Trailer panel repair
 

I'm looking for input from drivers about current panel repair methods. I work for a small company in Dayton, OH and we recently debuted a new emergency repair material. I just want to hear your opinions on it. The product is call Rubbn' Repair for Trucking (www.rubbnrepair.com/trucking).

The material is very stiff at room temperature. When heated, it becomes as flexible as duct tape and can be easily applied. When cool, it returns to very rigid. It is watertight and adheres to almost everything.

Does something like this look useful to you? I welcome all comments and would be happy to send samples to anyone interested.

I don't want this to come off as a sales pitch. I just want to hear the opinions of the people that would use it.

Thanks.

Doesn't look that useful to me.

First, how the hell am I supposed to heat a chunk of material this big with anything I can legally carry in my truck? I don't have a heat gun Chief. It would be hard to heat the entire thing to 194 degrees with a cigarette lighter. I guess I could try laying it on my turbo, and try not to burn myself. Otherwise, what, now I have to buy an inverter and a heat gun to throw in the just in case bag along with your product? So I can fix the company's sorry ass trailer for free?

Secondly, most of the time when there's a hole that needs fixing, it's usually either a) a roof leak, or b) a hole punched in the side of the trailer when jacking too tight. I guess the forklift puncture you suggest is a possibility too, but I've never seen that in 10 years. I can't fix a roof leak, and the DOT isn't going to see a roof leak, unless the entire roof is flapping, so who cares. Not my cargo, not my problem. Holes punched from jacking too tight tend to be small, and only go through the outer skin of the trailer. I might slap a piece of duct tape over one of these. A forklift puncture, I'd probably slap a few strips of duct tape and roll. Anything bigger, eg. an internal brace broken and a whole side panel blown out and flapping, it would take more of a repair than it looks like your stuff could tackle anyway.

As far as the "loose fender" you suggest, I can't figure out what the hell you're talking about there. What kind of loose fender? Front fenders are integrated into the hood, which is usually a big piece of fiberglass. You don't just get a little hole in that, but it cracks and goes all to hell if something messes it up. You'd need a lot more than one of these little patch kits. Rear fenders on the tractor are optional equipment, so if I had a problem with one, I'd just beat the ever living shit out of it with a hammer until it wasn't going to rub any tires, and roll. Or take the stupid thing off, if the bolts weren't stuck. Fenders on the trailer, might be gas tanker yanker or something. Have I ever seen fenders on any other kind of trailer? Not as I recall. Anyway, I don't yanker tankers, so that's not my problem.

It looks like an interesting product, but probably of more interest to the boys in the shop than to drivers out on the road. Especially people who are driving someone else's equipment.

Ditto to everything silvan said.

Perhaps if the things were a helluva lot bigger (like 1 foot square) they would be useful, but it would make the product ineffective, as the heated area would cool down before you got the whole thing flexible enough to use.

If you have a loose fender, that tiny piece of plastic isn't going to fix it.

Case in point, your avatar pic.