super doody
Senior Member
What I thought was a leak from the windows and roof latched not attached properly was actually a leak. See previous post here: http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/index.php?/topic/6999/
After touching all the possible areas to feel for water, I felt water in headliner right around this wood trim on the rear passenger corner. Because the area behind the lift panel was wet in the same area, it made sense water was coming from here since the top was collapsed. This rear corner was the lowest point due to the slope in the driveway so all surface water runoff came rushing to this corner:
My attention immediately turned to the roof screws right above this area. I noticed the sealant on the last roof screw on the passenger side was not adequate. I scrapped off the old sealant and unscrewed the hex roof bolt. The bolt came really easy like it was already stripped. As I pulled out the screw, a ~3 inch finish nail also came out. Does anyone know what the finish nail was used for? Also is there a piece of wood behind headliner which is what the interior wood trim is stapled to?
Anyways, I continued with the repair.
As you can see this photo, the hole was extremely rough with all sorts jagged metal.
I prep the hole as much as possible with metal shears and a hammer. Surface was also cleaned with alcohol.
New screw, old screw and 3M sealant
Hardware used. I used #10 3/4 SS self tapping hexbolt which were wider but had the same length as the original screw since the original hole was stripped. The self tapping was probably not needed. I was surprised to see my Lowes had neoprene washers.
Finished
Thoughts:
I was surprised just how little bite there is on these roof screws and how thin the aluminum stringers are since there are a number of folks using home made roof racks with only a couple of attachment points per "foot" but have held up to real world abuse.
Another leak prevention was done by Marty when i was at ATC to pickup my corner jacks this pass weekend. Marty told me that condensation builds up in the perimeter tubes on roof and because the corners are cut for the bend, sometimes condensation will leak into the camper from the corners. Prevent this, Marty removed every other bolt on the corner on the outside and sprayed expanding foam into the tube. He mentioned that they do that on every corner of every camper they build.
After touching all the possible areas to feel for water, I felt water in headliner right around this wood trim on the rear passenger corner. Because the area behind the lift panel was wet in the same area, it made sense water was coming from here since the top was collapsed. This rear corner was the lowest point due to the slope in the driveway so all surface water runoff came rushing to this corner:
My attention immediately turned to the roof screws right above this area. I noticed the sealant on the last roof screw on the passenger side was not adequate. I scrapped off the old sealant and unscrewed the hex roof bolt. The bolt came really easy like it was already stripped. As I pulled out the screw, a ~3 inch finish nail also came out. Does anyone know what the finish nail was used for? Also is there a piece of wood behind headliner which is what the interior wood trim is stapled to?
Anyways, I continued with the repair.
As you can see this photo, the hole was extremely rough with all sorts jagged metal.
I prep the hole as much as possible with metal shears and a hammer. Surface was also cleaned with alcohol.
New screw, old screw and 3M sealant
Hardware used. I used #10 3/4 SS self tapping hexbolt which were wider but had the same length as the original screw since the original hole was stripped. The self tapping was probably not needed. I was surprised to see my Lowes had neoprene washers.
Finished
Thoughts:
I was surprised just how little bite there is on these roof screws and how thin the aluminum stringers are since there are a number of folks using home made roof racks with only a couple of attachment points per "foot" but have held up to real world abuse.
Another leak prevention was done by Marty when i was at ATC to pickup my corner jacks this pass weekend. Marty told me that condensation builds up in the perimeter tubes on roof and because the corners are cut for the bend, sometimes condensation will leak into the camper from the corners. Prevent this, Marty removed every other bolt on the corner on the outside and sprayed expanding foam into the tube. He mentioned that they do that on every corner of every camper they build.
I was a little worried about putting too much in but all it seemed to take was an application of a second or two. Should be good to go for a while now.
