Hole in front Panel, easy to replace?

JulieTexas · 07-30-2021, 09:02 PM

Hi,

Haven’t had many questions to ask because I usually find the answers already answered in another post.

Someone at our trailer storage place hit our zinger 298BH and put a hole about the size of a quarter and some dents below the hole. We are VERY fortunate that the guy told the office manager and she gave us his info. He has offered to repair it, be it order a new front panel and replace it or file it with his insurance company.

My question is, how easy is it to replace that front panel? I’ll try to upload some pics my husband took of it today. We are very grateful it was an honest person, this guy does a lot of work on cars and is handy, from where we’re told, just want to be sure if he does it that it won’t leak. Should we let a pro do it, take it to the dealer or an rv repair shop or let the guy do it?

Thanks for your help!

**Lloyd** · 07-31-2021, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JulieTexas

Hi,

Haven’t had many questions to ask because I usually find the answers already answered in another post.

Someone at our trailer storage place hit our zinger 298BH and put a hole about the size of a quarter and some dents below the hole. We are VERY fortunate that the guy told the office manager and she gave us his info. He has offered to repair it, be it order a new front panel and replace it or file it with his insurance company.

My question is, how easy is it to replace that front panel? I’ll try to upload some pics my husband took of it today. We are very grateful it was an honest person, this guy does a lot of work on cars and is handy, from where we’re told, just want to be sure if he does it that it won’t leak. Should we let a pro do it, take it to the dealer or an rv repair shop or let the guy do it?

Thanks for your help!

That would be a hard question to answer. Because, we don't know your dealer, the RV shop you have in mind, or, the guy who claims he can fix it.

You are right in the fact you don't want it to leak if they replace the front panel. I've seen threads with pics on the forum here where the guy replaced the front panel himself. It looked good to.
For the time being until you decide what to do, I suggest you put a piece of eternabond tape over that hole to keep any moisture out till you get it fixed.
Good luck and keep us posted.

Papa-T · 08-01-2021, 07:55 AM

So sorry this happened. And sad that the person didn’t man up and take responsibility. Not sure about repair but hope your insurance pays for it, under vandalism.

morphrider · 08-01-2021, 08:19 AM

Papa-T, the guy did own up to his mistake by telling the office. That is who they were talking about, the guy that can do the repairs himself or file under his insurance to cover the repairs. Not many people out there would actually do that unfortunately, they got lucky.

**mark5w** · 08-01-2021, 09:01 AM

I'd check the rv repair shops. If there is a future problem, it's on them to fix it.

Papa-T · 08-02-2021, 06:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by morphrider

Papa-T, the guy did own up to his mistake by telling the office. That is who they were talking about, the guy that can do the repairs himself or file under his insurance to cover the repairs. Not many people out there would actually do that unfortunately, they got lucky.

Ok, I missed that. Thanks

**dagst1** · 08-02-2021, 06:41 AM

If it were mine I would go the insurance route. You have a big investment and you want a proper and lasting repair. This guy may know how to fix it but a repair shop does know and they do this type of repair all the time. A leak may take a while to show up and if it does will this guy stand behind his work? Just my 2 cents.

JulieTexas · 08-06-2021, 08:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lloyd

That would be a hard question to answer. Because, we don't know your dealer, the RV shop you have in mind, or, the guy who claims he can fix it.

You are right in the fact you don't want it to leak if they replace the front panel. I've seen threads with pics on the forum here where the guy replaced the front panel himself. It looked good to.
For the time being until you decide what to do, I suggest you put a piece of eternabond tape over that hole to keep any moisture out till you get it fixed.
Good luck and keep us posted.

Thank you Lloyd. Our dealer is exploreUSA. We haven’t used a local repair person, haven’t had the need. We’ll get that tape and get it covered till we figure it out. So disappointing that we’re having to do this with a trailer less than a year old.

JulieTexas · 08-06-2021, 08:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by morphrider

Papa-T, the guy did own up to his mistake by telling the office. That is who they were talking about, the guy that can do the repairs himself or file under his insurance to cover the repairs. Not many people out there would actually do that unfortunately, they got lucky.

Morphrider, thank you. Yes we were very fortunate for his honesty. Not many would do that, especially these days lol

JulieTexas · 08-06-2021, 08:48 AM

Mark5W & Dagst1, thank you for that advice. That sounds like a better way to handle the repair. Now to find a reliable repair & body shop in & around Austin, Tx!?!?

This too shall pass, not sure there’s much we can do to keep something like this from happening again at the storage facility. Again just grateful for the honest citizen who owned up to his accident!!

Thank you all for your responses. Never fun when someone calls and says I have good news and bad news. Ha!

You may also like: