Fix For Water Build Under Front?

caokgafamily

Well-known member
All,

Its been a while since I have posted anything. We were real busy this summer and haven't been out since Memorial weekend. I pulled the camper out to clean up after sitting all summer and I noticed the skin sagging down under the bedroom behind the pin box. When I pushed up I could tell there was water in there. I guess thats what you get for not doing maintenance (caulking) for 4 months. My thought is I'm going to pull the whole lower skin off and see what is in there. I do have a liitle pin flex that cracks the sealant on the front both sides 1" angle that holds the skin up. I guess if I remove the fasteners from the lower cap and remove the door and frame from the front storage battery access area I can just pull/slide the skin out. While I'm in there I will see if I can fix any of the flex. I would have posted this in trouble shooting but it was locked?

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Steve
 

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jimtoo

Moderator
HI Steve,

Yes, looks like you have had water intrusion from somewhere,,, my guess the front cap where it is attached to the roof or side walls.
Let us know what you find.

I did move thread to a different area where hopefully you will get more opinions.....(even if you don't want them)..:)

Jim M
 

caokgafamily

Well-known member
I guess I'm going to try and dry everything out. The actual FILON? skin is the real strength that hold's it together. Some of the backing has rotted out. I will just reinstall and try to add some screws to ribing structure under the bed room. Why can't I just use regular window/door white silicone sealant?

Thanks,
Steve
 

lwmcguir

Well-known member
I would use Dicor or somthing similar. About twice the price but will work much better for adhesion to the coach. Sure looks like you have a bad leak somrwhere.
 

Ray LeTourneau

Senior Member - Past Moderator
That area can get water intrusion from several sources. The perimeter of the front cap. The clearance lights. The plumbing for the washer and drain connections in the closet. I guess a 4th might be rain coming in at the pinbox area but I can't imagine rain would cause that. Then we would all see similar problems.
If you have a washer dryer, I would look at that for sure. Make sure the drain isn't overflowing and the hoses are tight.
 

SJH

Past Washington Chapter Leaders
Seems to me I read here that someoone had a similar problem with water leaking in behind the awning mount. Since the picture shows the mount it might be worth a look!
 

caokgafamily

Well-known member
Thanks for all the replys, Any other thoughts on what caulking to use? I think it may be coming in from up on top of the cap. When I pulled part of the side strip that seperates cap from sidewall it looked wet with some rust also.
Steve
 

DougS

Doug S
Just a thought, if there is a window near that water intrusion, you might want to check the weep holes at the bottom of the window and the window caulking. My SOB had water intrusion from a window.
 

wingfoot

Well-known member
Thanks for all the replys, Any other thoughts on what caulking to use? I think it may be coming in from up on top of the cap. When I pulled part of the side strip that seperates cap from sidewall it looked wet with some rust also.
Steve

Eternabond is a great product..I have used it on my last two 5r's...Do it once and you are done. If you chose to use it, just follow the instruction carefully. When you stick it, it's stuck!

Look here for all the information you'll need.

View attachment RoofSealOneStep.pdf
 

SJH

Past Washington Chapter Leaders
I have spent the last month looking for sealants...

Heartland uses Sikaflex 505UV and 521. I have been able to find Sikaflex 221 locally. Heartland wants $16 or so per tube plus shipping for the 505UV. The 505UV is great stuff and worth it but I wanted to buy a product locally that I had some confidence in. The 221 seems to work quite well but the gray color is still hard to find.

Not being satisified (wanting a gray color) I kept looking. Found a local Fastenal Store that carries Tremco sealants. Both the 626 and 650 are designed for transportation application including Marine and Recreational vehicles. The 650 has a very high tensile strength of 500psi. I opted for the 626 which has a tensile strength of 200psi, is available in gray, and suitable for continuous immersion in water (which we all hope to avoid :) ) 626 is just under $7.00 a tube.
Product Description​


TremPro 626 is a one-part, medium modulus, gun grade polyurethane sealant. It is designed for use in many applications, including lap joints and seams on trucks, containers, mobile homes, recreational vehicles, rail cars, etc.The product has excellent adhesion to most substrates without the use of a primer. Once cured, the product exhibits tenacious adhesion and has the ability to be subjected to stress and vibration as well as expansion and contraction within a joint.

When in doubt...Dicor and Profex will work too!

 

Ray LeTourneau

Senior Member - Past Moderator
Good find on the Tremco Steve. We have a Fastenal store here in town. Now I have another reason to go there.:D
 

caokgafamily

Well-known member
Well I got everything fixed. There was some seperation shrinkage in the caulking up on front cap, the same side that the water was coming in. No big deal to fix, I'm kinda scared of ladders after falling 22' 3 yrs ago other wise it would have been fixed or found years ago.

Thanks for the input.

Steve
 

davesch

Member
I realize this post is a little old, however I have some sagging on my 2007 Bighorn that I can assume the same has happened on and it is in the same area. Just curious on how you ended up fixing the sagging? Did you use the trempro mentioned above and press the skin back into place? Any suggestions would be helpful so I can get the materials before I start on this.
Thanks

Dave
 

aatauses

Well-known member
I have a similar issue, maybe not quite as bad with water. How did you remove the 'strip' under the overhang? I can remove the one on the sides, however not sure how to remove the one under the overhang?? Also, you mentioned you had some flexing, what did you find?
Thanks
al
 
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