot it back just yet to expose the rotted wood.
4. Here comes the challenging problem: to lift (pivot out) the top front right sheet piece of the right side wall siding, the siding folded over and stapled straight in from the front wall into the right corner wood. This may be the kill shot for you, or not. The way the metal roof is made, the last sheet of roof membrane is seamed to the top of the front wall siding. That seam needs to remain intact, and you cannot lift the front right corner of the roof membrane without addressing the front wall siding.
The long side walls siding is longer than the wall, and the ends of the siding bend over 90 degrees to the front wall and are stapled in place. They do this to make a better corner joint. See here on this 79 camper.
The problem is, you only need to lift back, pivot back, and expose the top right sheet of siding to reveal the rotted wood where the awning screw was. But that sheet has the tabs folded over onto the front wall and stapled in place. The front wall siding extends over the top of the tabs. And... the front wall siding at the top is seamed to the roof metal. You must start at the bottom of the front wall and lift each front wall siding sheet, removing it. Then, lift the top front wall sheet and the top right roof membrane sheet as one piece. That is a lot of work. And you will see and find out if there is corner rot in the wood of the front wall. You will fix that while it is open.
Here is Sunline Fan's 1979 camper post, and his camper is being completely restored.
New Project Sunline - 1979 12 1/2' MC
Here is how I repaired the rotted front right corner, which was on a Sunline rubber roof. We could lift the roof membrane, separate from the front siding. I could open the top front siding as the siding was not joined/seamed to the rubber. In this case, we also removed the front siding, but did not have to, as we could only peel back the top large sheet of siding to expose the top right side sheet to rebuild the top corner board wood.
Back Corner Roof Repair
This is what your camper would look like (a different floor plan, but the same build method) with the top right siding folded back once you can access it. Those awning screws are screwed into the outer band board of the ceiling. OR the right wall, top wall plate.
As a FYI, in the future, those awning mounting screws require a caulk (Dicor non-sag lap sealant) applied to the threads before inserting the lag screws. That creates a seal on the siding, preventing any leaks. I know you inherited this problem from a prior owner; I'm just passing this along, as you will hopefully be putting the awning arm back on someday. See this post, this link will drop you in the middle of an awning fabric change and it shows the caulk on the lag screws I'm talking about.
Main Awning Replacement -(Lots of pics)
If you still want to replace the awning fabric, try to determine the brand of awning you have. The old ones used a lot of the Faulkner brand awnings. However, it may not have been a factory-installed awning, and it could be a Dometic Sun Chaser or another brand. Please let us know the brand if you still plan to replace the fabric, and we can offer some suggestions on where to obtain the replacement fabric. Pics of the awning help too.
I hope all this helps.
John
