The black vinyl trim on the side jalousie windows is a decorative trim that covers the screws or rivets mounting the windows to the fibreglass body. As the vinyl trim ages it shrinks, exposing the mounting flange. It is easy enough to replace this trim with new vinyl trim insert, available at any RV parts or repair shop in a variety of colours, but I wanted something that would last forever and look great.
My solution was to use anodized aluminum edging available a many home improvement stores, I bought mine at Home Depot in Canada, it comes in 8′ lengths and is quite easy to work with.
Here shows the original vinyl trim, this was new and installed just 3 years ago, you can see how much it has shrink exposing the mounting rail behind it.
The aluminum moulding comes is 8′ lengths, one length is needed for each side window. It cuts easily with a hand hacksaw then file the cut end to smooth it out and remove any sharp edges and corners.
To install it I drilled out the end rivets on each side, with the aluminum moulding cut to length I held the moulding in position while a helper drilled through the rivet holes from the inside. Using 8-32×1″ machine screws (small nuts and bolts) I inserted the screw from the outside through the aluminum trim, I installed a 1/8″ thick nylon washer between the new trim and the window flange to apply pressure to the flange with a little butyl tape around the hole for sealing, then used a small washer and nut on the inside.
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