Cracks in end caps?

[Anniedog]

Okay, here's a subject that comes up from time to time. We now have a couple cracks in the "plastic" end caps of our 29'. Has anyone developed a repair for these when the develop? Thought I'd check before I start messing around with various concoctions.
The cracks are courtesy of some absolutely terrible stretches of interstate I recently was forced to travel.
How about we take a couple Billion out of Iraq-about a weeks worth- and fix our %$#$%^& road systems!!

[bobfowler]

The caps can be repaired, but I'm afraid the best looking repair would involve taking the cap out and doing the repair on the rear. Our shower pan (also ABS) had some nasty cracks and we had it repaired with fiberglass on the reverse, then painted with epoxy. A frontal repair may be possible, but it may not be as strong as being able to reinforce the area surrounding the crack on the rear. Regardless, you'll need to paint it to make it look like it was never broken.

[Lumatic]

Before patching drill a hole at the end point of the crack to keep it from running. I have had some success on smaller cracks with using Crazy Glue. I am not sure what material the end caps are made of but I found out the hard way fixing cracks in the ABS bathroom sink counter that ABS does not like polyester resin.

[Over59]

Prehaps you need to consider new axles. If it need to be replaced you will find rivets shearing, panels with wrinkles, and generally the trailer tearing itself apart.

[Anniedog]

Interesting point. Just how would a person know whether new axles were needed. I don't think thats the case for us, but its a good issue to dicuss. I am pretty sure I know how these developed.

[Lumatic]

There's a lot of stuff on diagnosing elderly axles if you do a search. Readers Digest version is the wheels should not ride too high up in the fender well, the torsion arms should not have an upward angle and there are other tell tale signs such as wrinkles and bulges in the shin where they should not be.

[easyride]

Andy says you should be able to see 2-3 "of the top of your tire,any less than that you need new axles.

[Lumatic]

Originally Posted by easyride

Andy says you should be able to see 2-3 "of the top of your tire,any less than that you need new axles.

Good rule of thiumb. Also if you jack the coach up the axle should drop a couple of inches before the tire leaves the ground.

[Bluto]

Originally Posted by Lumatic

Before patching drill a hole at the end point of the crack to keep it from running. I have had some success on smaller cracks with using Crazy Glue. I am not sure what material the end caps are made of but I found out the hard way fixing cracks in the ABS bathroom sink counter that ABS does not like polyester resin.

Good suggestion. I too had problems with cracking. I was at Jackson center one time and had the end caps replaced at high dollar. Then a few months later I had cracks again everywhere they put in a rivit thru the plastic. So now i just use your method of drilling and glueing. It does not look great but it seems to work. Another thing I was considering after doing repairs that way was to cover the end caps with a material. For example, a thick cloth of some kind that could be glued on in strips. But I have never got up the nerve to try it. If someone was good at wallpapering I think it would work. If someone trys it please let me know how it turned out.
Or, another thought would be use velcro dots to hold the cloth in place. Sort of like a dashboard cover.