Cargo Box Repair Guide (archived)
UPDATE (2022): Please note that we can no longer repair cargo boxes unless it's a recent purchase with a smaller damage.
ARCHIVED ARTICLE FROM 2013
"I just ran by box into an underground parking - can it be fixed?"
Believe it or not, we hear this quite often, and NO you're not the only one we hear it from. It is easy to forget that you have a big cargo box on top of your already tall vehicle when you have to park underground downtown. Hey, even we forget these things sometimes (just don't ask us about it).
The stiffness of the ABS plastic lid - which gives the box its lightweight strength and rigidity - is very unforgiving when you hit something with it. While it takes quite a collision to completely shatter a cargo box (unless it is very cold out), it is rare that a box will survive an underground with nothing more than a few red or yellow scratch marks.
Most damaged boxes will have one or two cracks (ranging from a couple of centimeters to a couple of feet) or even a hole or two. And not every box that has been damaged is even repairable. Some holes or cracks are simply much too large to be repaired at all, and some injuries occur in "sensitive" areas to the box, meaning the structural integrity of the box has been compromised. If this is the case, we will tell you so, and your only recourse will be to purchase a new box.
If, however, your box can be repaired, we will ask to take your box for 1 week and give you an estimate on the labour (usually $60-200) cost. Our box repair methods have come a long way over the past decade or so. Initially (in the late 1990s) we would apply ABS "patches" - cut pieces of ABS plastic attached by ABS cement - to the hole or cracked section of the box. This would be a pretty good solution, but ran the risk of coming apart after a couple of years. Plus, it gave the box a real Frankenstein's monster bumpy sort of look. Replacing the ABS patch fix (at least on fixes larger than a small crack) was the fibreglass patch.
We still employ this method for really big holes if necessary, but we prefer not to. Fibreglass patching kits are great for repairing canoes and kayaks, but the fibreglass doesn't effectively bond to ABS plastic for longer than a couple of years. So eventually it is going to start to peel off. And, as it is not of the same texture as the plastic, even when painted it really stands out as unattractive. Our current main method of box repair, developed a few years ago, uses a compound called Re-Plast by an automotive parts company called Wurth. Re-Plast is similar to an epoxy in principle (it comes in 2 tubes that are mixed together in a big double caulking gun-type applicator), in that it has two compounds that mix into one to create the bonding agent. However, unlike epoxy, Re-Plast hardens into plastic. And you have to work quickly, because it sets after 3 and a half minutes!
The appearance of your cargo box is something that we take pride in doing our best job at restoring, but be aware that there is no chance your box will look brand new. The best we can provide (based on the materials we repair ABS with) is giving the box a sort of "scar". The Re-Plast sets to a gloss black colour - which works well for doing matte black box lids (and pretty much all bases), but glossy box lids need to be painted. While we cannot match colours perfectly, we do our best to get the closest match possible using automotive touch-up paint. While it does not look awesome, it's certainly better than a big crack that keeps getting bigger with every trip:
This repair was pretty straight-forward, here's a more difficult repair.
Two days ago I discussed some of the methods of box repair, and showed a couple of pictures of a straightforward box repair. Today, I want to show some pictures of a difficult repair - patching a small hole. Usually, a small hole is caused by the impact of the box hitting something, with the fracture causing a piece of the box to break off.
In a best case scenario, the broken piece is not lost and is able to fit its hole (like a puzzle piece). However, most of the time the piece goes missing, and I have to cut a piece of ABS plastic off of an old box to fit the hole:
This piece then gets fitted into the hole, and taped from one side. This will let me Re-Plast the one side of the lid with the added piece remaining in place.
After removing the tape (after three and a half minutes), the added piece is set into place. It is best to then wait a day before applying the patch to the outside of the lid.
It doesn't look that bad at this stage, but to add strength the outside of the lid also needs to be patched. This is where the appearance of the box is slightly compromised for the structural integrity:
