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Old 07-02-2012, 07:21 PM   #1
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Great 1st Post. Is this repairable?

I recently purchased a new Flying Cloud 19, which I have been extremely pleased with! This is one fantastic RV (and I have owned at least 5 RVs); Arctic Fox comes close, but it's a (heavy) fiberglass box. Anyway, I have been living in this RV for the past month, and the other morning I had to go to work @ 3:00 AM and had to go back into the trailer for something i had forgotten. I thought I had placed my truck in Park, but apparently not, and the truck rolled into my brand new airstream Is this repairable? How much? I am absolutely sick about this and feel like such an idiot. Hopefully, any future posts will be more positive because this is truly a very good RV. Thanks for any input.

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Old 07-02-2012, 07:28 PM   #2
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Welcome to the forums, I'm sure someone will jump on this thread that has more information about what is close to you. I've heard that Airstream of Spokane does good work, but that is about 6 hours north of you. Not sure what is closer to you than that.
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Old 07-02-2012, 07:35 PM   #3
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Bummer!
It looks like the worst of the damage can be covered. This is not the proper fix, but certainly the cheapest! If it was me, I'd have the guards fixed, and leave the rest. That's a heap of money to replace!
At least you no longer have to worry about getting the first dent!
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Old 07-02-2012, 07:50 PM   #4
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Insurance or no?
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Old 07-02-2012, 07:51 PM   #5
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Welcome to the forums - even under icky circumstances, we're glad to see you post
Call your insurance agent, it's likely that the auto insurance would cover this.
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Old 07-02-2012, 07:56 PM   #6
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It is repairable. Use a good shop....tie the fix into a nice trip is the best way. It should be done in a day. As an av8or you now have another item to add to your "Things I'll never do again" list. Welcome here.
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Old 07-02-2012, 08:04 PM   #7
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Thanks for all of the quick replies. Yep, got insurance. I'm just don't know where to get it fixed. I'm new to the Airstream world. Are all Airstream repair centers created equal? I live in Boise and I know that an Airstream dealership just recently opened there, but I don't know how good they are. It's just hard for me to imagine that this can be repaired to as good as new. What bothers me the most, is what a "knucklehead" I am. I can't tell you what a horrible feeling it is to see your truck rolling in to your brand new camper -- such a helpless feeling. It could be worse.
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Old 07-02-2012, 08:10 PM   #8
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It is repairable. Use a good shop....tie the fix into a nice trip is the best way. It should be done in a day. As an av8or you now have another item to add to your "Things I'll never do again" list. Welcome here.
Funny. I spend at least half of my life in an aluminum tube (777), maybe that's what attracted me to Airstream -- feels like home.

One day? Really? Just seems to me it would take a lot longer than that. I'm in Arkansas right now, maybe I could make a trip up to the factory before I start heading West. Do they do these kind of repairs at the factory or would it be better to go to a dealer?
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Old 07-02-2012, 08:11 PM   #9
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Welcome Steve,

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. Yes this is fixable. Don't beat yourself up over it. At least the segment protector helps cover the worst of it.

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Old 07-02-2012, 08:13 PM   #10
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Welcome to the forums - even under icky circumstances, we're glad to see you post
Call your insurance agent, it's likely that the auto insurance would cover this.
Thanks for the tip Janet. I will give them a call in the morning. I have a great insurance company, so I'm not worried about them covering it, I'm just afraid how high my premiums will increase since it was my fault. I keep praying for a "monster" hail storm, but it hasn't rained in Arkansas (here temporarily) for over a month, so that's highly unlikely.
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Old 07-02-2012, 08:41 PM   #11
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I'm sure they can make it as good as new! We all do knucklehead things. If you're beating yourself up then you're probably one of those people who do less knucklehead things then the rest of us:-) so don't beat yourself up.
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Old 07-02-2012, 09:20 PM   #12
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If you can get to the Airstream Service Center in Jackson Center, Ohio that's by far the best repair option. Call as soon as possible and explain your situation. Easy fix for them.

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Old 07-02-2012, 09:27 PM   #13
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Its hard to tell if there are creases or not - but I would at least first try the "bathroom plunger method" - yup get the plunger out and see if it pulls out - it may not be perfect, but good enough to hide behind the rock guards - I've seen some amazing repairs done that way

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Old 07-02-2012, 09:49 PM   #14
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Yes - It can be repaired.
Yes - It can be made as good as new, if not better.
A/S repairs such as this involve parts replacement, not bodywork the way I used to think of it. Pulling out dents and massaging the old panel back into shape is not part of the process at most places except in rare circumstances.

I had similar damage to my trailer a couple of years ago. I had this one repaired locally. The repair is literally as good as new.

A little cash from the insurance company (Probably $3,000 or so, give or take $500) and you will never know it happened.

The factory will likely do an excellent job. Just be careful with your wallet. The store, with all sorts of goodies is just off the lobby for the service center.

There are certainly dealers and repair centers that can do this work though. If you have some flexibility and you don't really want to go to Ohio, search the forums for recommendations for body repairs.

Once it is fixed, the pain will fade rapidly. A year from now, you will be telling someone about the dent and how it happened and you will forget which side it was....

Good luck!

Wayne
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Old 07-02-2012, 09:58 PM   #15
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It's pretty standard to estimate $5000 per panel when it comes to remove/replace. It won't look exactly the same, because these repairs they will use an external rivet and then 'shave' it so it has the appearance of the factory buck-rivets. Having had a repair done to mine, at an authorized Airstream dealer, I can tell you someone that knows what to look for will spot the repair right away. From a few feet away, it will look like new.

My guess for the whole job is $8000.
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Old 07-02-2012, 10:00 PM   #16
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It's pretty standard to estimate $5000 per panel when it comes to remove/replace. It won't look exactly the same, because these repairs they will use an external rivet and then 'shave' it so it has the appearance of the factory buck-rivets. Having had a repair done to mine, at an authorized Airstream dealer, I can tell you someone that knows what to look for will spot the repair right away. From a few feet away, it will look like new.

My guess for the whole job is $8000.
MY GOODNESS! Is that what this kind of thing costs on a new unit??!! I'm going into Airstream repair!!
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Old 07-02-2012, 10:05 PM   #17
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Your repair is much easier than when the tug backs the triple7 into the baggage cart and there is not as much paperwork for you or the repair station.
Good Luck,
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Old 07-02-2012, 10:17 PM   #18
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MY GOODNESS! Is that what this kind of thing costs on a new unit??!! I'm going into Airstream repair!!
If insurance is going to cover it, the shop rate for repairs is going to be high. My closest (only) dealer charges $120 an hour for their shop rate. The panels themselves are often only $500-600, but the labour is obviously intensive. Each rivet has to be drilled out, precisely, as there are supports and overlapping panels behind. Any damage to the structure behind has to be dealt with. In this case there is at least one support kinked. If the interior panel is damaged, there goes another 20 hours...

As my dealer put it when I took mine there "We do a thorough inspection of Airstreams before we take them in for any existing damage - as with Airstreams, there is no 'repair' - it is always "replace'"

Each panel is sealed internally, riveted back together, then externally sealed.

RV repair in general could be a good business to get into... a lot of people don't have the patience to deal with a lot of the frequent issues, which often aren't hard to fix, but RV systems sometimes have weird gizmos tucked into weird spots... and a lot of people get spooked. And, someone with a $60K trailer is likely going to have the cash to spend...
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Old 07-02-2012, 10:21 PM   #19
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Yes - if you want it to be like new, they would have to remove the interior panels and buck rivet the panel - a major job, but it can be done - olympic rivets are not as strong as buck, they they will do the job and as mentioned above, anyone looking closely will know its been repaired - I would try the plunger myself before I went the olympic rivets myself - figure it does not hurt to try to pull it out - likely won't work, but then again it just may.......

Having said the above, there are tons of Airstreams running around with replacement panels that are just fine.


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Old 07-02-2012, 10:41 PM   #20
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The guys at Jackson Center do great work. As well, they have the parts readily at hand. You even get to stay in your rig at night, as they wheel it back out to the terraport. You do need to make an appointment, though, and it there may be two weeks until they can take you in. Once in, though, there is no delay - they start working on it first thing that morning.
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