Oxidation of front cap - Page 2

blw2 · 09-19-2016, 02:43 PM

I did the floor polish treatment a couple months ago now, and it's holding up ok.

I scrubbed the whole coach very well using bar keeper's friend scouring powder. Then went over it with several coats of acrylic floor polish, wiped on. I've read a bunch of folks using Zep, but I used this stuff
https://www.hollowayhouse.net/?gclid..._tFRoCfazw_wcB

It really brought back the shine and has stayed much cleaner than before.
Not perfect, and it won't last long but it makes a huge difference.
I really wanted to apply one more coat when i did it, then after some cure time I had intended on going over it with a car wax.... but i ran out of time and haven't been able to get back to it. Even still, it still looks pretty good after a couple months.

I figure it's basically a poor man's clear coat.....

jamesessek · 09-20-2016, 06:53 PM

I recently had mine at New Castle Truck and Trailer in PA for some damage repair on the rear. While it was there I had them put a "Windsport" sticker on the front cowl to cover up a slight crack. When the factory installed the cab lining they put too long of a screw in and I guess recently when I hit a bump it popped thru the front end. Not wanting to spend over $1000 to get it repaired the shop suggested the sticker to cover it up. My cowl looked exactly the same and all they did was buff it out (it was a body shop though). Looks like new now and the sticker actually looks really good.

Druff · 09-21-2016, 12:53 PM

Same thing happened to the Cougar 5th wheel we had before. It was on the lot for a year before we got it. I used marine polish on it once a year. It didn't bring back the shine but it at least looked Grey.

sciguy6 · 01-06-2017, 12:33 AM

I have a 2014. 3 summers. Covered over 6 months of a year. Live in Northern Illinois. Waxed 2 times per year. Looks oxidized but seem paint is just gone. This is not right. Has anyone tried to see if Thor will do anything. ( slight chuckle as buying it new, had 40 things needing repairing. Took dealership about 3 months to fix about half. Said the rest is manufacturers problems. I fixed most to my satisfaction .) But this paint thing is just devaluing the rig as it looks like it's not taken care of. Shouldn't happen.

Joe-FL · 01-06-2017, 03:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nosticks

What a waste of time and effort some of the suggested remedies entail. Once the gelcoat surface has deteriorated to the point it is rough to the touch, you can trowel wax on it and it won't make any difference. I'm surprised no replies thus far suggest some of the snake oil remedies which are nothing more than floor wax marketed under many different miracle "no hard buffing just wipe it on" products.

Thirty-five plus years boating in the tropics repairing and maintaining many boats has taught me the only fix when it's rough is sanding and painting with a good two part epoxy coating system. The gelcoat is very thin to begin with and when it's worn through, you can't bring it back.

You beat me to it. Once the gelcoat dries out and won't hold wax anymore it has to be refinished or covered up. I had the same thing with my 1990 motor yacht. I had to wet sand the entire vessel with 1200 grit paper. Then I had to use a commercial compound (EagerBuff, Chicago IL) to buff it out. It has to be slow buffed with the compound so if your buffer is one of those one speed wax buffers forget it. When the compound buffing is finished it will look brand new, then after the wax is applied you simply won't believe the results.

Or I could have saved myself 2 weeks of work and paid someone $20,000 to paint the entire boat.

petew · 01-06-2017, 04:40 PM

I once watched a friend of mine paint a fiberglass boat with a roller and a brush.
The gel coat was shot so this was the approach he took. He purchased a very high quality marine paint called Awl Grip in a very nice blue .
He then proceeded to roll the paint on and "tip it in " with a high quality brush . I thought that he was crazy and that the boat was going to look worse than before . The tipping in process left fine brush marks that disappeared as the paint cured, the end result was amazing.

This may be a reasonable fix for your deteriorated gel coat issues that can be done in you driveway for a reasonable price . If you Google Roll and Tip painting you will find several youtube videos on the subject.

Pete

nosticks · 01-06-2017, 04:59 PM

I must say that even I in a previous post digressed to the oxidation of fiberglass. The original poster was referring to the problem of the metal front caps not holding up well. They are painted and are not fiberglass. The only solution for them is painting. Just wanted to clarify that for the OP.

Joe-FL · 01-07-2017, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nosticks

I must say that even I in a previous post digressed to the oxidation of fiberglass. The original poster was referring to the problem of the metal front caps not holding up well. They are painted and are not fiberglass. The only solution for them is painting. Just wanted to clarify that for the OP.

Oopps.....I was just following along with the first few posts that said it was fiberglass, since I do not own that model I didn't know it was metal.

junior30 · 01-07-2017, 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nosticks

I must say that even I in a previous post digressed to the oxidation of fiberglass. The original poster was referring to the problem of the metal front caps not holding up well. They are painted and are not fiberglass. The only solution for them is painting. Just wanted to clarify that for the OP.

I thought they were fiberglass? I was told by someone who had the same issue on a trailer model was to paint. I plan on letting it go until I can't stand to look at it and have it painted. I heard for about $300 I can just have it painted. I decided to quit loosing sleep over it!

cupchurch · 02-22-2017, 10:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lloyd

This is a problem that has been going on with all makes , models, and brands of RV's for some time. The manufacturers all received a batch of bad caps from their suppliers. They have repainted some for a few people and in the next instance refused to help.
I'm sorry to say, the only true fix is to have the cap painted.
People haven't banded together strong enough yet.
There is stouter means that need to be applied to some situations.

I have 2015 Fourwinds and seeing the same problem after purchasing from Dealer less than 2 years ago. I had the Duratain coating applied during purchase. The only section fading is the cap. Duratain offers 5 year warranty on any fading. When I called today, they said there was a Thor manufacturing problem with their 2012-2015 coaches. Duratain offered to re-apply their coating, but said it would only fade again. Pretty much said it needs to be re-painted for their product to keep it protected like the rest of the coach. Will be calling Thor tomorrow....

Toad Haul · 05-31-2017, 12:27 AM

Hey Cupchurch! What did you hear from Thor on your front cap? I have a 2015 Four Winds 31L with the oxidation issue on my cap and my back wall. Did you get any relief from Thor?

blw2 · 05-31-2017, 02:43 PM

great question!

I can say that my poor man's clear coat treatment is holding up fairly well. I went over it again a month or two ago.

I can't say it looks new, but it has some shine and looks ok. The sticker decal has started to fade, but that's another issue.....

I wish I had time before our summer trip to go over it really well once more and maybe top coat the acrylic with some wax..... sadly I spent the time I had trying to make improvements to the generator and other things

Toad Haul · 06-01-2017, 10:24 PM

I'm in the same boat folks. Bought my Four Winds 31L in Feb 2015. Front cap and back wall is horrible. Spent all day Saturday just trying to get the cap looking decent. No luck on that.

Before I call Thor has anyone else contacted them? What response should I expect?

obadea · 06-02-2017, 12:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toad Haul

I'm in the same boat folks. Bought my Four Winds 31L in Feb 2015. Front cap and back wall is horrible. Spent all day Saturday just trying to get the cap looking decent. No luck on that.

Before I call Thor has anyone else contacted them? What response should I expect?

I have the same issue, bought in July 2015, and the front has faded large spots, around the 4 winds logo.

Hittntherooad · 06-02-2017, 01:13 AM

My son details boats for a living and uses this 3M product for oxidized boats. I used it on my Thor 30.1 cap and it brought the shine back. Follow up with a good paste wax for protection.

cupchurch · 06-02-2017, 01:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toad Haul

Hey Cupchurch! What did you hear from Thor on your front cap? I have a 2015 Four Winds 31L with the oxidation issue on my cap and my back wall. Did you get any relief from Thor?

Tried to reply earlier, but had trouble with staying logged in. I talked with someone in the Tech Support group. He said he was not aware of RV owners having this issue. He suggested taking the rv to an authorized Thor Dealer. Closest one to me is about 2 hours away.
I called Cathy McLaughlin at Duratain again about 3 weeks ago. She mentioned of some success stories of Thor taking care of the problem and also mentioned they are well aware of the problem.
She said re-painting is required to take care of the problem. Due to my schedule and the distance to a thor dealer, I am not sure when I will have the time to start this process.

dlbeck27 · 07-02-2018, 07:09 AM

I have oxidation on the front cap of my 2016 Class C Chateau. I have learned quite a bit here about waxes and polishes. My question concerns reaching the oxidized area. How do you get to it? From the roof lying on my stomach I can't get to it.
From the front or sides on an 8' ladder I can reach it with a long handled brush, but how do you get close enough to buff, polish and wax by hand?

Sent from my SM-T810 using Thor RV Forum mobile app

nosticks · 07-02-2018, 11:24 AM

Rent scaffolding.

sciguy6 · 07-02-2018, 12:07 PM

To be honest, I tried to polish where I could and it was only covering not fixing the problem. I was not really oxidation, but the clear coat was buffed off by the dealer to repair grit in the paint. So it was unrepairable. I had set up someone who does body wraps. As my Thor was an odd color, I was going to have the guy put white bodywrap on the top area ( reflects heat). Thus minimal maintenance. Was going to cost $2 -300. Would have been worth it for me to not have to get up there every month to wax. But other issues came up and sold it. Hope that helps.

blw2 · 07-02-2018, 08:51 PM

access....well, yes it is tricky on mine.

scaffolding would likely be about the best if you have access to some

I can get a good ways down on mine while laying on the roof.
below that
I can get to each side standing on a stepladder placed beside the steering wheels, but only a couple feet over.
the lower mid portion... what I can't get with the long handled brush, I have taken to very carefully standing on a 6 ft step ladder, with one foot very gently resting on the hood just, for balance. try to put my foot at the front or back edge or even on the vent area behind the hood, so as to minimize the chance of denting the hood. The foot on the hood isn't carrying my weight, just a balance point. have to work with one hand as the other is holding the ladder.

Risky, yes, but it's the only way I've come up with.

I think that if I had some sort of shed roof, or something like a dumpster handy, I'd nose up to hit kissing the front bumper to it, then climb up standing on it like scaffolding. Anything sturdy and 4-6 ft high that can be stood on would work I'd guess...

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