Dg, if I may chime in with Bob. The VHB often gets a bad wrap but I believe this is often due to a less than perfect preparation prior to installation. I went through a similar discovery process about all of the skin bonding process before building our coach and learned a few things.
VHB is a chemical process so things need to be done to insure that all is right before you stick-it. Removing any solids and any oil residue along with providing flat mating surfaces is critical to making the VHB products work. And then there’s a “primer” that goes down first with some time constraints on it. No “dirt or dust” present is paramount before sticking the aluminum skin to the framework. When done right it is very durable and will last, but if the builder slacks off you may have issues down the road.
On our coach, Hawk Engineering used a combination of Sikafelx products to seal and bond in different areas of the build, but the bulk of the panels are put in place with the VHB. I was present for a great deal of this process and watched to be sure I understood how they prepped the coach. Our coach is too new to have too many issues like that (I hope) but I have seen trucks and trailers that are 5 to 7 years old with a history of sever duty and they are doing fine. Craftsman Industries that is a specialty builder in our area that uses VHB and has for years with out incident. They also spoke very highly of these products.
The construction and overlapping of the sheets that make up the box are as (maybe more) important in sealing the coach as applying sealers. You want the "seal" to rely on overlaps and gravity when ever possible before the sealers.
I hope another opinion is helpful in your quest.
Merry Christmas, I am going to go open presents with the kids now.
Rad
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T2000 Complete (but never finished)
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