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The missus (bless her) managed to run over my roofbox - it's only 6ft long, 2ft wide and was up on end!!!!!
Anyway, it now has some large cracks in it, fortunately no pieces have snapped off. How should I repair it? Super strong glue? metal plates riveted on then sealed with silicone? or fibre glass + resin?? Or any other great ideas??? Cheers.
If it's plastic then run a soldering iron along the cracks (inside) to weld the bits together?
I'd be using a fibre glass repair kit on both sides.
I'd probably use duck tape on the side I wasn't repairing first though, just to make sure nothing moved whilst I was applying the repair.
Proper job would be some form of resin surely
I'd probably opt for tape. Duct/gorilla is lazy up to tuff tape or something like tenacious if feeling more fancy
you can get plastic welding kits assuming its thermoplastic. Does a good repair.
Depends what it's made of.... glass fibre won't stick to a number of plastic surfaces.I'd be using a fibre glass repair kit on both sides.
Roof boxes are generally made of ABS. They can be plastic welded by someone who knows what they're doing (I didn't, it was a disaster).
Getting the epoxy from fibreglass to bond to it will be a complete PITA. You'll need to mix it so its more tacky than fully set, otherwise when the box flexes it'll just come unstuck. Prep the surface with abusive application of a dremmel. You'll also probably need to drill through the crack ends to stop them spreading. I didn't do this and it's held, but it is a constant worry at 150kph on the autobahn with several grand's worth of ski gear rammed into it.
If its really bad, thule (and others) sell new shells for in-production models. Be prepared to bend over.
Possibly consider a new box.
I have had duck tape on the inside of a corner crack on my roof box for a few years now. The crack is only about 4 inches so not too bad.
I'd go with the metal plates. Aluminium sheet both inside and out, rough up both plastic and metal, bed the whole repair in something that will bond to both plastic and ally, Sikaflex EBT from Screwfix will work well, and put a washer over the end of the pop rivets before pulling up.
Another alternative would be some fairly thin aluminium sheet formed to the shape on the inside, then add glue and finally drill and pop rivet it. Quick and easy to do. Used it on my Caravan.
For glue I used "Serious Stuff" adhesive from also from B&Q (same place I got the alu). It's brilliant - as sticky as mastic but sets hard with a slight bit of give.
Unfortunately life is too short for this kind of hassle. Get on Gumtree, buy a 2nd hand roofbox, sell your wife.
A real bodge would be something like epoxy resin and cut up plastic milk bottles, a solution I may have used from time to time 😳
As it's a roof box I would try and make sure it's sealed to keep rainwater out.
id just (clear) gorilla tape it top and bottom .
itll even be waterproof(my blender bowl is held together with it and it even gets dishwashed regularly .... still doesnt leak 😀
Plumbers solvent cement, I used it to fuse a bunch of cracks together, I used the type for grey waste water pipes on mine and it has survived 100mph trips through rain across France a few times over a couple of years.
there are a few different types of solvent and its probably wise to test a small area first.
I cracked a roofbox by driving under a height restriction.....
It was a borrowed box too!
Bought a new one to replace it for the owner but did a perfectly good repair with sikaflex on the cracked one which lasted perfectly well but wasn't pretty and kept it.
Duct tape
Been like this for 7 or 8 years no bother
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