This vinyl trim piece where fiberglass top meets van body.... doing away with it?

[TMG51]

When I bought my Class B Dodge, the vinyl strip covering where the fiberglass meets van body was all sun baked and cracked away, missing in many places. I ignored it for some time because I wasn't sure what to do about it.

One day in an RV store I found a roll of the stuff and decided to replace it. I did the work at Slab City. It looked great for a while. Some weeks later, the new stuff blew out of its track while I was going down the interstate. I figured it had stretched... so I put it back in tighter, cut off the excess... and it blew out again a few miles down the road. Pissed me right off. I cut it off and that trim spot has been bare since.

Is there a trick to getting that vinyl stuff to stay in its groove? It just pinches and fits in there...

Short of that, I think I'll just leave it off. There's a line of caulking on top of the track and from what I can tell that is what keeps rain out of the seam. There are also all the old screws which as you can see are rusted and backing out. I plan to clean up the track, get some pan head stainless steel screws, and use them to replace all of these old screws along with a little sealant under each head. I think that will be weatherproof and look just fine too. Unless someone can convince me why I should fight with that vinyl stuff again.

 

[WheelEstate USA]

Its just for looks so it's up to you.
When you replace the screws force a tad of sealant into the hole.

 

[rvwandering]

You could try putting a dab of caulk on the ends. That's worked for us. Replacing the screws is a good idea. Why RV manufacturers use screws that rust away is a mystery.  We've also used Ethernabond to cover the screws along our gutter. You have to cut the Ethernabond to the right width so it's a little messy plus it's expensive but it works well. http://www.amazon.com/EternaBond-RS...TF8&qid=1463184607&sr=8-2&keywords=eternabond

 

[TMG51]

I removed the rest of the vinyl stuff, cleaned up the gutter, ditched the rusted screws and put in stainless pan heads with a dab of sealant. Looks fine to me and I don't think it's gonna blow off or rust anytime soon.

 

[flying kurbmaster]

what you have done is fine, looks good, the new vinyl was likely the wrong size if it fell out right away, that stuff usually stays in until it shrinks and dries out.