Faded front cap

[jal0710]

First off, the offending cap is about three years old. We replaced a cracked cap on our 2012 FW 26.5 RLS in the fall of 2013 and it's now 2016. Noticed the fading this summer and have contacted Jayco twice, hoping for some out-of-warranty help, but received none. I have seen comments on here about redoing the cap, painting the cap or putting a wrap on it. How durable is the wrap that might be placed on the FW and does a person need to wrap the whole FW or can just the cap be wrapped? I'm having a heck of a time getting the body shop owner to come to my house just to look at the cap to see what he might be able to do for me so I thought I would ask this while waiting for him. Help.

[Mustang65]

When I saw that my cap was fading, I looked into alternatives. I originally looked into a wrap, but that had a price tag of $1,100 (give or take a couple hundred). Jayco stripped the gel-coat and painted the cap. It cost them $1900 to have the work done. The gel has to be totally removed or the oxidation will eventually make its way through the paint.

Don

[jal0710]

As I said, Jayco wasn't willing to participate in my problem's solution as it was too far out of warranty. Do you have any feeling as to the permanency of the wrap as compared to re-painting?

[Doug]

With it being Gel Coat have you tried treating it like an oxidized boat hull?
I would buff it out with a medium grit rubbing compound and put a good coat of wax on it.
I think I used a 3M Restore on my boat.

You can also use 400/800 wet sand paper and a wax coat.

You can also use an oxidizer remover for boats and wax.

Some people use toilet bowl cleaner and wax.

Use gloves for any of the acidic treatments and rinse before waxing.

They also have above waterline paint made for Gel Coat boat hauls. That could be an option too.

Doug

Doug

[Bassdogs]

Wraps look good and are durable [they put them on 200mph race cars] but suspect over time they will get a road rash. If it were me I'd go with painting the cap. That's what Jayco did to my 2014 White Hawk. The dealer is next to the Chevy corvette plant in Bowling Green KY. The paint tech they used also works as a detailer at the corvette plant doing pinstriping and access painting on new corvettes. I realize you are not getting Jayco to pick up the tab but I still think painting with a good auto paint and clear coat will be best.

Hook up the RV and make arrangements to drag it to the body shop to get an estimate. Some specialize in painting rvs, custom cars, and other specialty items. There is nothing all that special in repainting an RV cap. They will know how to prep the old surface.

[goducks]

Buffing is worthless. The caps all fade again. Many different RV's owners are going thru this process. 95% of those that buff say the fade returns. Painting is expensive but is the only way to guarantee the color will stay.

[Edd505]

Originally Posted by goducks

Buffing is worthless. The caps all fade again. Many different RV's owners are going thru this process. 95% of those that buff say the fade returns. Painting is expensive but is the only way to guarantee the color will stay.

You are right I did the buff & wax lasted a few months. Final fix was a local paint shop sanded the faded area (top edge) and the area between the lettering. Taped , painted the sanded areas and then clear coated the entire cap, over the decals. About a year now and no more fading.

[jal0710]

Thanks guys. This is a FW so I'm not sure that there would be any road rash to worry about with a wrap, but I'll keep it in mind.