2019 30T Adventurer Hood Latch

[TTTCLAG]

On a recent trip from Ct. to NC we started hearing a loud bang when hitting a pothole or going over a bridge joint. Louder than normal. Every time it sounded like a large rock hitting the windshield. On arrival I couldn’t find any damage, until I opened the hood. On the passenger side I could see where the hood had been hitting the body in the corner of the opening and had left a divet almost a quarter inch deep. When I took hold of the latch inside the body it came off in my hand. Turns out it is epoxied to the fiberglass body with no screws or bolts.
I called Winnebago and they were unsympathetic. Past the one year warranty.
So after some deep research I ordered a 6 oz tube of 3M 08115 epoxy for $40 and the proper application gun for $75. After much contortion, head bumps and back aches I used an angle grinder to remove the old epoxy and then reinstalled the hood latch using the 3M epoxy. I then attached safety wires to both hood latches just in case they come off in the future.

A word of caution. Check your hood latches and every thing else under the hood that is attached with epoxy.

[bigb]

Pretty common on Winnebagos for all kinds of brackets and latches, lights etc. There's probably a post every few weeks here on it. I used 3M 5200, let us know how the epoxy holds up. Hard to go wrong with 3M products.

[Dray1953]

I took a much cheaper and in my opinion, surer method. Using the bracket as my template, I drilled holes in the coach front and used stainless steel pan heads to attach the hood latch. I felt this was better than relying on epoxy again. It's been over a year and holding snug. I did the other side to match.

[wyocamper]

^^^^ This is the way.

[TTTCLAG]

Thanks for the replies. I considered drilling and using pan heads as you did, but I was a coward. Afraid to drill into the body. After seeing yours I may do it soon.

[wyocamper]

Since that photo I've hit the screws with some touch up paint from paintscratch.com and they are pretty much invisible. One of these days I'll get another pic.The epoxy failed once, it's going to fail again.

[Jim_HiTek]

I used countersunk SS flathead screws along with plastic insert lock nuts and SS flatwashers over 5 years ago on my front and rear epoxied brackets that had broken free and they are still holding strong and no evidence of any cracking of the fiberglass. The screw heads are so tiny (6-32 hardware but 8-32 would work too) and flush with the surface that I have trouble spotting them. A dab of paint would make them vanish. I have been down a few washboard roads with them installed and they are doing fine after all these years. I'm a full time RV'er.

Wrote up a couple articles about the work on my RV repair blog, ad free, in the Body Work Front and Rear sections...

[spydorman]

Last year I had to glue and refasten the whole front end of the coach. It was just glued on as the brackets are. Used some stainless steel screws and the 5200 adhesive. Hasn't moved since.
Today I opened the hood and found the exact same problem as you had. My driver side hood latch bracket has come loose. I am amazed that it didn't come off while on the road and get lost. I think I'll try the 5200 adhesive first without the screws.
Seems like the problems never end. I don't know how anyone that is not mechanically inclined can own one of things. If I had to depend on a dealer to fix this stuff, I would never get to use it.