A friend has a trailer with aluminum skin on the sides. Someone went down the side of the trailer with some kind of vehicle and punched a hole through. He asked me if I knew how to fix it, I don't; but I know some people that might!
The skin material looks like aluminum flashing you see on roofs, pretty thin. I thought a hammer and dolly to make things flat, then use pop rivets and caulk to hold a new piece behind the original.
Does that sound plausible? Suggestions for caulk? Better ideas?
Thanx, Dan
If its a brand name trailer, you might be able to buy a prefinished sheet of siding right from the manufacturer and replace the whole thing. Not too pricey, but quite a bit of work.
Your patch idea is fine, though. Automotive seam sealer would probably be the best sealer to use.
Reskin it?
Used to hang aluminum stock car bodies on late model dirt cars back in the 80's, mostly the wedge cars, no kits, we built all from scratch. Aluminum sheet was easy to work with.
Quick google link:
http://www.smileysracing.com/shopping/productDetails.aspx?i=97344&c=1176
Hammer and dolly never worked that well. If a quarter panel got bent up it was easier to remove the panel and press it between two sheets of plywood, didn't make it baby butt smooth but good enough appearance wise for the next race. When they got busted up too bad we'd reskin that section.
edit: If replacing, use the old section as a template on new aluminum sheet. Clear silicone adhesive/ sealer should hold up well w/ no color issues.
that is exactly how I repaired small holes in the trucks we had at a business I used to work at. Cut back or smooth the hole, cut a patch, line it up to drill holes for sealed pop rivets, add sealant, and rivet the patch into place.
You have to use the more expensive sealed rivets as water -will- work it's way through the regular pop rivets, especially at 60+ mph
It depends on how it was originally skinned. If it's rivets or screws, no problem. A friend of mine bought a 42' tri-axle enclosed trailer for a song because the front corner had been smashed and the wind ripped and buckled half the one side.
We drilled out all the rivets and "unsheeted" the damaged sections. He had a sheet metal fab place make a new front corner section for something like $350 because of a complex curve and a bend we couldn't figure out how to make and then we took 4x8 sheets of .043 and reskinned it (overlapping them like shingles) using SS self tapping screws instead of rivets. Once the paint and molding went back on - I was surprised at how hard it was to tell the difference from front to back.
EDIT: I forgot - we also used adhesive like liquid nails on the studs.
Will fiberglass & resin adhere?
I think reskin in prefinished panels is the right answer here.
914Driver wrote:
Will fiberglass & resin adhere?
honestly.. no. The aluminum skins on trailers and trucks flex a lot when being pulled down the road. It would probably hold for a little while, but it will not take long for the stiffer 'glass to break away from the aluminum skin.
Polyurethane construction adhesive.
i backed mine into my other trailer's tongue and punctured the door down low. i'm going to get a diamond plate and cut it for each door to go a foot up or so, kinda like wraps around the front of my and most every other enclosed trailer.
does he think he might need a door there? because now you have the perfect excuse to put one in..
There's a door a foot away right around the corner.
I've had very good luck with Sikaflex products. Looks like their 252 would work well:
http://usa.sika.com/dms/getdocument.get/cf2b2881-d23c-3b3b-8471-6db6c26a3bba/ipd-pds-sikaflex252-us.pdf
