Water leak and now a major floor replacement?

lrmike

Member
Last weekend we took the 5vr (2009 Sundance 3300RC) out for the first time this year and had a very unpleasant surprise. Our daughter and her friend were using the bunks in the garage and when we were packing up found that the leg of the fold down bunk had pierced through the floor! The wood floor under the vinyl is soaked like a wet sponge and where the bunk was it pushed all the way through to the Styrofoam insulation.

I did a visual look over at the campground and noticed that where the ramp door’s jamb is installed there is an unsealed gap between the header piece and the two side pieces. The gasket around the ramp door appears fine and the witness marks on the jamb show it was seated all the way around.

We took a little time with it today and looked close. If I stand on a ladder in the garage I can see daylight through the gap in the jamb at the forward upper corner! Not a good sign! With my wife misting water on the outside (no hose, just a pump sprayer misting) I watched from the inside and within a few minutes a disturbing amount of water began pooling on the top of the ramp door and trailing down the jamb near the gasket. Now the best part – this water never pooled on the floor! I use the garage to store and transport a golf cart (electric) and have never noticed water standing on the floor – ever! The water was just finding its way down along the wall and under the vinyl. With no evidence of a leak prior to this it never occurred to me to check the door beyond making sure the seal was intact and the door fully closed.

I used an electronic moisture detector and checked the entire floor under the vinyl, taking readings at least ever square foot, often more. I found that about half of the floor registered 50% on the electronic scale, the maximum the tool can measure, and in several areas the probes just sunk into ‘nothing’ after they pierced the vinyl. The walls next to the floors showed under 15% even adjacent to the wettest areas. I did not want to check this way from underneath because the probes of the detector would pierce small holes in the moisture barrier under the garage.

At this point I’ve made an appointment for next week at my selling dealer to see what can be done. The ramp door was repaired once when the coach was 9 months old because it jammed up so tight it would not open.

Has anyone else had any significant water damage similar to this? Or any experience with the ramp doors and sealing? I know the Sundance is not the common toyhauler and I may post a link to this thread in the Cyclone arena as well.

In the pictures the numbers on the floor indicate the measured percentage of moisture at that point. I can literally poke my finger through the floor structure in the area around the hole!
 

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Ray LeTourneau

Senior Member - Past Moderator
Sorry to hear about the damage. Maybe hindsight, but a few years back, RV's used to have an aluminum "deflector" over the door to prevent rain from getting in. I wonder if something like that might help in the future.
 

sdrubrecht

Active Member
Saw your post in Cyclone area. Dont know why it was closed. Real bummer about your leak and damage. We looked at that model before we bought our 3010. The design of the opening, floor, and doors between the Cyclone and Sundance are so different I dont think there is much to apply from one to the other. Just try to get the door resealed as good as possible. I think Ray has a good idea to add some sort of awning or gutter above the door. If a cyclone door leaks, it drips onto a metal door frame while the wood floor(covered in rubber) is a small distance away and sloping up and away from any water.
Good luck with your repair.
 

bigdob24

Well-known member
I had a 2010 3300RCB toy hauler and the door sealed up fine , never a leak. We put over 7,000 miles on it and I stored and hauled my astronomy equipment in the garage area.
Sorry to hear about your misfortune.
Dan
 

lrmike

Member
We stopped at our dealer, Chesapeake RV Solutions, on Friday and went over the issue. They were very receptive, as always, and fully documented our problem along with a bunch of pictures. They will submit the issue to Heartland we'll go from there. They were in agreement that the extent of water damage we have does not happen overnight.
Dan, if you still have your 3300RCB could you inspect the upper corners of the garage door opening and see if the corners are fully sealed? I looked at several other conventional toy haulers and they all seal against the rear frame of the trailer itself, a solid welded framing with no separate door jamb like ours.
I performed a water leak test on our unit an the water is entering from those corners and trailing down the jamb. Again, we NEVER saw any water in the garage! We spent the weekend camped at Indian Cove in Virginia Beach this past weekend during some pretty good rains and wind and still no water was immediately apparent in the garage, however when I inspected close with a flashlight along the door jamb you can clearly see a trail of water running down. At this point I have not performed any repairs for the leak myself as the floor is already ruined and the damage cannot get any worse. I want to see what Heartland has to say about our issue before I disturb anything.
I guess now we wait and see what the next step is going to be.
 

lrmike

Member
Just a brief update: According to the service manager at the dealer, all the information has been forwarded on to Heartland and they in turn were contacting the manufacturer of the door system to determine if there are any recalls or other technical issues. At this point the garage is still leaking, I'm concerned about storing and transporting the cart on a floor that is more of a sponge, and we are stuck in the middle of a frustrating waiting game.
 

lrmike

Member
Respectfully declined

OK, time for a further update. I talked to our dealer service manager today, and he relayed to me the response from Heartland, which included the known facts that the unit is out of it's 1 year warranty period and that all claims should be submitted within that time frame. Heartland's response to the dealer is that they "respectfully decline" the submission for repair. I can't say I am too surprised by this response. I appreciate my dealer's help to this point, and no offense to those at Heartland who made that decision, but I will be following this up further with Heartland's customer service division. I have restored antique campers, and refurbished wrecked and damaged units in the past so the construction and repair of an RV is something I am familiar with. The damage that is done to the flooring of the garage is not a short term affliction, but has been happening over a substantial period of time - in my opinion since the unit was constructed.

Don't get me wrong, we love the 5vr and camp out more now that we have this unit than we have with any of our previous campers. I don't foresee getting rid of it any time soon and it will be repaired. I just really don't feel that such a design or build issue should fall to the purchaser to rectify. We opted to buy new so that we would not have to deal with major repairs, and chose a Heartland product because of the construction and the company. I just hate second guessing those choices.
 

lrmike

Member
Re: Respectfully declined

Time for a further update. After a period of consideration (April 14th to April 22nd) Heartlands customer service replied to me that based on their policy regarding seals and sealants and the age of the unit they will not participate in any repairs. I am not and engineer or an RV designer. If there is sealant there I will maintain it, if there is a seal there I will make sure it is functional and intact. If there is nothing there should it be my responsibility to modify the design to correct an issue I do not know exists? The damage to floor did not happen overnight, did not happen over 1 season. Pictures I posted in January of 2009 on this forum show that the door framing is not sealed at that time.
I have submitted a response back to Heartland for their further consideration and will try to keep this thread updated.
 

Ray LeTourneau

Senior Member - Past Moderator
Had a similar issue with a Forest River product, Forest River stood behind their product and co-sponsored a full repair, which basically entailed all new sides due to delamination, my cost was under $1000 for a complete rebuild. Since Heartland will not make good on this issue, maybe I should consider another brand when I go to buy my new fifth wheel toy hauler? Sorry to hear your scenario with Heartland.
Jawbreaker, I have no intension of minimizing Irmike's situation. What you are reading is one scenario. Heartland has come through many many times for owners out of warranty but all situations are not the same. Heartland didn't get to where they are today by having a bad customer service reputation.
I hope Irmike can get his issue resolved.
 
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