How to Replace Interior Fabric Panels

manyman297

When we picked up our trailer we had several issues with it. Luckily almost all of them have been taken care of with the help of NuCamp's awesome warranty department.

One cosmetic issue were our interior fabric panels. Both the front and rear driver's side panels had impressions in them that wouldn't go away and when the interior lights would hit them these impressions would be an eyesore.

NuCamp sent out replacement panels that appear flawless this time. Below is a rough documentation of how easy it is to replace these: 


Above you can see how bad these impressions/indentations are when the lights are on. It looks like somebody's hand pressed the cushion and maybe the adhesive on the backside held the impression.


The fabric "buttons" are literally buttons that pop off with the help of a flathead screwdriver. These button screws are the same ones that can be found used for the AC cover on the exterior of the 400. Once you pop these off it's just a matter of unscrewing all of them.




Above shows both panels removed.


The new panels didn't have the holes marked so I just put the old panel on the new one and screwed the screws in through the back of the old panel and into the new one. I then used an awl to complete the hole through the front fabric of the new panel.

One thing to be aware of is overdriving the screws into the Azdel sidewalls. It's very easy to strip out these holes if you are overzealous. Use a screwdriver and not a drill. 

I didn't take an "after" photo but the panels lined up perfectly and it all maybe took 45 minutes. The panels are made of cardboard which, at first, seemed cheap but I get why they use it. It would be overkill to use plywood or anything substantial and it would add weight. Just don't use too much water if you happen to splatter something on the fabric and need to dab it off.

Not sure if this is something many people will need to do but thought I'd share the process. Just surprised how easy it was to do it.

xdr

Thank you for the info and the pictures. One of our panels beside the stargazer window in the back is kind of wrinkly.  It doesn’t show until you are in the bed at night so it’s not worth replacing it. I’ve laid in bed and daydreamed of covering it with a different material to change the look. Don’t know that I’ll ever actually do it but it’s nice to see the panels can be removed and reinstalled carefully. 

Mary

manyman297

Yeah, I’m not sure how easily the fabric would separate from the foam. It’s just attached with staples oh the back but I think there’s a spray adhesive holding it to the foam. Once those were off though I bet you could cover them with new foam and fabric.

runline

I had the exact same problem on the panel on the drivers side of the stargazer window. Nucamp sent me a replacement panel and it’s been in my garage for 2 years. I finally decided to search our beloved forum and found your post. Thank you for the motivation as I now feel it’s something I can actually tackle.