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EmptyNesters
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Joined: 19 Feb 2013
Location: Minnesota
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Posts: 53
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Topic: Under side of camper rotting Posted: 14 Aug 2017 at 3:25pm |
I have a 2014 178 that when first purchased had water issues, if we pulled it during rain the inside of the camper flooring would be soaked, the dealer said the slide out wasn't properly adjusted. We haven't towed it during a heavy rain storm since and assumed the problem was resolved until this weekend. We towed during a four hour rain storm and the inside was wet. I am obviously way beyond any warranty work, but here is the horror of the issue, all of that water has been getting trapped between the black undercoating material and the wood, the underside of my pod is mush. It's not like I don't take care of it either, I re-caulk all the seems every season, and I have kept it covered. Has anybody else experienced anything like this and most importantly what on earth do I do now, just take a $16,000 gulp.
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kymooses
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Joined: 01 Aug 2010
Location: Louisville, Ky
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Posted: 15 Aug 2017 at 8:00am |
Did your dealer make a warranty repair on it and then tell you it's been corrected and shouldn't be leaking anymore?
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EmptyNesters
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Joined: 19 Feb 2013
Location: Minnesota
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Posted: 15 Aug 2017 at 8:36am |
Yes, but it did leak a bit after that and he said that is normal to have some leakage during heavy rain which we all know is bull, so I found a seam inside the fridge compartment that was open and sealed it and had no more water leaks that were visible. At this point warranty work is no way possible 4yrs out, I just want to know if there is anyway to salvage what I have. I peeled away the membrane under the camper in hopes that the wood will dry, lots of water trapped between membrane and subfloor, the interior flooring is still good, no soft spots. There is no way to remove the membrane under the trailer framing so not sure how that's going to dry, the areas where I did get it off are drying and the wood is not rotted through so there is a little hope yet. I am going to remove all the trim from the bottom edge seam
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EmptyNesters
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Joined: 19 Feb 2013
Location: Minnesota
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Posted: 15 Aug 2017 at 5:29pm |
I'm thinking its hopeless, the bottom is pretty rotted, its probably been wet for the past 4 years.
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RobnCari
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Joined: 18 Sep 2017
Location: S. Wisconsin
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Posted: 07 Oct 2017 at 4:01pm |
Replacing a floor in a camper is difficult but not impossible. Learned alot from the last one I did. I don't know how FR does it, but our Chalet the skin was not attached to the frame. It was attached to the floor wich was attached to the frame. We had to replace the floor in sections, after the entire inside was stripped. Your R-pod is not junk either you or someone else can save it.
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2006 Toyota Tacoma 4WD AC
2018 RP 179
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EmptyNesters
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Joined: 19 Feb 2013
Location: Minnesota
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Posted: 19 Oct 2017 at 2:40pm |
Thanks for your reply, I ended up removing the belly wrap under the camper and removed all the trim from the bottom sides of the camper, the trailer's outer skin on the back of the camper had a jagged edge that was preventing the trim from sealing against the seam and there was no buytl tape behind the trim, I left the trim off for a month so things could dry out before I put everything back together. I used a product called Seal-tite behind the trim, good stuff. The camper floor was fine but the wood under the belly wrap was rotted.
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RC Robert
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Posted: 05 Aug 2019 at 6:21pm |
Did you replace the wood on the underside and re-wrap it. How did you fix this. Mine is mush too. See my other post for photos. https://postimg.cc/gallery/1m75234sa/
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EmptyNesters
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Joined: 19 Feb 2013
Location: Minnesota
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Posted: 07 Aug 2019 at 6:14pm |
Hello,
I removed the metal edge on the bottom right side from the back to the wheel housing as well as the metal edge on the back of the camper. I removed the black belly material from the back to the axel and let every thing dry out. It took weeks and a very large tarp and fans. I got replacement black belly tarp from an online store as well as new seal tape that I put over the seams before replacing the metal strip. I did not have to replace the wood, once it dried it was fine but I have heard of people using corrugated plastic that you can get at any diy store as a replacement.
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1nana2many
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Joined: 05 Apr 2018
Location: NE Kansas
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Posted: 08 Aug 2019 at 12:52pm |
We used Tyvek house wrap to wrap the new flooring we installed on our Captiva when we had to replace some water damaged flooring. When tearing the Captiva apart, we found we had a lot of water infiltration from where the marker lights went through the skin. Be sure if you’re having to laminate flooring parts you use glue between layers to get that solid floor back. That will get the flex out of the floor. We learned this the hard way.
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The mountains are calling and we must go...O.D., Keith & Jody
2016 RP179= O.D. (Olive Drab)
2008 Coachman Captiva
1993 Jayco 1206 popup
2016 F150 Supercrew
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RC Robert
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Posted: 09 Aug 2019 at 12:23pm |
Thanks for the advice. Working on it now. Wood has to be replaced. Doing bit by bit. Can’t get under the frame or tanks. Did you drop the tanks?
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