Hood Latch issue

[bobmac]

You might want to try 3M5200 - a marine adhesive/sealant. It will hold literally anything to a solid surface. You have to be cautious using it as once stuck, it is there forever. I know there are many ex sailers on the forum who have used it and will strongly attest to its superior holding power. You can get it in a tube or a caulking tube. You can get it at almost any marine dealer or on Amazon. I guarantee you will become a lifelong fan after using it once. Good luck.... you won't be disappointed

[Journey39n]

Had several latches in front, and rear grill come loose.

I used wire wheel on a drill to surface prep the fiberglass, some sandpaper on it and the metal brackets, and used 'JB weld', an epoxy my dad showed me back in the 1960's. Nothing new about it, it just works!

My repairs have held over the last many years (5-8 years) driving all over the country. The key is the surface prep.

[gmellison]

Mine fell off on our vista. Tried the epoxy fix but that only lasted a mile. I had my local RV shop repair by glassing the latches in. It wasn’t the cheapest option but according to them it’s the only way to keep it from happening again. If I remember I’ll post pics when I get home.

[jbarry130]

Originally Posted by bobmac

You might want to try 3M5200 - a marine adhesive/sealant. It will hold literally anything to a solid surface. You have to be cautious using it as once stuck, it is there forever. I know there are many ex sailers on the forum who have used it and will strongly attest to its superior holding power. You can get it in a tube or a caulking tube. You can get it at almost any marine dealer or on Amazon. I guarantee you will become a lifelong fan after using it once. Good luck.... you won't be disappointed

I just used 3M 5200 to repair my "hood" on my 2015 Sunova 33C. The cure is 7 days for it and it was 7 days of OMG, what if it doesn't hold. I was going to have a big job cleaning it up and finding something else afterward. So far so good. There is a shorter cure one, but I'd read that it doesn't hold as well.

[Westy67]

I have a 2017 vista 29ve. Both brackets came loose. I took them off, sanded down to bare metal, sanded the old epoxy and fiberglass using a small orbital sander with 60 grit. Wiped it down with laquer thinner. I used gorilla glue adhesive in the caul tube. Worked great. Survived the trip from key west to Alaska and back and continues to remain solid.
Westy 67

[Dpforza1]

I had the same problem and went to the rally and Winnebago fixed it. Also happen to me on the way to Arizona on the other side. You have to make sure you sand the paint off the brackets or it wont stick.

[T00lman]

I have tried various different epoxies which have all failed. Believe it or not, I used Gorilla Glue Extra Strength clear this time and it is holding well. The secret is to remove, by grinding, all the old epoxy off of both sides- down to original fiberglass on the coach and steel on the bracket. Measure the other side to determine placement, use plenty of glue, and clamp in place until cured (24 hrs).

[NeilV]

You really have to roughen both the brackets and the old fiberglass since whats there is already fully cured so there is no chance on getting it to chemically bond now and you have to have an 80 or 60 grit roughed surface to get a solid physical bond.

There is a gotcha though in that you have to apply the new epoxy within 10 to 15 minutes of doing the sanding or an amaline blush will develop on the old resin and require it to be cleaned up again. Just before applying the new epoxy the sanded area should be wiped down with acetone to ensure that any minute blush that has started to develop and any dust residual, grease or oil is completely removed before applying the epoxy.

There is no prepping in the morning and coming back to it the next day or even after lunch as you really only have minutes to react between final sanding and applying the adhesive to fiberglass.

Quick set is usually 4200 not 5200 and it does not hold as well however even in the boatyard we do not substitute 5200 where it really needs a great structural epoxy bond.

[Edbehl]

One of my hood brackets actually came loose and fell off while driving, creating a hell of a lot of noise as it passed through the engine compartment. Luckily I was in a town going slow when it happened and was able to quickly pull over and run back to get it off the street before anyone ran it over and damaged it. After reading a lot of replies and attempting to chip and sand off the old epoxy and replacing it with the recommended subsequent epoxy, which also failed a year later, and seeing the grill was also loose, I elected to make a final repair that would last.

I drilled through the brackets and the fiberglass front facia and installed wide flat head hurricane shutter bolts which i had spray painted the same color as the Motorhome. I used 2 on each hood bracket and 5 around the grill. Using red locktite to the hand tightened nuts the hood brackets and the grill brackets are now completely secure.

[monytaker]

Thank you all for the great responses. I too agree that the prep is most probably the key. After reading so many responses and extensive explanations, I think I will bypass bringing it back to the shop who did the fix and do it properly myself. It only makes since to not take a chance of having another bad application only to clean it up and do the right thing myself.

i do have a question for any of you that have cleaned this epoxy off the inside of the fiberglass. Did you crawl up under the front of the coach and stand up inside or remove the front grille to access the area to be cleaned off? My first try was on a trip to Tucson, upon arrival, worked on it by crawling up in between. Obviously, I didn't remove existing epoxy. Seems as though maybe removing front grille would give me easier access.

This forum and its members are awesome. The responses and information I have gained have been so helpful. I really appreciate it. Now I feel impowered to give this a try myself.

[HandyJimBob]

In 2018 I used J-B Weld "Professional" steel-reinforced epoxy with great success. The bracket came away from the body on the passenger side, and I performed minimal clean-up with a mind to use the remnants of the factory epoxy to guide bracket placement. We took our Spring 2019 trip from Florida (home) to Massachusetts and back, and the repair stood the test of those really nasty road surfaces up North. Upon my returned-home inspection, I discovered the driver's side bracket coming loose, repeated the procedure, and now the hood is rock-solid attached, as evidenced by our Fall 2019 trip to Mass and back. Nothing but short in-state trips this year, but still rock-solid.

[deckape]

Had one latch come loose on a 2016 34T Forza. Used 4 stainless bolts and washes with locking nut to make repair to both latches. Looks good and will hold .

[Goodscout]

I have a 2020 Adventurer 30T. All of the brackets on the hood needed to be removed and attached at the dealer. I did one small hood bracket with JB weld.
I can't understand why Winnebago doesn't realize that their method is inferior.
This involves returning the RV multiple times, fuel and time. Anchor the fasteners in the fiberglass itself.

[Westy67]

I used a 4 inch orbital majors sander with 60 grit discs to clean the epoxy off and rough it up. I left the hood in place and reached over and around to sand the area. It was not easy. Kind of difficult but worked. I used a mirror to check my progress. I changed the sandpaper discs often The metal was done outside on a picnic table. Once all clean I used a deep c clamp with a protective interface between the outside fiberglass and c clamp. I applied plenty of gorilla glue adhesive in the caulk tube and let sit overnight. After all complete I had to readjust the hood closure position
Just take your time and you will get it
Enjoy everyday or you wasted one
Westy67

[sundog964]

Originally Posted by bobmac

You might want to try 3M5200 - a marine adhesive/sealant. It will hold literally anything to a solid surface. You have to be cautious using it as once stuck, it is there forever. I know there are many ex sailers on the forum who have used it and will strongly attest to its superior holding power. You can get it in a tube or a caulking tube. You can get it at almost any marine dealer or on Amazon. I guarantee you will become a lifelong fan after using it once. Good luck.... you won't be disappointed

That is a good epoxy. In the Aerospace Industry we used something called, Epibond's 1210-A/9615-10, aka “Blue Death”. It was so strong, often when testing it would rip out bits of the underlying metal or composites it was bonded to. But just like the 5200, once you bond it, it isn't coming off. And using it on fiberglass, the solvents needed to remove it will melt the fiberglass.

[Ken Mitchell]

Mine came off and I tied the hood shut with some rope. My local Winnebago dealer in Marysville,Wa. Got authorization to fix it. Had to order the new super duty epoxy from Winnebago. They had a weak batch of epoxy that they used for awhile. Makes me wonder what will come loose next. 🤔

[mitchoe]

I bolted mine on after one fell off for the second time. I used very small flat head bolts with the nylon lined lock nuts, hasn’t moved since. Did both sides on the latching panel on my Itasca.

[Dentkimterry]

Did they reveal the date period of the bad epoxy??

[747Driver]

Originally Posted by Ken Mitchell

They had a weak batch of epoxy that they used for awhile. Makes me wonder what will come loose next. 🤔

I'm gonna have to call BS on this one, unless they had 13 years of bad batch! My '03 and '16 Adventurers had the same issues.

First thing you notice, the metal bracket is nice and shinny, never got near sandpaper. Second, the epoxy is best at sticking to the fiberglass, not smooth metal, so you need to wrap the bracket in epoxy, not just stick it on. You probably noticed that is was a pain to get off the fiberglass, bracket was probably clean as a whistle. Fixed the '03 in '04, with lots of recommended epoxy, never had another issue with it, sold in '16.

The new '16 version, lasted 18 months and things got loose. Fixed it the same way, we shall see, still solid.

[BobC]

I know my rig is old but I don't understand the reluctance to drill a few holes and bolt it on. It's a lot less work and isn't going to fail.