'We had paint bubbles on our 2002 Safari Zanzibar over the bedroom slide. Turns out that water had leaked between the aluminum skin and the foam backing. We repaired the visible bubbles, but learned a valuable lesson. Unless you get every bit of the electrolysis it will return. Second time around we removed all of the aluminum skin above the window, fixed leak (top of seam on slide) and replaced skin. Rather than using more aluminum we elected to rebuild that panel with fiberglass.
After finishing with the appropriate BASF paint it blends pretty well with existing finish. Surface has very slight "pebble" feel to it, but looks good.
That being said, I do intend to install strap.
To seal the seam First removed the old caulk, I used a product called Captain Tolley's Creeping Crack Cure. It's capillary action gets it into even the smallest crack. We then used dicor lap sealant. Did the same with the living room slide just in case.'