Cracked Rear End Cap

[oledawg]

1994 31' Excella 1000 Classic. The rear plastic end cap started a crack some time ago in the top corner of the wooden cabinet facing. It has now grown until that side is sagging and looks like it is in danger of eventually breaking loose. Any suggestions on how to repair? Looks like I need to remove the wood and see how to reinforce/repair. Thanks.

[Minno]

Got a picture you can post?

[oledawg]

[Silverflames]

I know they make two part resins for plastic. You can buy them at auto parts stores. It would be best if you can get behind it and some how reenforce it. Can you pull that cabinet out?

[oledawg]

I looked yesterday and it appears that it can be unscrewed from inside. I am going to tackle it today. My electrical is inside one of them and might have to come out also, but Airstreamers have no fear 😎

[Silverflames]

You can do it!!

[oledawg]

OK, got the cabinet doors off and it actually appears that without destroying the cabinets themselves ( plywood sides basically stapled to an aluminum pan there is no convenient way to expose the inside of the corner cracks, and yes, there are cracks on all four corners. Soooo, gonna see how good the two part epoxy is...

[Alden Miller]

I will follow this with interest. My front cap has a similar crack that I want to repair. Let us know how the epoxy works.

-Alden

[oledawg]

Well, done. Not perfect since the cap is flimsy and it is difficult to line up the edges of the crack. But will see how it holds. The end cap cracks because of the crappy way the cabinet weight is distributed. If it cracks again I will beef up how the weight is suspended. I did add some additional aluminum angle on the inside where the facing attaches. May or may not help, we shall see 😎

[JCWDCW]

My solution to my '96 when it finally happens is to make up some wood trim to cover the crack. This seems to be a common occurrence since the factory decided to do away with Tambour doors

JCW

[oledawg]

OK, first run since the "repair"... After a couple of hundred miles of lousy interstate ( bumpy, pot holes ) we get to our campsite. Yep, the cabinet facing is on the bed, shaken completely loose. Obviously needed to use longer screws instead of the originals. Will beef up significantly to see if it helps. Going to loosen up the chains on the Reese a link also. Way too much stiffness apparently, too much bouncing going on. AS techs say axles are good, so ?

[Silverflames]

Did the glue hold up pretty good?

[HiJoeSilver]

Definitely interested to see how the epoxy held up, what type did you use.

I had my end caps out last summer/fall. Got the rear back in (bath no cabinet) as a close out for work for the year. Still working on the front. Both had lots of cracks predominantly along the arch where they attach to the ceiling. I cut some strips of aluminum(~2" wide) and epoxied the strips along the back along the whole length from end to end behind the rivet holes, which is where the cracks were, to reinforce the crappy brittle plastic.
AS engineers ( if they exist) really need to get some rib's behind the end caps to support the cabinets weight. As an engineer, taking apart my '74 I was constantly saying to myself "what were they thinking".

[Silverflames]

Weight and cost?

[oledawg]

OK, my epoxy didn't work so well. In the interim I literally screwed the cabinet facing on to keep it from falling off. I think that the only real fix is to take the rear end cap off ( a big project ) and beef up how it hangs, also repair the crack from the rear. Still don't know why my AS shakes so much. Wonder if I really even need the stiffening from a Reese hitch. The 3500 HD is already pretty darn stable. I have read a few posts about "freeballing" 😎

[william Haym]

That is a pretty stable beefy truck!!! If you use the stabilizer bars don't crank them up too much!!!
What do you think other Airstreamers????