Passenger side front panel blew off!

[Doula]

Hi all,

We had a problem today, hence the title of the thread. First for our relevant specs: 2000 Winnebago Adventurer 37G.

Problem: Passenger side front panel over tire area tore in half in wind and blew off. The back half of the panel is still attached. I just uploaded the photo of the damage and hope it shows up. If not, I'll try again.

What happened: My husband was driving today on a 2 lane road on a, for-the-most-part, a pretty calm day. A large construction type of truck passed by us on the other lane going the other direction. As it did, we had an exceptionally strong wind gust from that as well as a seemingly strong regular wind gust from the front passenger side. So it seemed like we had wind coming at us rather suddenly from opposing directions. We've had our rig for 6 years and never experienced anything quite like it before. The road signs we passed at the very same time were blowing like crazy in that moment. What happened in that moment was (please excuse me for not knowing the proper name for the part) that the front passenger side panel that goes over the tire area tore in half and blew off! It went flying and my husband pulled over and took a hike 1/2 mi. back to retrieve it, so we do have it. The broken off piece is cracked largely in several areas and the marker reflector is smashed (I still need to get a photo of that piece and I will). I'm assuming that the entire panel will need replaced IF we can find this part. We do plan to call Winnebago to see if they can get a hold of this old part, but I'm not optimistic because of our coach's age. But what do I know, so it's worth a try.

Question: Do any of you have any other ideas of where I might be able to locate a replacement?

If we cannot find a replacement, my husband will try to Bondo it back together and repaint it to match. He is not confident that it can actually be repaired, though. Help! It's awful ugly now!

 

[homeless-WO]

I'm sure there are more places around the country like this one: We Have Your Part… | Colaw RV Parts and Salvage

Google for an RV Junk yard!

 

[KirbyRVA]

Call Winnebago or the parts department of Lichtsinn Motors, a Winne dealer one mile from the factory with your coach serial #. I would suspect they can still make the part if they do not have it in stock. A close friend of mine owns an auto collision repair shop and he does RV repairs. He tells me that Winnebago is absolutely the best manufacturer he has worked with in terms of having replacement body panels, compartment doors, etc.

Many of these panels are attached to the coach with an automotive body panel adhesive. Sometimes due to poor prep of the metal brackets at the factory, these things come loose. I suspect one of the attachment points on your panel was loose which allowed that strong gust of wind to tear it away.

 

[Doula]

Thank you so much, homeless & smlranger! My husband is at work right now (we're FT for his travel job). As soon as he gets back, I will share your replies with him. I'm glad to read that it may be easier to locate one than I had feared. Yes, smlranger, you are probably correct that a bracket probably came loose & we hadn't realized it. I confess to having been in panic mode when I posted. Thanks for your parts in helping a girl to have a better day today!

 

[cbeierl]

My understanding is that Winnebago keeps all of their old fiberglass molds, so the chances are good that they can make a new panel for you.

 

[Doula]

Cbeierl... Awesome! Thanks! I'm still waiting for hubby to get back this afternoon. I'll post again to let you all know what we'll do and what happens.

 

[tderonne]

I just repaired my "rear fender skirt" (Winnebago's name) on my '04. The complete part would have been $401.70 from Lichtsinn. "Complete" being the ABS plastic outer skin (not fiberglass) and the aluminum frame. The two parts are held together with foam tape. A new one would have to be painted of course.

I was able to repair my frame by separating it from the skin and getting new foam tape to put it back together as my skin was undamaged. You might have luck welding/gluing your skin back together and then taping it back together like I did.

 

[Doula]

tderonne... Thanks! My husband agrees with you that this could possibly be an option for us. He is off tomorrow and is going to have the time to make a better assessment on what may or may not work and we'll go from there. I'll let everyone know what we end up doing. Everyone in this thread has been so helpful & I really appreciate it!

 

[rickandcheryl]

My neighbor across the street had the exact same thing happen to his Winnebago.

 

[Doula]

My neighbor across the street had the exact same thing happen to his Winnebago.

What did your neighbor do to fix his, rickandcheryl? We have had no luck yet (still trying) in finding one at a RV salvage yard. We checked with a Winnie dealer (per Winnie factory's instructions), and getting a new one made from Winnebago is going to be around $400.

 

[megehrs]

This should be an easy fix. I lost a passenger rear wheel panel on a 02 Adventurer myself. Winnebago dealer or the folks in Iowa can provide a replacement. The part number you need should be on a small label on the back of the panel itself. If not, you can get it from Winnebago. Panels will come in black only. They will provide the paint code for painting it to match your rig. Removal will require removing the rail directly above the panel you want to replace. The end cap should come off with a screw holding it. Then slide the rail forward to reveal the attach points for your wheel panel. Get the panel painted first unless you need other touch up done on the other doors at the same time. Lucky you did not have worse problems. This is typical of blow outs and they can get a lot worse than what you have. Good Luck, Mark

 

[RedGrizz]

This is a good thread...I have found the panels around the wheel wells loose on our 2005 Voyage. They appear to be held in place on the corners by 2 sided tape type adhesive. I have a tube of 3M 08693 Urethane that I use to repair the loose corners. Clean the surfaces well and apply a decent size blob of the Urethane then keep it held in place for a few hours. Note..wear gloves, that stuff sticks to everything.
It's definitely worth checking your panels to see if they are loose.
RG

 

[Doula]

Thanks, megehrs & RedGrizz. We've called several salvage yards; so far we've only been able to locate the part at Colaw RV Salvage, which was linked to in one of the first posts in this thread. I think we will be ordering new because Colaw quoted $450 including shipping for a used part. A brand new part from Winnie was said to be close to $400 after shipping when we called them. We did call Forest City & the Winnie factory parts dept. first, and they said that they can make one but we had to order it via a Winnie dealer.

Yep, we'll have to paint it and probably the rest of that color on down the bin doors of the coach to match. We are full timers so there is no indoor storage happening, and we're talking about a year 2000. I can't imagine there not being a noticeable difference between the new paint & the rest of it. It does sound very easy to put on, and so it seems that the painting will be the biggest hassle. Everyone in this thread is so helpful. Thank you so much!

 

[winniman]

I have the same 2000 37g. I will check my coach when I get it out of storage. Thanks for your story and good luck on the repair.

 

[grtharris]

The link below is to the parts manual for your coach go to page 75. I get all of my parts from Lichtsinn Motors, great bunch to work with.
I had a passenger rear tire blow on an older Vector took out most the wheel lip panel. Replaced with new and painted to match.

http://www.winnebagoind.com/service/wincd/2000/WINNIE00/0wfg37g.pdf

 

[Doula]

Thank you, grtharris!