Water intrusion damaging wood structure

[Lobovista]

Discovered yesterday that water some how got into the wood structure at the back corner of our 2011 Elkridge and turned it into straw. My caulking looks good but we have hauled the trailer many days in the rain. This is our first 5th wheel and bought it new. Is water intrusion a common problem with these trailers or am I just unlucky?

 

[cookie]

Picture number 2 looks like you may have had duct tape along the edge in lieu of caulking.
And the caulking does not look all that good.
Is that what I am seeing?

Peace
Dave

 

[rxbristol]

It looks like a repair has been done at the end cap before and it did not hold.

 

[Lobovista]

Dave, I discovered the end cap separating on our last trip so I put tape on the seam to keep water out till we got home. At the shop we found the rotten wood. Also noticed that only half of the screws were used to attach the end cap corner.

 

[Ray LeTourneau]

Lobo. Is there any chance that rear corner of the trailer might have come into contact with something during a hard left turn? It appears that there is a separation between the side wall and the back wall.

 

[branson4020]

All three of my 5th wheels, including my current BH, had day-1 water leaks because of construction defects, so, in my experience, yes this is common.

 

[Lobovista]

Ray, I don't think so. Appears the panel pulled back when the few screws that attached it to the lumber corner post had nothing left to hold them (rotten wood).

 

[For20hunter]

We are on our 5th RV and the only rigs we had water intrusion on have been from our neglect in not re-caulking them after a couple of years. Caulking on RV's is no different than on houses except that in RV's the structure moves every time it drives down the road, so you have to keep up on the caulk and seals.

Sorry this has happened to you. Hopefully you can get it fixed and redo all the caulking on the rig so it does not happen to you again.

Good luck!

Rod Ditrich

 

[Segmead]

Hey Lobovista,
any followup on the repair? My 2011 Greystone is having the same issue. I have been caulking mine for the last year but its almost like its getting water in from the window above. I also noticed mine didnt have a good trim sea. I remved 4 or 5 of the screws in that area and replaced whem with longer screws.

 

[Lobovista]

Here is an update. My local RV repair shop did a good job of cleaning out the rotten wood and found a solid post a few inches further down the side of the trailer. They used longer screws and attached the rear cap to this stronger post (I thought these trailers had aluminum framing, we have only found lumber so far). I had them re caulk the whole trailer and all looks good right now and hopefully all is water tight. You can push the inside rear panel in several inches in the corner since there is no support there now. This fix wasn't cheap but to pull the rear panel completely off and replace the corner post would have been much more costly.

 

[JohnDar]

The side outer walls are aluminum framing. Inner walls and the front/rear ends under the caps are wood.


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[Retired_Now]

Hi,

I noticed this post back in Aug and filed it away for future reference because I have the same 5th wheel. I pulled my 5th wheel out of storage last Saturday - nothing wrong in that area. After the 50 mile ride home from the storage lot, I noticed the separation. I removed the screws on the moulding and pushed the panel back under and the screws snugged up.

We left Monday from Southern CA to Texas (Austin area). Every stop I made for 2 days, the gap opened up a little more. On Tuesday night in Las Cruces I removed the screws and slipped the panel back in place. The screws tightened up but not as good. We left Las Cruces and stopped in El Paso. Same condition exists. (Pictures attached) The structure seems solid and doesn't move if I push on it.

I'm assuming I have the same condition as Lobovista and have the following questions:

1. Lobovista, you mentioned that you had the problem fixed and that you live in Texas. Can you tell me who fixed it and what it cost? (including caulking) Also, did they give you an estimate for removing the whole rear panel? How long did it take? You can PM me if you want to.

2. Do any of you Heartland owners in the Austin area have someone you would recommend to do the work?

3. Does anybody in Southern CA have someone to recommend in CA? I don't know if I'll leave the trailer in Texas with my daughter or bring it home to CA.

4. Does anyone have a drawing of how that corner of the 5th wheel is tied together? I might try to fix it myself. Or would Heartland have one?

Any help or comments would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks

 

[jdamude]

We have a 2009 Sundance. Noticed same issue. We removed the wall paneling from the inside and found that there was water intrusion on the right rear corner. The framing in the area was completely rotten. We ordered new panelling from Heartland along with a complete new exterior wall. We are now taking the wall apart to reframe. Time consuming job but the materials from Hearland was very reasonable. Paneling and out skin with mouldings approximately $500. We found that the rotted area started approximately half way down the wall. We think the leak started in the upper corner and run down the wall. Heartland indicated that most leaks start in the upper corners.


This post has been edited to include pictures.

Thanks
Jeff

 

[Lobovista]

Sorry , I just saw your post and question. I used a local Rv repair shop in Whitney Texas. Can't remember the name and we are down in South Padre for a few months so don't have their card here. They charged $1,200 to repair the cap and caulk the rig. I've since gotten good at caulking and seem to be doing it all the time.

 

[Jim Posz]

Had similar problem on former '07 Sundance. Pulled rubber molding off of rear trim angle, exposing screws. Purchased extra long 1/8 drill bit and stainless screws around 2 1/2 or 3 inches long. Removed old screws which were into the wood, drilled hole into aluminum frame forward of it and fastened screws into the aluminum. Replaced rubber insert and caulked. Became much more aware of importance of caulking. The aluminum framing is not very thick so don't over tighten and use plenty of screws.

 

[TravelTiger]

This area is also in the direct path of water coming off the roof gutters. I've tried to be diligent with the caulking.


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[Retired_Now]

I got my unit back to California and removed the molding around the area where the seam was separating. I found no dry rot. What I found was that the rear cap was only held on with one screw that had 3/4 inch of engagement into the sidewall 2x2 and had pulled out in that area. Did not find any other screws 2/3 of the way up the joint. I was able to pull the rear cap aft and opened up a 1 inch gap in the corner between floor, cap and sidewall. I think this joint had been working loose for a while due to road vibrations, etc and finally reared its head.

To fix, I bored holes through the fiberglass skin, I added long deck screws to structurally reattach the 2x2 in the cap to the 2x2 in the sidewall. The bore through the skin was so the skin would not deform from the screw clamp up. Then took the unit to an RV repair place to add new aluminum molding and reseal the area.

 

[TravelTiger]

Can you post some pics?


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[jdamude]

We have a 2009 Sundance. Noticed same issue. We removed the wall paneling from the inside and found that there was water intrusion on the right rear corner. The framing in the area was completely rotten. We ordered new panelling from Heartland along with a complete new exterior wall. We are now taking the wall apart to reframe. Time consuming job but the materials from Hearland was very reasonable. Paneling and out skin with mouldings approximately $500. We found that the rotted area started approximately half way down the wall. We think the leak started in the upper corner and run down the wall. Heartland indicated that most leaks start in the upper corners.

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This post has been re posted with photos attached.

Thanks
Jeff