Damaged my camper shell. Need advice in repairing

Recently damaged my camper shell. ‍♂️ I was parked uneven ground and caught the edge of the camper shell with the tailgate. Fiberglass is cracked and loose at that corner.

What would you guys recommend to fix this?

 

First, can the shell be adjusted to properly clear the tailgate?

Is the damage primarily just chipped gel coat?

How perfect does it need to be?

Do you want to DIY?

There are a lot of fiberglass boat repair videos on YouTube.

I’d probably just fill the damage with white epoxy.

Good luck!

 

Fiberglass repair is not rocket science. Any local shop that repairs fiberglass boats or sports cars should be able to make it look like new. Probably less than $100.00. I used to repair canoes with layering Kevlar mesh and epoxy when I had a canoe rental business but I never tried to master the perfect cosmetic aspect.

 

The tailgate clears, i was parked on uneven ground when I tried opening the tailgate. The uneven ground made the camper in the way of the tailgate

 

You have 2 issues;
1) Repair of your camper
2) fix the fit that caused the damage

looks like you have a Snugtop. Is that the case? Regardless, it’s not acceptable for it to get hit by the tailgate just because you are on a slope.

 

Yes it’s a Snugtop. I don’t think fitment is the issue. Here’s a picture of it without any adjustments.

 

Mine is also a Snugtop. I have never had any issues, regardless of the slope/terrain. I’m gonna look at it tomorrow and check back with you.

 

Check the shell mounting bolts, I’ve never seen one move that much.

 

Fiberglass bondo for the repair since it's only cosmetic. As for it not to shift, I got some composite shims from home depot and stuffed it between and bed rail and inside lip of my Leer Topper.

 

No biggy. Get a some fiberglass cloth, some resin, a little bondo and a can of spray paint. Use a grinder or sander and grind back the damaged fiberglass until you have a good clean, bare surface, lay some new cloth, let it harden, trowel in some bondo, sand and grind it smooth and back into shape, paint.

Thats the great thing about fiberglass, its infinitely repairable.

 

I bought some white epoxy. Will just fill the crack for now. As for the clamps, should it be mounted to the lip of the bed or the rails? I currently have it on the lip of the bed.

 

If your camper has moved that much I would also remove the shell and inspect the truck. Mine never shifted like that in all kinds of dirt roads and mild offroad stuff. Even so, paint rubbed off under the plastic rail caps, the front of the bed and the tailgate. It was on the truck for 12 years and survived the jolt of having an open windoor ripped off by a telephone pole without shifting.

I thought that if you had the rails (I assume you are talking about the track system) you had to mount it to them using adapter nuts (that is how mine was connected) and if you did not then you mounted to the bed rail using C-clamps. I could be wrong there; I have seen pictures of c-clamps grabbing the bottom of the tracks but thought it was not designed for that.