That is why some of us have added those supports. I added one to our (former) RP-179 and it really helped.

My steps on the R-Pod were attached to the frame, not the floor. Do you have the MORryde steps? That is what we have in the Cherokee Grey Wolf we have now. Those do attach to the floor.

The plywood is glued right to the aluminum studs and the foam. When you demo the floor, you have to do so without damaging the foam.

Along the back wall there is an 1/8" plywood covering the wiring, etc. you should be able to remove that as it is not glues down, just stapled. take a look inside there to see how deep the water damage goes, though there is a piece of 2x2 (or close to it) for stapling the plywood covering.

Take a look at this construction video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMXneKc_fDo&t=120s

You may just want to drill a test hole through someplace inconspicuous to get what you need. You can fill the hole with caulk.

100% agree with the outriggers. I felt like drilling and bolting was easier than welding bc of having to move the black bottom.

Good luck out there everyone!

My solution was to use a thinker board on top that covered a larger area. I lost about a 1/2' of height. And secured the floor to the metal frame in several spaces, used some 2"x2"s where needed. Again, I was going for more shorter towing and I didn't have a garage to work in. The floor was stable for 2 people to walk on. No problem there.

What I learned is that R pods are not meant to be repaired. Short term gain with them I think. Long term pain.

To some degree yes, but the walls sit on the frame, and the floor is connected to the frame. I don't remember the walls sitting on the floors.

What I did was tear out off the floors and the walls half way up the walls in the back to find the leak (rear window of course) and to get it dry. I am in the SE, so that's the hard part when I don't have a car port to put it under. It took forever.

I found some thin laminate I was using for the wall replacement, with new insulation behind it.

For the floors, I put in new press styrofoam.  Then put a 1/4' ply wood over the top of everything. My plans was to weld some metal supports, or maybe bolt some supports in below for extra support since the floor wasn't as firm as before. But the foam and plywood seemed to work.

I had a leak up front too on the seams on the sides, so I had to take out the walls on the curved front wall. That was going to be tricky. Between having it i storage that was 20m away, no power, no cover, not enough time...I just couldn't finish it. I sold mine to a carpenter who was set up for the project much better than me. I did all the hard work though of sealing it all back up and tearing out all the mold!

It's doable to fix them. I'm not sure if I'd take mine cross country until I saw how it went on short trips. I bought mine used, and it didn't figure out the leak situation until much too late. It was in really bad shape. I think I deleted all my pictures of the project already unfortunately. I'm happy to talk you through what I did if you want to chat sometime.

Denis, it's a pain. I got 50% through the rebuild and sold it cheap because it was a bigger project than I could handle, having to store it in a lot where I had to drive to work on it.

You have to fine where the leak came from. In the rear, my guess would be the window. That means you'll have to take off the wall partially too. Get a humidity tester. Get it under cover, and find the leak. Then start ripping it down to the bones. You might not need to rip out the foam and subfloor if not to damaged.

The thing to remember is how the R pod is built. The floor is a plyboard/foam/plyboard layered thing that is glued together for lightness and strength. Anything you'll do won't be as strong, so you'll need to build it back a bit better.

Let me know what other questions you have, and good luck!

I have a 2015 178, which I bought last fall. I found a very soft floor in the rear under the bed and pull the linoleum up and found rotted plywood. I also pulled a small piece of the foam out and the underside is rotted too. I imagine I will need to replace the sub floor, on top and under, from the slide out to the rear. Do you have any help on how to go about doing this? I am a pretty handy guy and can handle just about any project. I have a plan in mind, just thought I would get advice from someone with experience.

Thank you!

Denis,

I'm attempting a similar repair on my rpod.  The whole top layer of plywood is pretty much worthless.  I can tell from underneath where the bellyboard (black waterproof layer, not sure what else to call it) has come loose, the bottom layer of plywood is rotten in a few spots, but not all over.  I have several questions about how you worked around the bolts joining the floor to the frame, how you put the bottom layer of plywood back in, etc....Could I contact you through DM or give you my number to give me a shout sometime? 

Thanks in advance!

The end result was a stronger, very dry R-Pod which was attractive and should last for many more years. The repair exceeded $600 in materials and approximately 80 hours. My experience with boat repair and construction methods was very helpful.

 I would be willing to share more specifics outside this forum.  First and foremost finding the source of the water and sealing the R-Pod must be done or any repair work will be for nothing in a short time frame.