ATF: North Country - Water damage under slides

I have a North Country 2011 NC33QBDS. I just noticed this past weekend that I am getting water damage under my slides. Upon closer inspection the underside of the slides is just plywood sheathing. When rain comes down the side of the slides it is basically soaking up the moisture and rotting the wood. this definitely seems like a flaw in the design and there should be a some fix for this. What do I need to do? Is this something the manufacturer/dealership should be fixing? If left doing nothing it seems like an expensive fix.
 
After contacting the dealer, they came out to look at it. They said the option was to pull the slides out further and remove the cheap plywood and let it bake in the sun, place it back in and put and "L" shaped bracket underneath so that when the water runs down it won't go into the wood. They want $1000+ for this fix that is a manufacturer issue to me. I have found moisture in my storage compartment as well do to the issue. Very poor design. The tech said he should have had a yearly maintenance check done on it before it happened. I don't know what that would have done to prevent it though.
 

danemayer

Well-known member
After contacting the dealer, they came out to look at it. They said the option was to pull the slides out further and remove the cheap plywood and let it bake in the sun, place it back in and put and "L" shaped bracket underneath so that when the water runs down it won't go into the wood. They want $1000+ for this fix that is a manufacturer issue to me. I have found moisture in my storage compartment as well do to the issue. Very poor design. The tech said he should have had a yearly maintenance check done on it before it happened. I don't know what that would have done to prevent it though.

Hi Twolfboy21,

Sorry you're having problems, but let me suggest you find another repair facility. If the wood is damaged, it needs to be replaced, not baked in the sun and put back. Their proposed fix suggests that they don't know what they're doing and you'll be wasting your money.

I think some people may have used epoxy compounds to repair the wood if the damage wasn't too severe. As an L-shaped bracket, some people have used roofing materials that are very inexpensive and easy to cut and apply to the edge of the plywood. You may be able to do this repair yourself.
 
I contacted Heartland directly about this issue. After describing the issue and sending them pictures of the damage they said that there is supposed to be plastic end caps on the ends of the plywood. They said they would send out parts and cover shipping but they won't cover the labor. It seems to me that if a manufacturer says that they screwed up on construction that they should take responsibility in fixing the issue. The parts are very minor in comparison to the labor charge that it will cost for a facility to work on it. After containing the dealership they said they were getting other complaints this spring about rotting wood in the 2011 North Country's. I suggest everyone take a look under your slides to see if there are any issues.
Hi Twolfboy21,

Sorry you're having problems, but let me suggest you find another repair facility. If the wood is damaged, it needs to be replaced, not baked in the sun and put back. Their proposed fix suggests that they don't know what they're doing and you'll be wasting your money.

I think some people may have used epoxy compounds to repair the wood if the damage wasn't too severe. As an L-shaped bracket, some people have used roofing materials that are very inexpensive and easy to cut and apply to the edge of the plywood. You may be able to do this repair yourself.
 

poosu

Member
I am very grateful for this thread. I was unaware of this problem, but when I checked my slide I could see the deterioration of the plywood beginning. I ended up putting an aluminum angle over the plywood end and screwing it to the plywood from the bottom. Countersunk the screws into the aluminum. Then I caulked the gap between the angle and the metal wall of the slide. Not that hard. The time consuming part was making sure the plywood was dry. I used a hair drier as insurance.
 

Lou1947

Member
I am very grateful for this thread. I was unaware of this problem, but when I checked my slide I could see the deterioration of the plywood beginning. I ended up putting an aluminum angle over the plywood end and screwing it to the plywood from the bottom. Countersunk the screws into the aluminum. Then I caulked the gap between the angle and the metal wall of the slide. Not that hard. The time consuming part was making sure the plywood was dry. I used a hair drier as insurance.

I had the same problem with my 2010 38dbds destination trailer. I contacted Heartland and explained my problem.At first they did not want to admit that it was a design problem but they said that this had been a problem and that the new units had been redesigned.They send me an L shape ski that covers the damaged area and protects it from further damage.I was not hard to installed and so far seems to have taken care of the problem. Hope this helps someone.
 
I had my camper repaired for this issue over the winter season. It wound up costing me about $2500 out of my pocket for an issue that the manufacturer said was their fault that they didn't place the right pieces on. They gave me a take or leave it offer of just sending out the replacement pieces and I had to find a way to fix it myself. This is definitely not how you do business. If you admit it was your mistake you need to own up to it and make it all right. I am surprised that this is not a recall item. When I look for my next camper it will not be a Heartland.
 

danemayer

Well-known member
I had my camper repaired for this issue over the winter season. It wound up costing me about $2500 out of my pocket for an issue that the manufacturer said was their fault that they didn't place the right pieces on. They gave me a take or leave it offer of just sending out the replacement pieces and I had to find a way to fix it myself. This is definitely not how you do business. If you admit it was your mistake you need to own up to it and make it all right. I am surprised that this is not a recall item. When I look for my next camper it will not be a Heartland.

Twolfboy21,

You're not alone in feeling this way when a manufacturing issue turns into an expensive repair. But surely you also know that warranties do have an end date regardless of whether the defect is minor or major, whether cost of repair is $25 or $2500. 2011 trailers were mostly sold in 2010 or in 2011. That's a long time ago for a product that has a 1 year warranty.
 
This had no bearing on it being off the warranty. I talked to a representative at Heartland and they said it was their mistake. They did not put the part on the camper that was supposed to be there. It is shoddy craftsmanship that you can't build it correctly.

Twolfboy21,

You're not alone in feeling this way when a manufacturing issue turns into an expensive repair. But surely you also know that warranties do have an end date regardless of whether the defect is minor or major, whether cost of repair is $25 or $2500. 2011 trailers were mostly sold in 2010 or in 2011. That's a long time ago for a product that has a 1 year warranty.
 

danemayer

Well-known member
Isn't the purpose of a warranty to correct manufacturer mistakes?


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