How To Repair Ripped Skin On Enclosed Cargo Trailer

A friend has a trailer with aluminum peel on the sides. Someone went down the side of the trailer with some kind of vehicle and punched a pigsty through. He asked me if I knew how to fix it, I don't; but I know some people that might!

The skin cloth looks like aluminum flashing you see on roofs, pretty thin. I thought a hammer and dolly to brand things apartment, then use pop rivets and caulk to hold a new piece behind the original.

Does that audio plausible? Suggestions for caulk? Meliorate ideas?

Thanx, Dan

If its a make name trailer, you might be able to buy a prefinished sheet of siding right from the manufacturer and replace the whole thing. Non as well pricey, just quite a flake 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 automobile bodies on late model dirt cars back in the lxxx'south, by and large the wedge cars, no kits, nosotros built all from scratch. Aluminum sheet was easy to work with.

Quick google link:

http://world wide web.smileysracing.com/shopping/productDetails.aspx?i=97344&c=1176

Hammer and dolly never worked that well. If a quarter panel got bent upwardly information technology was easier to remove the console and press it between two sheets of plywood, didn't brand information technology baby butt shine but good enough appearance wise for the side by side race. When they got busted up too bad we'd reskin that section.

edit: If replacing, use the onetime section as a template on new aluminum canvass. 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 piece of work at. Cutting dorsum or smooth the hole, cutting a patch, line it upwardly to drill holes for sealed popular rivets, add sealant, and rivet the patch into place.

Y'all have to use the more expensive sealed rivets as water -will- work it's manner through the regular pop rivets, especially at sixty+ 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-beam enclosed trailer for a song because the forepart corner had been smashed and the wind ripped and buckled half the 1 side.

We drilled out all the rivets and "unsheeted" the damaged sections. He had a canvass metal fab place brand a new forepart corner department for something like $350 considering of a circuitous curve and a bend we couldn't figure out how to make and so nosotros took 4x8 sheets of .043 and reskinned information technology (overlapping them similar shingles) using SS self tapping screws instead of rivets. One time the pigment and molding went dorsum on - I was surprised at how hard information technology was to tell the deviation from front to dorsum.

EDIT: I forgot - we too used adhesive like liquid nails on the studs.

Will fiberglass & resin attach?

I call back reskin in prefinished panels is the right answer hither.

914Driver wrote: Will fiberglass & resin attach?

honestly.. no. The aluminum skins on trailers and trucks flex a lot when being pulled down the road. It would probably agree for a little while, but information technology volition not take long for the stiffer 'glass to suspension away from the aluminum skin.

Polyurethane construction adhesive.

i backed mine into my other trailer'southward natural language and punctured the door down low. i'thou going to get a diamond plate and cut it for each door to get a foot upward or so, kinda like wraps around the front of my and most every other enclosed trailer.

does he remember he might need a door there? because now you take the perfect excuse to put one in..

At that place'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

Source: https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/repairing-aluminum-trailer-skin/88193/page1/

Posted by: piercearld1950.blogspot.com

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