Yellowing of White Trim

Fergie

Our T@B was purchased new in 2015 in Southern Minnesota. We used it to move to Alaska in 2017. It has been winterized with a cover every winter, but otherwise exposed to the elements such as sun and rain. In the last two years or so we have noticed parts of the white trim starting to yellow, while other parts remain pure white. In this picture taken a couple of weeks ago at Resurrection Bay in Seward, AK, you can see the yellowing in the top white trim, but not in the bottom. You can also see it in the lower rear trim between the handles. My guess is that two different types of plastic were used.



Has anybody else experienced this phenomena and, if so, did you do anything about it? In reading posts here about repainting the trim it seems that dealing with the seals and metal around the trim is a project in itself and replacing them with parts from NuCamp up here doesn't seem like an option. I'm not an appearance junky, but if there is a reasonable solution I might try it.

rrcbov

I’m interested as well.   For my Tab 400 it’s the white rear cap between the side moldings that is no longer white.

Dutch061

It is caused by the vendor of the molded parts being too cheap to spend a few more cent to use a proper amount of UV stabilizer in their plastic.

Brad

rrcbov

Or maybe nucamp not providing the right spec ( and paying for it)?

Dutch061

These types of parts are typically put out for bid by the OEM, I suspect that NuCamp does the same. In my experience, it typically falls back on the vendor because they are willing to sacrifice quality to get the bid. The OEM would not be willing to take the risk for the added expense of warranty costs so they wouldn't request "save me a few pennies" because it can cost them lots of dollars later. 

Brad

CrabTab

@Fergie, it is an easy job, should you decide to remove the trim. On my 2019 the keder rail came off by removing a few screws. The ABS trim was also held on with screws and lifts right off after removing them. The trim looks to be for aesthetic, all of the essential sealing is underneath the ABS. Here are a few pics to help visualize...




Painting of ABS shouldn't be too difficult. It would actually provide UV protection to the plastic. Only problem is once you paint it you have to maintain the finish...

Gherzig

All equipment today is made of components supplied by multiple vendors.  Quality control is ultimately the responsibility of the OEM - Nucamp.  Do the specs for the bid include UV resistant for x years?  I would hope Nucamp would stand behind this as no one should have a $40k trailer turn yellow in a little more than a year.