2016 35G Front Clip or Nose Coming Loose

spydorman · 04-20-2021, 04:18 PM

HI, Tried searching for this, but didn't see much. I noticed on the passenger side, on the side of the coach, a 1/4" white vertical line (my coach is burgundy) just in front of the wheel well extending up to the bottom of the windshield to where there is a screwed on vertical molding that extends to the roof.

If I slap my hand against the front of the coach nose, the nose moves back in behind the mating fiberglass about 1/4". But after traveling, it moves out again. I also noticed that there is a vertical steel bar behind that area that the nose is glued to. It seems that the glue has lost its hold to the steel bar and now the nose is not fastened to it. I looked at the drivers side and it also has come loose, but is not moving forward and back like the passenger side.

Has anyone else had this problem and is it owner fixable or do I need to get it into a dealer. So far, except for the factory, I haven't found one I trust.

Thanks,
Carl

Jim_HiTek · 04-26-2021, 08:13 PM

Very common problem with Winnebagos. I have room behind my front fiberglass to get a 90 degree drill in there and I just drilled holes through the bracket's holes and through the fiberglass, than countersunk the holes, than used stainless 6-32 hardware to hold things. The front cover is relatively light weight so I didn't think heavier hardware was necessary, and I only used 2 screws per bracket. So far, after several years that's turned out to be true.

In your case, you might just mark the outside and drill through the front through that vertical steel bar and use a tap to thread the hole. Then countersink and use a flathead as mentioned.

spydorman · 04-27-2021, 06:05 AM

Thanks. Thought about doing it, but guess I have some hesitation about taking a drill to the fiberglass and making holes in it. Might be the way to go though. There may be some room for me to at least squeeze some adhesive into the gap between the metal and the panel before clamping with the screws. Any advice as to an adhesive to use. Probably wouldn't be trying to scrape off the existing glue. Not a lot of room to get in there. Just clean up with some alcohol.
Carl

Jim_HiTek · 04-27-2021, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spydorman

Thanks. Thought about doing it, but guess I have some hesitation about taking a drill to the fiberglass and making holes in it. Might be the way to go though. There may be some room for me to at least squeeze some adhesive into the gap between the metal and the panel before clamping with the screws. Any advice as to an adhesive to use. Probably wouldn't be trying to scrape off the existing glue. Not a lot of room to get in there. Just clean up with some alcohol.
Carl

If I were to use a glue (which I wouldn't bother with because the added expense and labor - since I don't think it'll add much more strength over just the screws), I'd use Gorilla Glue which I've heard people that have this problem rave about several times. Many use the same epoxy that's already failed once, get the name directly from Winnie, they have listings of that sort of thing. I would use a spray solvent to clean the old epoxy first. Many people completely remove the involved fiberglass, grind down the old epoxy first, than re-epoxy it. Or pay to have it done. Or even head to the Winnie Service at Forest City and have them do it. I think that's a waste of money personally.

In my case, I just pushed the fiberglass up against the old epoxy, held it there while I drilled holes for the screws. Screwed it down just snug, where it wouldn't be so tight that it might deform the fiberglass but tight enough that the piece didn't move. I used those plastic insert lock nuts and flat washers on the back side. And several loose panels I had are still solid...going on years now.

The first two ad free articles here detail what I did: Loose Fiberglass Repaired...

Nomad Les · 05-02-2021, 06:27 PM

This is some of the poor assembly and quality control by Winnebago. They have had problems with their gluing procedures for years and do not have a desire to correct them. Should the Federal Highway safety group get involved with this issue?

bigb · 05-02-2021, 07:02 PM

The front nose on my Via became completely detached at both front brackets I believe from a previous owner hitting something. I fixed it with 3M 5000. At first the 5000 did not want to set up but then I read that it depends on humidity to cure so after a couple days I started wrapping the area with wet rags and sure enough it got very strong. It holds like you wouldn't believe, if you tried to pull the bracket off it would probably break the fiberglass, but at the same time it has a bit of flex to it to help absorb movement, I am real happy with it and will use it again if any more parts become detached. It also turned out to be the source of an annoying rattle I could never figure out.

spydorman · 05-14-2021, 08:47 PM

Hi Brian,

Did you have to remove all of the previous adhesive from the area before applying? Or did you just apply on top of the old? On mine it looks like the adhesive separated from the metal bracket and is still adhered to the fiberglass.

I might want to give this a try before putting holes in the fiberglass for screws.
Thanks
Carl

bigb · 05-15-2021, 07:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spydorman

Hi Brian,

Did you have to remove all of the previous adhesive from the area before applying? Or did you just apply on top of the old? On mine it looks like the adhesive separated from the metal bracket and is still adhered to the fiberglass.

I might want to give this a try before putting holes in the fiberglass for screws.
Thanks
Carl

No, the previous adhesive was a hard gray substance that looked a lot like JB Weld. It had broken off and some of it was still on the brackets and the rest was on the nose. I removed all of it from the brackets (which have slots to let the adhesive push through) but the part on the nose I just roughed up and took off the high spots with an angle grinder. Then used the 3M 5000. Keep in mind the 3M product will not cure unless there is humidity, repeatedly wrapping with damp rags worked great. I completely removed the nose and let everything cure for a week. While it was apart I took advantage and re-finished the headlights.

bigb · 05-15-2021, 07:07 AM

This pic shows the two brackets still bolted to the frame (down where the bumper would go) but completely detached from the nose piece. By leaving the original adhesive on the fiberglass I had a "footprint" to get the brackets glued on to the exact original spot

spydorman · 05-15-2021, 07:42 AM

Thanks for the pics. Your brackets are a lot different than mine, but the concept is the same. Mine run vertically from about the bottom of the windshield down to the bottom of the side panel. Wish I had a garage like yours to do the work in. All my work is done outside.

bigb · 05-16-2021, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spydorman

Thanks for the pics. Your brackets are a lot different than mine, but the concept is the same. Mine run vertically from about the bottom of the windshield down to the bottom of the side panel. Wish I had a garage like yours to do the work in. All my work is done outside.

Having a big garage definitely helps, I actually chose the Via because it fits in the garage and makes getting ready for a trip so much easier than a storage facility. I took more pics today as I had the front off again this weekend to install a new air horn. As you can see I was generous with the 3M because it doesn't keep once opened but I could have used less now that I know how strong the bond is. The pic of the gray stuff is one of the original brackets that hold the fog lights in, you can see what I am talking about where there are slots for the adhesive to ooze thru

spydorman · 05-25-2021, 03:42 PM

Thinking I may remove as much of the previous adhesive from the brackets that I can, then use the 3M 5000 adhesive along with some S.S. screws. There are other Oval head screws in that area, so I don't think it will look too bad if I do a nice job of countersinking and using touch up paint for the screw heads.

Is the there a source that you can recommend for the 3M 5000? Tried finding it online and having trouble finding it. Is that the exact part number?

Thanks, Carl

bigb · 05-25-2021, 04:04 PM

Sorry Carl, the 5000 is the 5 gallon size of construction adhesive, the tube is #5200 and this is where I got mine: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

spydorman · 05-26-2021, 05:44 AM

Thanks! Thought that might be the one, but wanted to make sure.

I see there is also a 5200 Fast Cure that set up in 48 hours instead of 5-7 days. Wonder if there is any difference in strength.

https://www.amazon.com/3M-Marine-Adh...2030142&sr=8-3

Carl

edju · 06-02-2021, 09:34 AM

The brackets that hold the front engine hood cover came loose and one fell off completely. Just like those showed, just glued to the fiberglass front cowl. I scraped off all the old adhesive from the fiberglass. There was hardly any on the brackets. I suspect the factory didn't clean the brackets properly before glueing. I used the JB Weld glue since it listed fiberglass and metal as compatible. It took some effort in an afternoon to get everything clean, and I sanded the brackets down to bare metal on the glued side, but the glue sets up in minutes and 6-8 hours to cure. They seem very solid now. Just to be safe, I tied a cord to each of them so if they came off again, I didn't lose them.

Good luck,
Ed