Expert: Dave Cunningham - 5/2/2006

Question
I purchased this 32' '98 fifth wheel Prowler 3 years ago and knew it had minor water damage in the front part.  This model has a front living area, a dinnette slide in the mid section and a rear bedroom with slide out.  Recently the right front fiberglass panel extruded from the exterior corner trim piece (due to buckling from moisture)where the side panel meets the noise panel.  The resulting affect was a section from top to bottom on the fifth wheel section was ripped away to about 4 feet back.  Since this occurred, I now plan to repair the water damaged wood but my main question is can I buy a section of the fiberglass exterior and piece it together, just replacing the damaged area back to the first good stud?  It appears that the panel was one pieced from back to front.

Any other advice would greatly be appreciated, including a good source for the materials.  I live near Dallas, TX.

Thanks!

MLS

Answer
Go to a RV dealer's parts department or an RV supply store, and tell them you need a sheet of Filon (very thin fiberglass)on luan paneling. Or "raw" Filon if you want to laminate it to paneling yourself. A fiberglass (body) shop should be able to supply you with gel-coat and catalyst for the seam that you will have. Yes, you can piece it together. If Prowler is still in business, the best thing would be to go directly to their parts department and see what they have available. That way you would probably get a better match.,