I have returned from a great and quick trip through Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, and South Dakota. The picture below is from Medicine Rocks State Park in Montana. It was my first real road trip with the Scamp. (And the dogs and I'm happy to report it was a much better experience with them than my first foray to the Scrambled Eggs event in May at Kathio!) I'm working on getting the tar specks off the front of the Scamp from some of the road construction and have spotted lots of very small chips in the finish from gravel. I knew it would happen, and with my cars I've always been a bit relieved when I got the first ding and scratch so that I didn't have to obsess over keeping it perfect anymore.
So my question is, other than for cosmetic purposes, when do I need to try to do some sort of repair on the chips? Is there a size of chip, or depth? Will more damage be done if I do nothing? Can I just sit back and enjoy actually using the camper and not just looking at it from my window?
Sounds like you had a really good adventure!
Chips are not serious until they show the fiberglass layup material underneath where water intrusion can start causing damage. If it is just surface gel-coat and you can't see the change in material underneath you don't need to worry about it except cosmetically. BTW, it is fairly easy to prep chip area with a gel coat repair kit, lay in some gel coat and cover with wax paper. Then wet sand a bit and presto. The hard part is coloring the gel coat to a match, but easier the newer the trailer is.
FYI, I'm using PlastiDip to coat the front lower section of my trailer to prevent chipping and it looks and works great. You can just peel it off later if you don't want it or redo it.
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2015 19 Escape
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Thanks Greg. In looking closely at the chips I think one, although small in diameter, is probably deep enough that I need to take action. Looks like I'm going to learn something new.
Adding mud flaps behind the rear wheels of your TV will prevent most of the chipping and tar splatter. They don't cost much and most vehicles are made with mounting holes for them.
Thanks. This is the second time that was suggested to me, so I'll definitely look into that a bit more.