campskunk
2013 3500 OM642 lwb extended body Roadtrek
here's a ten year maintenance item i discovered on my 2013 Adventurous - the beltline stainless steel trim on mine has become loose over the years, and a bit of poking and prodding revealed that it's attached with 3M molding tape. i was under the impression that it hooked over the top of the ABS skirting, but it's not - it's just flapping in the breeze, so this tape is the only thing holding it on. the molding hides the screws which attach the skirting at the top, so i pulled the screws and checked for corrosion and WaxOyled down into the bottom of the doors and rocker panels while i could get in there.
the procedure is to gently tug on the trim and find and enlarge a loose section. a putty knife or razor blade knife will loosen the remaining tape. the goal is not to bend the trim by pulling it the wrong way. as you can see from the photos, my front door molding was almost completely loose with maybe an inch of tape still holding each end. i'm lucky it's not somewhere out on the highway. a sharp half inch chisel works to remove the old tape from the trim, then clean the surfaces and apply the new tape. two rows on half inch tape of the large flat area, with 1/4 inch tape along the top edge.
the procedure is to gently tug on the trim and find and enlarge a loose section. a putty knife or razor blade knife will loosen the remaining tape. the goal is not to bend the trim by pulling it the wrong way. as you can see from the photos, my front door molding was almost completely loose with maybe an inch of tape still holding each end. i'm lucky it's not somewhere out on the highway. a sharp half inch chisel works to remove the old tape from the trim, then clean the surfaces and apply the new tape. two rows on half inch tape of the large flat area, with 1/4 inch tape along the top edge.
