RV Slide Repair

A wind storm broke the awning on my motor home and damaged a corner of my slide room. Bending the metal side panel and broke the plastic corner cover. Picture 1.This is not as hard to fix as it looks, the metal corner comes off with four screws. The plastic corner piece is held on with caulk and gum adhesive that can be cut and removed with a putty knife.

Second picture shows the side metal piece removed to be straightened. Notice the water stains! That will be cleaned and new caulk before assembly. Also, new corner caps could not be found on the Internet, so improvising was necessary. I took off all four corner caps and painted them while repairing the one that was cracked. See results in after photo.

This is how to repair the body damage. First remove the corner cap with a putty knife by placing between the cap and metal corner. Take your time cutting the caulk while prising on the corner cap until you can pull apart from the metal frame. Next remove the screws from the metal side piece and remove by cutting the old caulk and pull off the slide room. Careful not to scratch the paint or cutting the fiberglass while removing old caulking. Paint thinner works well to remove small amounts of caulk and cleaning all parts before replacing.

The metal side piece can be straightened by laying the metal piece on a wood table and using a mallet tap the bend piece in the opposite direction of the bend. Since this part will be covered by the plastic corner cover sanding and painting will not have to be done on the metal piece. Check to make sure the metal piece lines up with the other have of the corner before installing onto the slide room. Once the metal piece is screwed onto the slide room caulk around the corner with a thin layer of caulk to prevent water inside the slide room. Replace the plastic corner piece on the repaired area and caulk.

Now that this is repaired the next step is to replace the rubber seal on the outside of the slide room. This seals water and wind from entering the camper when the slide room is closed. Again, clean the area of the rubber seal after the old seal is removed and replace with a new seal being careful because once the seal sticks it will not come off with out tearing. Measure twice and cut once is the rule to use while watching to make sure the seal in in the right place on the slide. Mark spots on the slide where the seal is to align and do not stretch the seal when peeling off the backing tape. This should make a good seal on the slide room and another job well done saving money.