Exterior Metal Trim

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Richele

Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2018
Posts
20
Good morning,
So my 1996 Thor Chateau 16 foot travel trailer cosmetic remodel has turned into a complete gut job.  I need to know where I can buy the replacement metal strip that go along the edges to hold the exterior laminate in place.  I don't want to take it off until I know I can replace. Thanks for all you help.
 
I think you mean the "vinyl insert trim".  you can find the straight extrusions lots of places.  Here's one at random from a google search...
https://www.prvparts.com/rv-trim-molding-s/2451.htm

I had a project that sounds a bit similar to yours.... I was on the hunt for trim.  I found it in a couple widths.... like a standard and wide.  The factory  had used teh "wide" on mine already. I was looking for something much much wider than anything I could find, trying to seal a manufacturing defect of panels too short.  Sadly I never found it.

The other thing... the trim I needed on mine was the pre-bent stuff around the curved nose cone.  I found out that I could have ordered it from the factory through a dealer.  Sadly not wider like I wanted though.  I was prepared to do that, but in the end I was careful in removing the stuff and was able to re-use what I had..... sealing with butyl tape and some eternabond webseal just under the trim...and some finagling to make the corner stronger...
 
Thank you for replying. We plan on carefully removing whats there to reuse.  Any bit of money we can save we are going to do so, this project has already tripled in cost.  I just wanted to have some on hand in case.
 
My old motorhome has aluminum trim with a black hdpe insert that covers the screws, this separates the fiberglass upper from the metal lower part of the coach, it's about 2 " wide and the insert is 7/16"
 
I wish I asked the RV dealers about cost before I replaced mine. The trim on the roof was so gummed up that it would have taken me a week to scrap off all of the old sealant. On one part, I used vinyl trim and on the other, I used 1 inch aluminum stock. But I found out that a 16 foot piece of corner trim for my RV was only $33 and I didn't even have to pay shipping. If I knew the trim was that cheap, I wouldn't have thought twice about buying new stuff.

If you have any old sealant on top of yours, just pay for new stuff. It saves a lot of headache and it looks a lot better.
 
cerd said:
I wish I asked the RV dealers about cost before I replaced mine. The trim on the roof was so gummed up that it would have taken me a week to scrap off all of the old sealant. On one part, I used vinyl trim and on the other, I used 1 inch aluminum stock. But I found out that a 16 foot piece of corner trim for my RV was only $33 and I didn't even have to pay shipping. If I knew the trim was that cheap, I wouldn't have thought twice about buying new stuff.

If you have any old sealant on top of yours, just pay for new stuff. It saves a lot of headache and it looks a lot better.
Click to expand...

So, I think you are saying I can get new trim directly from a dealer relatively inexpensive.  If that's the case I will be calling a dealer when we get to that part I would rather spend a little money to save a lot of time. Thanks for the info.
 
I don't remember the number I was quoted for it, but even the prebent stuff shaped like a P for the nose of my class C is available.  It was expensive but wasn't as expensive as I would have thought.

I suspect that it's available for some models,and relatively new ones...but probably not older one.

I bought one of those oscillating saw/scraper tools and that helped cut through a lot of the sealant to get it off without too much damage...
 
blw2 said:
I don't remember the number I was quoted for it, but even the prebent stuff shaped like a P for the nose of my class C is available.  It was expensive but wasn't as expensive as I would have thought.

I suspect that it's available for some models,and relatively new ones...but probably not older one.

I bought one of those oscillating saw/scraper tools and that helped cut through a lot of the sealant to get it off without too much damage...
Click to expand...

The fella I spoke to at the dealer strongly recommended buying the short lipped trim because 99% of the time, they can screw it in from one end and work their way down and the screws form the trim for them. Sometimes there is mild buckling, but you can bend it back with a few taps from a rubber mallet.

I agree with the multi tool. If it's hard sealant, it works great. If it's still soft, I recommend using a cheap wooden chisel the width of the inner groove of the trim. I got most of it off with just one pass. It's very messy though, which is why I recommend a cheap one.
 
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