Foretravel Entry Step Rebuild

Somewhat common on Foretravels a decade old, is the minor problem of the exterior fiberglass of the entry step, detaching itself from the inner metal frame. Mine was close to falling off.

It's caused by water rusting the interior metal frame and breaking the bond to the original adhesive caulk used to keep the fiberglass exterior and metal interior frame attached to one another.

                                                            Step Removed.
It's an easy fix.  I kept gently flexing the exterior fiberglass until, with a razor knife until I could work the last bond to releasing the parts.  Cleaned up both, then wire brushed and sanded the metal frame,  treating it and the frame of the motor home in the area of the hinge with Ospho ( an acid that cleans and preps the metal for paint.)  Next day, painted the metal.

               The framework was cleaned on all surfaces, acid prepped and then painted.
The three 1/8" drain holes in the bottom edge were enlarged to 3/16" and increased to five.

 Also added one drain hole forward and aft at the outer edge, so the step could drain if ever necessary, while the step is down. (that is, if it ever did leak, which it won't!  ;)

            Upper/red is fiberglass portion.    Lower/black is metal section. Ready for re-bonding.

At Lowes, I found non skid material almost the perfect size to resurface the step for safety.

A bit of trimming and fitting produced a nice final project.