Skin Preperation

[DrJimmy]

Greetings All;

I recently removed the inner skin so I could pound out and repair damage from a tree falling on our Sovereign. Things are looking pretty good. I was thinking of coating the whole front skin (on the inside) with something to stiffen it and quiet it. Something like automotive rubberized undercoating. I also need to apply something to help the insulation stay in place while I re-install the inner skin. Any ideas? Thanks for the help.

[Bubba L]

I’m sure there are dozens of recommendations on the Forums. I can just add what we’ve done.
-layer of Prodex (applied with 3m spray adhesive to the inside of outer skin)
-1/2” x 2” wide strips of styrofoam (spacing for wiring and part of a dead air space, applied with double stick tape)
-layer of Prodex and tape any joints with aluminum tape (creates the dead air space, applied with double stick tape)
-final layer of 1/2” styrofoam sheet insulation
-I’m painting the inside of the inner skins with Thermocels Insulating Paint additive mixed into Kilz 123 Bullseye. This is supposedly a thermal break, sound barrier and a bit of insulation. Sounds like a lot and overkill. It is. But I have the time and the 55 is what we’ll use on most of our trips. Good luck, Bubba

[Eric 26 Argo]

Hey Doc. You may want to look up Lizard Skin Ceramic Insulation as an option. Once you do that look up options for Lizard skin on youtube. The concept is sound and provide a thermal barrier. I was looking at the idea when I was building a Ramcharger expedition vehicle for the ceiling. Didn't get past concept because I was talked out of the vehicle.

[DrJimmy]

Thank you for the ideas. The Lizard Skin idea brought me to look at spray-on Bed Liner for trucks. My thinking is that the bed liner would add rigidity to the compromised aluminium skin, and add some sound isolation. My concerns are that it would stay bonded to the aluminum, that heat would not break it down, and that it would not give off toxic fumes.
I figure, once I get a good base of bed liner on the aluminum, I could use spray adhesisve to hold the fiberglass batting in place to do the thermal insulation.
I am still researching this, but I hope I am on the trail to a solution. I picked up some Loctite Gutter and Flashing caulk to seal my seams again, and then we will take it from there.

[matthewsx]

I have heard good things about the Flex-Seal type of rubberized paint as far as sealing leaks.



I would use two layers of Reflectix for insulation. It's easy to work with and pretty cheap. If you want to get fancy use some foam insulation material to make an air gap between the layers. Tape should hold it in place while you rivet.


There's no way I would ever put that pink fiberglass back into one of these trailers. I just removed the front half of my belly pan and that stuff gets pretty nasty....


John