Bag Seal Replacement

[Panamapat]

Our 10 year old camper has been exposed to Colorado sun for most of its life and the upper shell bag seal had badly disintegrated. The rest of the bag seals are in good shape. We looked at having the upper bag seal replaced at the Trailmanor dealership in Colorado Springs, however there was a two month waiting period before they could get to it. So we tackled it ourselves and thought I'd share some pictures for others to see what is involved.

Materials - 8 feet of Top Seal Material Fabric and Seal Foam was less than $40 from The Car Show dealership in Colorado Springs. One tube of Silicone Caulk Seal - $8.

Tools - phillips head screwdriver to remove trim; straight head screwdriver and hammer & pliers to remove staples. Staple Gun T50 for fabric to wood stapling. Pneumatic stapler for Fabric thruough aluminum skin and wood (regular T50 did not have enough power). There are probably other hand powered staplers that would do the job through the aluminum skin. Also need a ladder to getup to the camper shell and plywood piece to protect camper shell.

Procedure - It took us most of a full day to remove, clean off silicone sealer, remove old bag seal, cut/trim new bag seal material, install bag seal with seal foam, and remount trim with Silicon sealer.

1) Remove aluminum trim pieces, being careful not damage as they are not only screwed in but also heavily sealed with what seems like Silicone sealer. We removed not only the top aluminum trim, but also the two side trim pieces. Remove old silicone caulk from aluminum trim and camper shell.

2) remove old bag seal by removing staples with screwdriver/hammer and pliers. Try to keep bag seal in one piece so you can use it as a template for trimming Top Seal material. You may have to bend up the roof aluminum skin to get to the staples - do so carefully as it can easily break off. Examine the wood behind the seal - ours was solid and did not need to be replaced. I expect a more wet climate may have rotted the wood.

3) Use old seal material fabric to mark outline onto replacement Top Seal Material Fabric and trim with scissors. Be sure to also trim the material to allow antenna cable to come thru the trim.

4) Center the trimmed Top Seal Material onto the upper shell and staple material through the inside aluminum skin and into the wood trim (back side of seal first). We needed a more powerful stapler as our T50 Swingline did not have enough power to go thru the aluminum skin consistently.

5) Staple in seal foam - double layered. Staples are placed around every 10-12 inches.

6) Wrap seal around foam and staple to wood trim; working from center to edges trying to keep seal material evenly taught to avoid bunching of seal.

7) We also replaced the corner bag seals, re-using some of the better portion of the old bag seal as material.

8) Before re-installing the aluminum trim pieces, be sure and make sure they are clean and straight. Heavily caulk with Silicone Seal before re-installing the trim pieces (it helps to have a helper with this). Wipe of excess Silicone sealer. check to be sure all edges of aluminum trim to outer shell are properly sealed to avoid water getting behind new bag seal.

I've posted some of our pictures in the link below. Most of the pictures are before installing the new trim showing what is behind the old seal with a few after shots.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ny4prbkhw...%20Replacement

Hope this helps.

Pat

[pauloh]

Really appreciate all the info and photos, thank you. My 2004 is also due for this treatment (sun rotted on the roof like yours), and may get it later this summer. I could not decide whether to take it to Colorado Springs or try repairing it myself and your info is very helpful for the latter possibility.

[Riwright]

Really nice set of pics. Thanks!

Great thread and pics.. thanks. I have the material on hand and plan on doing this when I get home from my upcoming two week trip to CA. Want to come up to Woodland Park and help out?? I have beer

[Panamapat]

Originally Posted by mrt10x2

Great thread and pics.. thanks. I have the material on hand and plan on doing this when I get home from my upcoming two week trip to CA. Want to come up to Woodland Park and help out?? I have beer

Timing does not work well, otherwise happy to help out!

Pat

[ShrimpBurrito]

Excellent tutorial! These instructions and photos will come in handy one day. Thank you!

Dave

[Playtime]

Good on you! I decided to take mine to the factory for replacement ($28 per foot installed). They said the wood that the bag attaches to is usually rotted and should be replaced. They removed the upper shell to do the job.

[FlyboyTR]

My Time Has Come...

Now that most of the Hurricane debris has been removed...it is time to start another Trailmanor project. My forward shell rear bag seals are shot. I have nursed them along for two years now...but it looks like we will be starting this project in the next couple of days.

Lots of great information on this thread as well as a nice picture tutorial.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ny4prbkhw...%20Replacement

I ordered the replacement seals and foam from TM shortly after purchasing the camper. Hopefully all will go well.

Thanks again to the great minds on this Forum that continue to amass valid and useful information.

[Larryjb]

This thread was a great one, and still is.

He used silicone caulk, but I'd like to recommend ProflexRV instead:
1) It remains more flexible than silicone.
2) You don't have to remove every molecule of ProflexRV if you need to reseal, unlike silicone.
3) Removing ProflexRV is much easier than silicone, if you do need to remove all.

I don't know if Pat mentioned it, but every time you insert a stainless steel screw into aluminum, squish a dab of ProflexRV into the screw hole so that the stainless steel won't be indirect contact with the aluminum. Otherwise, you risk the aluminum eroding.

[FlyboyTR]

Originally Posted by Larryjb

This thread was a great one, and still is.

He used silicone caulk, but I'd like to recommend ProflexRV instead:
1) It remains more flexible than silicone.
2) You don't have to remove every molecule of ProflexRV if you need to reseal, unlike silicone.
3) Removing ProflexRV is much easier than silicone, if you do need to remove all.

I don't know if Pat mentioned it, but every time you insert a stainless steel screw into aluminum, squish a dab of ProflexRV into the screw hole so that the stainless steel won't be indirect contact with the aluminum. Otherwise, you risk the aluminum eroding.

Great points... Thanks!

I hate silicone when it come to ANYTHING on an RV or boat. It doesn't hold well over time and so many good products will not stay adhered to it. I am not familiar with ProflexRV but will take a look at it. I have always been a Dicor fan and have used it for decades. I have about 6 tubes each of self-leveling and non-sag. That said...I will probably use that but am interested in learning about ProflexRV (especially if it's better than Dicor).

MY FINDINGS...
There is no wood rot on the roof section. Both sides were completely rotted out and almost every staple was rusted. Getting the old fabric off and most staples out was the hardest part. Tomorrow I will do some additional cleaning where I need to replace the wood. Will probably go with oak...or whatever appropriate hardwood is available. Don't think I want to do treated because of problems getting it to glue/epoxy into place.

I did check my pneumatic T-50 stapler. It will shoot through the aluminum and into the wood with no problems. I wanted to use Monel staples...but it was going to be a couple of weeks before I would receive them. I have stainless steel staples in the shop and will go with those. Since we have a 5 day Thanksgiving trip planned to the mountains of north Georgia...I didn't have time to wait on the Monel. The stainless should be fine for the next 10+ years.