How do I repair a cut bag seal?

On my 01, 2619, I noticed after our recent snow storm here in Portland that my upper shell bag seal has about a 2' long cut on the outward face side revealing the inside foam insulation.

Anybody else out there had this happen to them? Any permanent repair suggestions?

I'm thinking about using some form of permanent waterproof glue and duct tape...

Suggestions appreciated!

Thanks!

Gregg

You could use white duck tape and that might work. However, that seal is very important and makes the TM weather tight and keeps bugs out. When our's was old and compressed (not actually cut) it was not making a good seal. We got it replaced at the TM factory. There is stuffing inside it that makes it the the right thickness. If your stuffing got wet, it might have lost it's shape. Good luck with this.

I rebuilt the upper shell's lowermost side seals on our 3124KS last year but haven't rebuilt any of the roof seals. I suspect that one would have to go through similar steps in replacing the fabric in any of the seals. First, you have to provide some space between the seal and the surface with which it forms a seal. In the case of the roof seals and the side seals this can be accomplished by removing the bolts that hold the upper shell to its lifter arms, then tilting the shell down at its front end. You must first remove the exposed staples that attach the fabric to one side of the underlying long syyrofoam board that's forms the spine, or backbone, of the seal. After you've removed all of these staples, the fabric can be folded back to expose the strips of foam rubber padding. These are held in place with more staples driven directly down (or up) into the long styrofoam backer boards. You should now look diligently for the hard-to-find flat head wood/sheet metal screws that attach the styrofoam boards to the inner aluminum panel. Once you remove these, an entire seal can be can be lifted off from the inside of the shell. A seal must be taken off from the shell because its fabric is stapled to its backside. That is, the fabric is sandwiched between backer board and the inner aluminum shell. It is the only way to replace the old fabric with new fabric. A problem you will encounter in doing this, however, is that the removal of the lightweight but fragile styrofoam boards results in their coming off in pieces. In my own case I didn't have any new backer boards (for my side seals) and therefore had to patch them together with epoxy glue and long, thin, hardwood reinforcing strips. After you've replaced the torn fabric with new fabric (available from the TM factory), staple the fabric in place to the underside of backer boards, replace the foam cushion strips and staple them back in place. I applied new foam cushion strips that I cut from a large piece of foam that I purchased. The seals are then held in place on the inside of the shell and reattached with flat head screws to the inner aluminum panel. The fabric is then folded back over the board and foam cushion and tacked to the other side (exposed side) of the boards with more staples. I would recommend the use of monel staples to anyone contemplating repair jobs on his TM. Monel staples do not rust or corrode - unlike the galvanized ones used by the TM factory. If this type of repair sounds like a lot of work, I found that it can be a lot of work! To me the most frustrating part was piecing together the broken lightweight foam backer boards. If I had been able to drive to the TM factory to pick up some new ones, I would have. For my 3124KS, however, some of them are so long that I would have had to pay for truck delivery - of pieces that only weigh several ounces apiece.

If you live within a few hundred miles of the TM factory or can plan a trip that includes a stopover at the factory, I'd recommend that you plan on having the TM staff do your repair. If you like to take on challenging repair tasks, on the other hand, have a go at it. : :

Most everthing that I have needed to do to maintain and repair our trailer a been pretty simple and not requiring any special tools. On one occasion, I damaged the front flap on our 2720D by leaving the thermostat turned to on and lowering the roof for the night. The furnace kicked on and during the night burned to 4 inch black marks into the flap. The replacement flap from the factory was quite reasonable in price. In order to swap the new one out, the only tool I needed was a philliips screw driver (or maybe one of those bits that look like a Phillips.) There were about eight of these screws to remove. The whole flap was held in place by these screws and a long piece of 3" molding. I feel that in keeping a trailer that doesn't look as tho it is falling apart, that I must do a certain amount of maintenance. There is nothing like replacing something that was damaged by a crisp, clean new part. You might call the factory for their advice on difficulty of replacement. Also, there are many people (such as Larry Loo) on this site that have had their fingers into about every phase of repair. They can give you encouragement and instruction for supporting your project.

Hal

Oops!! I misunderstood what things you were replacing and thought that you needed to change the "roof edge gaskets", that I thought of as "seals". Sorry about that. My suggestions didn't make much sense did they?

[mjlaupp]

[quote author=2619PDX link=board=2;threadid=1653;start=msg11659#msg11659 date=1075762794]
I'm thinking about using some form of permanent waterproof glue and duct tape...[/quote]

If you want to repair and not replace, you might try one of the vinyl repair kits that use a smear on paste cured by a household clothes iron.

I would call the factory and get a new piece sent out. The price will be very reasonable and you should only need a couple of hand tools to replace the seal.

MJL

Thanks, Guys for all of the help. I think ordering a new seal is the way to go, but I think in the interim I'll patch it with some duct tape...

I keep wondering if somehow I cut it when removing the snow and ice buildup during our storm. it's a bummer that it's so prominent. But oh, well...

I'll let you know how the patch work goes and what glue I use, just in case someone needs an emergency repair on the road sometime.

Thanks again, guys!

Gregg

Gregg, I doubt that the TM Factory will send you a new seal. If you will reread my explanation of how I assembled my repaired sidewall seals, you will realize that the sheet metal screws that attach them to the inside wall of the shell are inside the seals. These screws are driven through a foam backer board when the seal is still open. After the backer board is attached to the inside wall, the fabric is folded over the foam cushion strips and stapled to the opposite side of the backer board. If the TM Factory did send you a completely made up seal, you would have to open it up to attach it to the inside of your shell and then restaple the fabric back in place. The factory will sell you the fabric, foam strips and the foam backer boards but you will have to put all the pieces together. Short of going to the TM Factory, I'm sure that your local TM dealer also can do this kind of repair work on your trailer. Our TM dealer who used to be in a nearby town did seal repair work but he has since moved his facility a hundred miles farther away from our town.

I removed the "bag" seal on the front shell, rear edge where the rear shell meets up to it. The bag itself was OK, but the wood behind it in our 1991 M26 was, well, mush. I removed a piece of aluminum trim and a lot of staples. I won't go into replacing the wood as I did since you don't have that issue. I purchased new foam at a local craft/fabric store to replace the old tired stuff. It's not a hard job if you leave the rear shell down and get up on it, carefully. You'll need pliers, screwdrivers, new seal material (more on that later), and lots of new staples. The most rust resistent staples you can get. I recaulked all the seams in the area while I was working.

For some of the seals on the TM I found a vynal product at the local fabric place. Not sure if I use it on something so exposed, but it worked great for the seal where the shells meet the bottom walls.

For all the repairs that I have done to the TM (replacing rotting wood, torn out latchs 1000+ miles from home, leaking grey water tank, malfunctioning water heater, wheel well mod & repair after blowout/tread seperation, step light, radio, new kitchen faucet, etc.), I have found most of them to be simple. Some of them have been time consuming, but I enjoy fixing things.

Camperboy