Community Forums

fishfighter · 08-02-2010, 12:55 PM

I had bought a 1987 Sunlite side in 9.5' Hideaway. Anyway,It has a leak on the down slope of the bunk over the cab of the truck. It looks like its leaking in from around the trim on the drivers side. My plans are to remove the trim piece and recork it with some 3M 4200. Would the 3M 4200 be the best to reseal it or are there other products I should use?

Also,the window that is in front of the cab bunk, the rubber seal is shrinking, pulling out of place. Were can I buy a new rubber seal/gasket?

Other then that, the head will need to be reseated, (shakes a little) ac is working good,all 12v and 110v systems are working, The frig roof vent cover is cracked and needs replacing.Roof itself is solid. Stove and oven needs to be check along with the heater and water heater which I hope I can check this coming weekend. I do have all manuals that came with the camper which should make things easyer.

"007" · 08-02-2010, 09:27 PM

fishfighter welcome to irv2.
If your taking off the trim between roof and sides they sell a ribbon caulk that maybe what was used originally that would work better. PRO FLEX TAPE
The window rubber seal you may find at a Glass business that will work.
Vent covers can be found at any RV Store like RV Upgrades.
Good luck with the rest of your shakedown and do post often.

fishfighter · 08-05-2010, 03:30 AM

Thanks 007. Yesterday I had open up a can of worms. What look like a small leak turn into a nightmare, but knowing how to build/repair boats, It didn't suprise me to bad. Don't know how one goes about posting pictures here. Maybe someone can help me there. I will post some as I go along on this repair. I'm sure it might help someone.

007,it looked like they did use a ribbon tape as you stated. I still might go back with 3M 4200 or 3M 5200. The 5200, once it drys, it will stay flexable, sun don't break it down and is very water proof. Used for fitting on boats under water.

"007" · 08-06-2010, 08:18 AM

When water gets in wood framing it sure can make matters worse. You have a project but its in good hands.

fishfighter · 08-06-2010, 06:27 PM

I did rip some of the ceiling down yesterday to get an idea on what is used. It looks like water had at one time spread thru more then half of the roof. So,my plans are to change out what has got wet. What I will do is cut the roof in half across the camper and remove it completely. From there I will remove all plywood,foam and plywood ceiling off the aluminum roof. Then Clean the aluminum roof under side,apply contact glue,lay a layer of 1/2" treated plywood, apply foam glue to that and apply some 3/4" foam board, then apply more foam glue and then apply a layer of 1/8" Luann plywood. Top that off with a coat of marine grade vinyl for the ceiling.

When they built the camper,they put some duck tape in between the roof panel and the wall panels which blocked any water making its way into the walls. Also,my plans to join the two sections back together,I will over extend the plywood by 6" which will go under the back half of what roof is left. I will glue that section together from under. On top I will use a seam tape that is used for aluminum roof seams.

Once I get that done, I will remove the rest of the old vinyl and apply new vinyl. If the rain holds out tomorrow, I should have the roof section back in place by Sunday.

fishfighter · 08-16-2010, 08:48 PM

Here it is 10 days into the rebuild and I'm not finish. At this point,I do have the new roof built and put together,but not installed. Due to rain,work, supper HOT and other problems I found, I most likely will not finish till next weekend. There was a section of the wall up front at the top bunk bed that I had to rebuild. What a job that was and is still! I do have the new wall framed and hung in place. Tomorrow I will finish that section. From there I will have to rebuild the front wall section due to rot on that connection wall. Fun is all I can say.

Did I say I open a can of worms?

fishfighter · 08-19-2010, 07:39 AM

A little up date. With all the rain we had the last two days which was more then 7", I was able to get a little work done inside the camper. My plans are to change to a wall paper to bring it up to date. There was a leak from around the frig roof vent which got water into the wall there. ROT! Well,I had to go into that wall and rebuild it. Thats done. I am using press board 1/8" thick replacing the pannel were needed. Now,if only the rain would stop for this weekend so I can get the roof back on.

fishfighter · 08-24-2010, 08:51 PM

I have a roof over my head. Man,has it been HOT! 97-100 with a heat index of 110F+. Each day I had to change 3 times due to a wet back side. Well,I do have the roof on, still have to finish framing up the front section of the camper. Of course half of that was rotten. By next Friday if rain doesn't happen,I should be rapping this up other then wall papering. That can wait. I have to many other things that need fixing per the wife.

Can anybody point me on how to post pictures at this site? I did take some and maybe it might help someone else in the future.

edj · 08-24-2010, 09:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fishfighter

Can anybody point me on how to post pictures at this site? I did take some and maybe it might help someone else in the future.

Right below the box you are typing into for a post is an area labeled 'Additional Options'. In that section, click on 'Manage Attachments'. That brings up a box where you browse your computer for files to upload. Select the file and click 'Upload'. It is faster to do it than try to explain it....

fishfighter · 08-25-2010, 04:05 AM

Thanks edj, think I have it now. I will post up a few pictures later today when I get home.

fishfighter · 08-28-2010, 06:50 AM

Now a couple picture. This is one side of the bunk over the cab area. Both sides were like this. All joints are glued and screwed along with plating's. Extra insulation was added in the walls. Yesterday,I have a roof over my head. The camper is all closed in other then reinstalling the windows and outside trim. The roof was made of 15/32" plywood,3/4" foam board and 1/4" hard board all glued and screwed together. From then,it was screwed/glued down back on to the headers. Once that was done,I rolled out contact glue on the roof and the aluminum roof cover. From there,I had seal under all seals with 3M 5200 and stapled all seals. I will get a few more pictures,working today. I will be painting the ceiling and hanging wallpaper thru out the inside walls.

fishfighter · 08-28-2010, 06:56 AM

Oh,I did order a set of Turklift anchors for my truck which should be in Monday per the tracking info I had got. Bought them thru a guy on ebay. New set (front and back) shipped was $360. Best price I could find.

fishfighter · 09-02-2010, 08:37 PM

At this point,I'm fully inclosed. Fired up the ac today. All that is left now is to finish installing the outside wall trim at the roof line and painting the ceiling and wall papering. It will be nice to work in ac due to the heat we have. On a side note, I did get the torklift kit in. Its installed on the truck. The back set was easy, but I did find the front set a bit tricky at first were as the other side took a hold 15 mins to install. I will try to get up a few pictures this weekend.

Good man · 09-02-2010, 08:57 PM

Hats off to you, fishfighter... not many people can tackle a job like that and make it better than new.
Pride of Ownership ...and knowing that you have a solid shelter to camp in... it's all good!