Well today I repaired the wheel well damage on the rear wheels. I had to start a new thread since my original thread was lost when the hard drive crashed. I was able to locate with a magnet some frame studs on each side of the wheels that run parallel with the drive train. They were 16" on centers. I then chose to use .050" aluminum instead of the FRP and I had the aluminum cut 16"x24". The pieces covered the area from stud to stud and from the outside edge of the wheel wells to the back edge. Drilled 1/8" hole 3/8" from the edge every 4" around the entire patch. Sanded and sprayed the patch black on one side. I then put the patch in it's location and blocked it up snug to the wheel wells and lined it up with the outside edge of the wheel well and centered on the studs and drilled the corners into the studs at the pre-drilled holes on the patch. I also traced around the patch with a sharpie so I can have outline of where the patch goes for reference. I then removed the patch turned it up on the un-painted side and loaded it up with half of the large tube of 3M 5200. I used a plastic 1/8" v-notch spreader an evenly spread out the adhesive over the entire patch covering 100% of the patch area. I cleaned the wheel well area with acetone and then I carefully laid the patch on wood blocks on my tires and lined it up on the outline I made and then pop riveted the outside corners then the back corners with 1/8" rivets. After the patch was up and secured at the corners, I drilled out the remaining holes around the patch and pop riveted the remaining holes and cleaned off any excess adhesive. I then lowered the entire coach down to it's stops and allowed the tires to push the patch up and tight to the wheel wells and let it set over night. All the rivets may be over kill, but I know it's secured. Just using the 3M 5200 would have probably been enough to hold the patch. I was able to drill all of the holes and rivet the patches without removing the tires. I used an angle drill and a stubby drill I cut back and re-sharpened to get the job done. Both sides are done and secured. Thanks to everyone on my lost posting that gave me ideas on tackling the repair. Now on to my next project.
John M
Sure hope John does not go into ice, snow or gumbo with those tires. ::)
John,
Nice and tidy repair on the wheel wells! I was always thinking about covering the top our rear wheel wells with aluminum.
We have tires like that and go off paved road all the time from Baja beaches to damp unimproved BLM pine needle campsites. Never had a problem with slippage and they make zero noise.
Pierce
Mike,
What's wrong with the tires? They are brand new Michelin's XZA3 steer tires. My coach does not see the snow and ice. My under carriage is nice and clean. We leave Illinois early October and return late May. We dodge the winter and go to our home in Florida and continue using the coach.
Nice job John. Ignore Mike.
Nice work John. I have the same repair to do. You have taken all the thinking out of it...thanks, always need help in that department. 🤔
Need the same repair also. Front and rear
Mike,
If you need any advice or suggestions just pm me anytime and I'll give you my email and number.
John M
Bob,
PM me if you need any assistance with the repairs. I'll give you my email and number and you can call anytime.
John M.