Screw pulled out of exterior fiberglass wall

[rtreptow7]

The pass through storage compartment on one side of my fifth wheel has a door that is held open by a latch attached to the fiberglass sidewall. One of the screws has pulled out. It is stripped. Won’t tighten back up and stay in place. It only holds the weight of the hatch open at 90 degrees. I temporarily put a little silicone around it to prevent water intrusion. But want to fix it now. Can’t get to the back side of it to fasten anything. Was thinking of filling the hole with some sort of epoxy and then re-drilling it. Any other suggestions/ideas to fix this?






https://1drv.ms/u/s!AlPYRU9A7-IqdxqpATwWZum8uKA

[Durb]

Go to a hardware store and get the correct size well nut. Drill out the hole to the correct size and install the rubber expansion nut. Tighten up your bracket and the rubber will expand behind the fiberglass and be stronger than original.

[Gjac]

Over the years, I have used toothpicks, steel wool wrapped around the treads, epoxy, and wood glue to fix stripped holes. They all work if holes are not too stripped. What I do for larger holes is to cut a triangular piece of wood out of the corner of flat oak pallet board with a knife. The knife will follow the grain of the wood producing a tapered triangle piece. The triangle piece of wood is tapped into the hole and the over sized triangle will bite into the hole preventing the screw from spinning.

[MURPHY55347]

Just fill the hole with epoxy, coat the screw threads with epoxy, push the screw in and wait 24hrs.

[whiteeye42]

get a dowel rod the same size as the hole and use some gorilla glue and glue the rod in place then cut off any extra rod then go ahead and reattach the latch that holes the door open

[garyp4951]

Tooth picks, and silicone, don't over tighten, and let set overnight before hanging door on it.

[Lynnmor]

I pulled the small rain gutter above the slide because of just a hint of rust and found all the screws rusted severely. The backing for the filon side was soft and the holes would not hold a screw. Like Dutchman, I used Bondo, but a different product that contains fiberglass strands. I packed the holes using flat toothpicks to work in as much Bondo as I could. After it hardened, I drilled the holes to the root diameter of new stainless screws screws. It worked well with none of the holes failing.

I suggest that anyone with a row of screws should pull a sample. My trailer is always garaged except when in use.

[mhardin]

I have used toothpicks with epoxy in the past and it worked well. When a larger screw holding the awning support pulled out, I drilled the hole a bit larger and used a dowel with epoxy. Re-drill a hole for the screw so you don't spin the patch loose trying to get the screw in.

[ford_truck_guy]

humblerb wrote:

ford truck guy wrote:
I have used tooth picks cut to length and stuffed into the hole.. The screw will then tighten up against the toothpicks.. Just be careful to not add too many at first.

This was my first thought, too.
But, if it is only the fiberglass and nothing behind it. not sure of the toothpick will stay in place.
The epoxy suggestions sound like they may work better.

You could always ADD some glue/sealant to the hole to HOLD them in place

[humblerb]

ford truck guy wrote:
I have used tooth picks cut to length and stuffed into the hole.. The screw will then tighten up against the toothpicks.. Just be careful to not add too many at first.

This was my first thought, too.
But, if it is only the fiberglass and nothing behind it. not sure of the toothpick will stay in place.
The epoxy suggestions sound like they may work better.

[ford_truck_guy]

I have used tooth picks cut to length and stuffed into the hole.. The screw will then tighten up against the toothpicks.. Just be careful to not add too many at first.

[pianotuna]

Pack the hole with Kleenex.

Make a well from chewing gum (or similar)

Soak in as much water thin crazy glue as possible

Wait 24 hours

Remove the gum

Gently sand the "filling" flat

Start the screw, then remove it

Put on the "clip" and screw it into place

[DutchmenSport]

When I installed my Furrion backup-observation camera on the back of 5er I had to remove the plastic dummy look-alike first. The sides of my camper are fiberglass too. I had previously purchased a Bondo Fiberglass repair kit for a deep scratch I put on the front cap of the 5er. I used it to fill the holes for the camera, let it dry hard and then simply screwed the same screws right back in the same existing holes, except these were rock solid now. The screws snugged back down nice and tight.

You can get it at WallMart, Home Depot, any number of places: Click here. Keep the rest on hand for other "hits" your fiberglass may take. It dries clear. And considering you are just filling a screw hole, it will take just a tiny bit. You don't need to use that mesh material for something like a screw hole. Be warned though, once it turns hard (after a few minutes) its HARD! You'll never remove it. So if you are sloppy with it, you'll have slop on the side of your camper forever. But it works great!