Underbelly covering came loose?!?!

[Ironbeard]

Have a 2017 Jay Flight SLX 245RLSW with a completely covered underbelly, that started to peel back!


The first four feet of the front of the literally peeled back with a center section of about the size of a football actually ground out by the road. I have no idea how that happened. Managed to pry everything back in place for the most part and I'm going to have to patch the hole and figure out how to reattach and reinforce the underbelly.



And of course our warranty JUST EXPIRED!! Last month


Has anyone else has this problem? The only thing I can figure is that the underbelly covering, which is plastic by the way, wasn't properly secured by the manufacturer when they built it. The screws holding it to the frame look pretty spread out and I guess one of them gave way in the front and the wind traveling underneath the trailer caught it and ......that was all she wrote.



Any ideas on the best way to fix this?

[madmaxmutt]

Not on my Jayco, but I had to remove some of mine to access above it, on a previous trailer. The attachment devices were not screws or bolts, they were more like a nail with threading to keep them tight. I removed them with an impact driver in reverse. I used similar diameter self drilling bolts to reattach it with the impact in the same holes, but you could easily add more since they drill their way through.

The belly covers are also typically sealed with some type of black caulk and foam to keep critters out.

[Ohiofinlander]

Interesting reading this. Last Friday night on our way to the CG, our front half of the underbelly flew completely off going down the road. Freaked me out, and also the car coming at us. Insulation and bubble wrap flew out into the corn field. There were still a few screws hanging onto the plastic liner. I cut the remaining liner off and threw it inside the TT. Sent an email to Jayco, and they said to return it to the dealer (the TT). Dropped it off at Towne and Country RV Sunday night(who btw gave us excellent service). The cause was a row of screws were missed along the curbside. We have the TT back and all is well. A lot of frustration at first, but I'm over it. Still had a great weekend of camping.

[Rustic Eagle]

There could be a number of reasons why the underbelly material came loose (prior repair, poor factory installation, road/campsite debris, etc..), but should be an easy repair. IMO additional fasteners (w/flat washers) and insuring they hit the framing should keep it in place.

You can purchase additional underbelly material (coroplast) and using a wood backer frame (similar to a slide motor access cover) to attached a new piece over the "football" size hole. Black gorilla tape and spray foam works great for sealing up seams/edge openings.

Bob

[Ironbeard]

After reading the replies I went back under and took a good look at the fasteners! OMG!! There were only TWO along the front and nothing on the sides for the first 3-4 feet!! Then some major gaps in holding screw....WITHOUT WASHERS down one side of the trailer. The only thing that kept the whole underside from peeling right off was the heavy electrical cable that runs on the outside down the center of the bottom! Who knows what kind of mess we'd be facing had that cable failed on the freeway and allowed the WHOLE THING to peel off!!

GEEEEZE you think LACK OF SCREWS might have had something to do with the bottom coming off?!?!? There was no tape, no chalking or weather seal, just a few screws holding it on!

Needless to say I've seen Emails to Jayco and the RV place we bought our rig from.

In the mean time I've got to figure out how to get the TT safely to the deal for repairs that is over an hour away down the freeway.....goody-goody!