We picked up our 2017 16' Standard in early November and I've left it out in the rain and snow just daring it to leak. I've never found any reason to think anything other than we're just really lucky until today. I was running wire along the floor in the rear of the trailer, where all the other wire and plumbing goes, and found wetness all the way across the back, down low on the rat fur. I see nothing that looks like it would leak around the back window or seams or anything. There has never been any water in the trailer system as we got it late in the season and I didn't want to have to winterize it; the factory used air to check for plumbing leaks. I know water travels and it could be coming from most anywhere, so to jump start the search I'm asking if anyone else has had this happen in the same place. I still feel somewhat lucky in that I love to make mods and happened to find this in a place I hadn't really checked well before. But still...
Fri, 04/21/2017 - 20:14
#1
New Trailer, New Leak?
There are some ideas I would throw in for your consideration.
Steady, stiff wind can drive rain hard against the windows and the weep holes may not drain well enough.
If you have the rooftop vent/fan, look for any wetness up there, around the inside trim. Water from there can flow behind the Reflectix and show up somewhere along the bottom under the seats. The fan is riveted to the shell, but to hold the inside trim they have screws through the flange, shell and into the wood of the trim. On mine those screws leaked and rusted and then leaked more. It took me a long time to figure this out and replace them with stainless and caulk them properly. It sounds you are up to the challenge. Good luck.
-Paul
2004 Scamp 19 Deluxe,
2021 Tacoma, Double Cab, 6 cyl. 4WD
Colorado
Check the studs that hold your spare tire on,where they enter through the shell. That"s where we had a leak like yours on an older 13
Paul and Dave, thank you for your experience. I didn't see anything exciting with the fantastic fan, but then there is a hood over it and the seal looks good all around. I will keep looking after that though. The spare tire studs are a real possibility. While it hasn't rained again, I did wash the Scamp this week and the first thing I noted when I took off the cover and tire is how wet it was under there after two days in the sun. And then there was the rust on the nuts, washers, and stud threads. Really! It's only a few months old. And there was a very small amount of caulk that I could see around the studs.
I cleaned as best I could and added some WD40 (yes I have arthritis too). Then I added some thin "ropes" of butyl and that squished real well when I tightened the nut down on the washer. Hopefully that was it! We're expecting some heavier rain in the next few days, so I'll grab a cup of coffee and make myself comfortable out in the driveway. We'll let you know.