Service Bay 36: Cap Rail Replacement

Tuesday, 12 February
Camp Tiffin — Red Bay, Alabama
Temps: Lo 42F / Hi 52F (5.5C / 11C)

After a successful day in Service Bay 36, we decided to celebrate our new cap rails by dining out — as good an excuse as any to get Mui out of the kitchen ;-)

Rather than go back to the 4th Street Grille & Steakhouse down the road from Camp Tiffin, we opted to drive into neighboring Belmont, Mississippi to check out a diner serving Mexican food.

Though the place came highly recommended by the locals, we would rate the food at Costa Oaxaqueña to be just OK … doubt we will go back.  Mui’s flautas de carne asada (flautas filled with grilled steak) was a better option than my burrito de carne (burrito with ground beef filling).  As for dessert — we would definitely recommend against ordering the sopapilla; not only did it arrive at the table cold, but it was also nothing like the honey-drizzled, puffy fry-bread we’re used to.

On to the topic of this post — the replacement of our cap rails.  As I understand it, the recall affects units built between 2007 and 2012.  Before 2007, Tiffin was using metal cap rails.  Then they started using ones made of fiberglass.  That’s when the problem started with the cap rails developing cracks over time.  They have since switched back to metal.

Tiffin is warrantying the cap rails for six years from the original date of purchase.  In the process of replacing the fiberglass cap rails with 5-inch (13 cm) wide aluminum ones, the old gutters are also being replaced with new ones that channel water from the roof towards the front and back of the coach.  This is expected to minimize the white streaks that appear along the side walls.

First glimpse of Bay 36 through the windshield as we pull up.
This is one of two operational bays where cap rail replacement is being done.

Mui had started noticing cracks in our cap rails over the past year, so getting them replaced was a high priority item for us.  In fact, he did some minor repairs on them while we were at Hunting Island State Park to make sure the cracks didn’t grow bigger until we could get here and have the warranty work done.

The coach needs to be driven in within inches of the driver-side scaffolding;
Cowan is going to do that for us after …

… he repositions the driver-side mirror in front of the coach so that they can
get the coach as close to the scaffolding as possible.

Usually we’re welcome to stay in the coach while work is being done, but not in this instance as the door is blocked once the passenger-side scaffolding is pushed in place.  So, I grabbed my book and went to the lounge while Mui watched the work being done from a distance.  He did get permission to climb onto the scaffolding a few times — good thing … otherwise I’d have very few photos for the blog.

Left: No way in or out of the coach while cap rail replacement is underway.
Right: By permission only, Mui joins cowan on the scaffolding to show him the repairs he’s done.

With the cap rails removed, the Phaeton is naked.

The old fiberglass rails removed and tossed away … the new aluminum rails waiting to be installed.

The new cap rails (still covered with masking tape) are secured to the roof
with eternabond and screws/rivets.

The screw/rivet heads are covered with a leveling compound to prevent rust and leaks;
once the awning is secured, the first phase of the roof fixes will be done.

A look at a portion of the new cap rail and gutter; the latter channels the water
coming off the roof towards the front and back of the coach so that it comes
out at only two places along each side of the coach.

The cap rail replacement took most of a workday.  The next phase of our roof repairs — getting the gel-coating — will take us into the body shop (Bay 19) tomorrow.  We caught a break with our cap rails being black … we won’t have to queue up to get them painted after the gel-coating is done.

We did go briefly into Bay 19 today.  We were returning to our site when Thomas called to say he was working until 4:30p (the bays usually shut down at 3:00p) and would we mind coming back so he could work on the cracks in the base of our shower stall.  Absolutely!  We’re here to get things done — and the sooner, the better.

Tomorrow our wheels will roll again.