Table Mount

[Johnathan Gallant]

I am in the process of striping out the inside of my boler to accomidate new cupboard doors, and a new paint job i have removed the fiberglass piece that hold the table up when used as a table. The wood is rotten and i seem to have a moisture problem in that area. Has anyone had this problem? And what can i do to repair it. Also has anyone removed the aluminum strip that runs around the trailer at the seem. Is there a gasket there? Do they tend to leak at the seem? If so what to use to fill the gap. My Rear storage compartment is quite moist my best guess is that the window is either leaking or colecting condensation of the years and caused the wood to rot. The front where the hinges for the bunk attatch seem to be in better shape but when i removed it the screws seemed to be rusted and some have turned to dust. Any imput would be awsome thanks Johnathan

[Benny K]

Howdy, is there a gap at the bottom of the window where the ends of the rubber moulding meet where the rear window is mounted ?.....they usually develop a gap there and posssibly in the front as the moulding shrinks in length and water leaks in and behind the ensolite.....had a leak there in my 13' and I cleaned it and put a small bead of black silicone into the gap and voila....no more leak......you could also use a black polyurethane caulk which sticks like crazy.....the important thing is to clean and dry that gap well.....normally the belly band doesn`t leak on the 13' Bolers because the two body halves are fiberglassed together before the ensolite is put on.....my 17' leaked from the belly band because someone put screws thru the joint in the halves to mount cabinetry and didn`t seal around the screws.....Benny

[Roy in TO]

I modified Benny's quote

a gap at the bottom of the window where the ends of the rubber moulding meet where the rear window is mounted ..... usually develop a gap

I found the same thing in mine. I used the grey putty that comes as short ropes between plastic sheets called "crack seal" or something like that to fill the gaps as a temporary measure. It held up for two years so far. It looks something like this and should be available for a few $$





If that is the answer, some people have gone so far as to replace the rubber seal around the window.

[Alf S.]

I am in the process of striping out the inside of my boler to accomidate new cupboard doors, and a new paint job i have removed the fiberglass piece that hold the table up when used as a table. The wood is rotten and i seem to have a moisture problem in that area. Has anyone had this problem? And what can i do to repair it. Also has anyone removed the aluminum strip that runs around the trailer at the seem. Is there a gasket there? Do they tend to leak at the seem? If so what to use to fill the gap. My Rear storage compartment is quite moist my best guess is that the window is either leaking or colecting condensation of the years and caused the wood to rot. The front where the hinges for the bunk attatch seem to be in better shape but when i removed it the screws seemed to be rusted and some have turned to dust. Any imput would be awsome thanks Johnathan

Hi: Our '77 Boler table was loose when we bought it. I couldn't figure out why as the screws were tight in the alum. rail!!! Then I took a screw out and discovered it was only the head and a few threads and the rest was rust... The plywood insert under the window was still ok so I filled the screw holes with wooden matches then replaced the screws with S/S ones...Ta Da the table was solid as a rock again!!! I think a combo of moisture and the glue used in making the plywood ate the ordinary steel screws after 30 yrs.
Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie

[Johnathan Gallant]

Thanks for the hints peoples. I did have a smal gap in the window rubber at the seam and i have filled it with some calking so i hope that it solves the problem of letting in the moisture, but the wooden mount is quite rotten has anyone replaced it or have any ideas on how to cover it up to make it stronger? i was thinking of some sheet metal to cap the wood to make it a bit stronger...

[Donna D.]

Thanks for the hints peoples. I did have a smal gap in the window rubber at the seam and i have filled it with some calking so i hope that it solves the problem of letting in the moisture, but the wooden mount is quite rotten has anyone replaced it or have any ideas on how to cover it up to make it stronger? i was thinking of some sheet metal to cap the wood to make it a bit stronger...

Instead of capping the wood with metal, how about putting fiberglass resin on it?

[Roy in TO]

the wooden mount is quite rotten has anyone replaced it ...

Jonathan,
I replaced mine. I don't know if what I did will help you because there is such a deviation in the build of bolers. The wood on mine was chipboard (glued sawdust) that was glassed in on a ledge of fiberglass coming out from the body. Here is a shot showing my front one that was in much better shape and I have not replaced it yet.




I could not retain the wood as a template because it was so rotten. I used the curved edge of the table as a template to start shaping a 1x4 peice of wood. I did the final shaping with a plane. Roughened up the contacting surfaces with a coarse file then applied some resin and glass fiber and clamped it to the existing glass ledge. Then I ran a few short screws up from underneath just in case.
I then reattached the metal rail. So far it's held up a couple of years and I don't see it failing yet. IMO the weak part is the bond to the existing fiberglass lip.

[Johnathan Gallant]

Thanks for the useful tips guys i think i`m going to look into trying to fiberglass over or some type of opoxy. I have a buddy in the autobody biz mabye he`ll know a trick i`ll let everyone know