Bag Seal Replacement

[oldstick]

Originally Posted by Craigrrr

Oldstick, that wood is a real hardwood that was in mine I am guessing they all were hardwood . Post up those pics no need to worry about em

I can only wish mine was in the same shape as your's was. Here is a pic of a couple of the more intact pieces I found. I have almost finished the top edge but it certainly doesn't look like a factory job but at this point, I don't care. When I get the sides done, I will have to figure some way to reinforce and seal the top corners. I am thinking maybe a couple wedges cut from foam pipe insulation. Excuse the dirty camper, it has been sitting uncovered under pine trees for the last 5 months with other maintenance going on. After this is done, it gets a thorough bath and recovered until late summer or fall.

[Tony Camper]

Regarding Bag seals, I am in the process of repairing my first trailmanor , 2002 .I'm presently replacing all wood with aluminum tubing and making new seals.the material used for the seals appears to be Flex Face sign fabric. ( i use this at work )You can find this on the Internet or better yet. If you have a full service sign shop in your area. You may be able to get some cut offs for free. Hope this may help some folks

[thankjun]

Craigrrr, I'm curious if you used the foam pipe insulation and if so how it worked. I need to replace my seals on the top half and thought I might replace all the foam with 1/2" pipe foam insulation. The old seals never sealed the corners well on my 2000 3124KB and I thought this might work better.

[thankjun]

I need to replace some rotted wood. I'd appreciate any pointers you could give. Did you glue the wood in? If so what did you use. I do woodworking so I can cut or plane pieces to match the old. I'm thinking of using Sassafras. It's a native tree in Indiana and is light weight and has natural rot resistance.

[Craigrrr]

Thankjun, I did not have to glue any wood as the wood at the top of the shell was fine. I did not use foam pipe insulation either. I had some foam left over from an upholstery project that was the same type as used from the factory.
For the corner foam, I used the original foam pieces just put on new vinyl.
Here is a pic of the foam I used for up at the top seal . I just had to cut it , I think it was about and inch or inch and a half thickness.The other advice I can give would be to use an air powered stapler for installing the new bag seal.

[TnP-2027]

It looks like like this might be one of the more detailed threads on the bag seals between the shell halves?

Wondering if there are any new options since the last post in 2017?

I am pretty sure we need to service our seals:

[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.