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Tomtreas View Drop Down
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Posts: 27 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: The blow out trip
    Posted: 12 Jun 2020 at 11:31pm
On a recent outing on really the first hot day of the year, I blew my left tire on my 178 after only about 50 miles.  Both were checked before leaving.  I replaced that one and 10 miles up the road they have 1 in stock, so I was back on the road without the spare.  Then about 40 miles from our destination on the same day, the right one let go.  I limped into my campsite at reduced speed and got a match for the first tire the next day.

Thing is and long story short, when the tread came off of each tire, it ripped the fenders off of the camper on each side.  Not all of the screws were ripped out of the camper, but some were.  The wires for the clearance lights that were on each fender were just ripped out of their splices.  I have received new fenders from FR and also found the stock factory clearance markers online and have those as well.  On my trip to Menards and or Lowes to pick up the necessary screws and grommets that I know that I need for this project, does anyone have any recommendations for the following:

a) brand and/or size of double stick tape to attach the fender to the camper. It looks like the factory may have used something that was light colored or white and maybe 1/2" wide around the flat side of the fender.

b) suggestions for something to fill the holes on the size of the camper where the screws were ripped out before I apply the fender with the tape to the side of the camper. 

c) does anyone know if the entire arc behind the fender is a solid piece of wood?  If so I could add a couple of extra self-drilling screws beside where the ones were ripped out.

The screws used to attach the original fender were self-drilling.  I think I was able to remove gracefully 3 or 4 per side. The fenders have pre-drilled holes in them so I need to make sure there is something behind it to hold it and any holes are closed up that don't get screws. =)

Thanks in advance!
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jimandclare View Drop Down
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Posts: 96 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Jun 2020 at 7:41am
I share your pain.

Heading home last summer we had a "china bomb" tire blow out and take out not only the fender but also the grab bar by the door.  Our tires had about 7000 miles on them.  Fully 80% of the of the tread peeled off of the tire.

There was no double sided tape on our trailer so I cant speak to that.

I filled the holes with butyl rubber chaulk which seemed to work just fine and mounted the new fender with stainless steel self drilling screws.

And yes, there is a a wood panel behind the fiberglass so adding additional screws shouldn't be any problem when mounting the new fender.
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offgrid View Drop Down
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Posts: 5290 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Jun 2020 at 7:59am
Double sided tape is really pressure sensitive adhesive tape. The type with the most history behind it is VHB from 3M. The problem is that you have a large area to apply pressure to to get the tape adhesive to kick so I wouldn't use it for this application because the surface area is too large to get much pressure on it.  I suspect they use it at the factory just to temporarily hold the fenders in place to speed up production. 

Since you aren't trying to save every second repairing this and can hold the fender where you want to while installing the new fasteners, I'd suggest a good quality polyurethane adhesive like 3M 5200. Apply that also to the old screw holes as sealant. Use SS screws and new hole locations. The trailer walls are an inch thick so don't use screws longer than that. 
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mjlrpod View Drop Down
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Posts: 1214 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Jun 2020 at 9:50am
Maybe you could use a larger diameter screw in the existing holes with a little bit of loc-tite. That will seal them up and probably do the job. You can ad a couple more if it seems to need more. 
BTW any chance you can share brand that blew out. It would be good if we can keep track of brands that are known to fail. 
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GlueGuy View Drop Down
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Posts: 2628 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Jun 2020 at 9:54am
You could also fill the existing holes with a little epoxy mixed with flocked cotton (or just little snips from some cotton fabric; the smaller the better). This will make a filling that is similar to wood, but stronger. Then drill the filled parts enough to get the new screws into the same spots.
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Tomtreas View Drop Down
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Posts: 27 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Jun 2020 at 10:04am
Originally posted by mjlrpod

 
BTW any chance you can share brand that blew out. It would be good if we can keep track of brands that are known to fail. 

Ridgeway Sport ST Power Touring ST205-75R14 Load range C

I could be wrong but it is my belief that these are factory tires as the spare is also this same tire. I noticed when I removed to use the spare that the extrusion nibs were still sticking out so concluded that before this trip that the spare had never hit the ground.
Tom B in MO USA
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Tomtreas View Drop Down
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Posts: 27 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Jun 2020 at 10:31am
Originally posted by jimandclare

I share your pain.

Heading home last summer we had a "china bomb" tire blow out and take out not only the fender but also the grab bar by the door.  Our tires had about 7000 miles on them.  Fully 80% of the of the tread peeled off of the tire.

I had some damage to the grab bar foam, but not the bar itself.  Zooming in your photo, it almost looks like the same brand of tire?  See my other post below.
Tom B in MO USA
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lostagain View Drop Down
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Posts: 2587 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Jun 2020 at 11:10am
If I remember correctly from the days I defended some tire manufacturers, on a radial tire, the tread separation you see in the photo is the "normal" mode of failure.  As the tire fails, air enters the space between the tread and the plies of rubber coated fabric to which it is bonded. It is not uncommon for the tire to sustain damage unknown to the user which eventually allows air to seep into the body of the tire.  Some times, the quality of manufacturing results in incomplete bonding of the tread and with heat, it creates an increasingly big separation of the tread until failure occurs.

I agree with GlueGuy, the best option for the holes is repairing them with epoxy filler with cotton.  You can buy this sort of thing at any good marine supply, but with the small amount you need, just some regular epoxy glue and cotton dust or fiber would be fine.
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Tomtreas View Drop Down
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Posts: 27 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Jun 2020 at 11:27am
Originally posted by lostagain

I agree with GlueGuy, the best option for the holes is repairing them with epoxy filler with cotton.  You can buy this sort of thing at any good marine supply, but with the small amount you need, just some regular epoxy glue and cotton dust or fiber would be fine.

Thanks for that.  The holes in question are just larger than the threads from the original screw.  There is some flaking at the outer edge where it pulled out but I'm thinking I can fill all of that in, let it set up, and then as GlueGuy said, drill some pilot holes the size of the screw shank and let the threads catch.  Should make for a good tight fit. 

in continued thinking about this I'm wondering if I were to actually use the glue to bond the fender to the camper though, if I suffered a similar "china bomb" as I am seeing this is called if it wouldn't actually result in more damage if it ripped the fender off than just sticking it up there like the factory did to hold it in place with the double stick tape?  Opinions?
Tom B in MO USA
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lostagain View Drop Down
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Posts: 2587 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Jun 2020 at 12:01pm
Tomtreas, I suggest when you put the new screws in, use a bedding compound caulk in the screw holes.  It seals them and helps bond the screw to the sides of the hole a little.  On my boat I used 3M 5200, but there are plenty of similar bedding caulks on the market.

Personally, I would not use a very strong glue to fasten the fenders in addition to the screws.  If you have another tire failure, the tread is going to come off and hit the fender, probably taking it off too.  If you have a strong glue bond, your fiberglass repairs may involve much more than just filling some stripped out screw holes.  It is very hard to see internal damage to a tire, and even harder to detect defects in manufacturing.  The best thing buy tires from reputable manufactures who have good quality control.
Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
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Our Pod 172
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