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Sunrader Truck Camper side seam leak issue


lexxxel

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Hi everyone,

new to this forum, recently purchased a Sunrader stand alone truck camper, for full size pickups (on a 91 ford f250, and it's a tight fit at the rear). I see lots of Sunrader info here, so thought this was a good place to belong. The camper is very cool and all original, and in pretty good shape. I like how it's sleek and doesnt hang over the box rails. But very difficult to get it on the truck! It was made by GlasTech in Winnipeg Manitoba, Canada. Original owner said it's a 1982. I camped in it for about 3 weeks on a road trip this summer and everything went well until it started raining heavily. Then I noticed leaking at the sides, just in front of the side window (on driver's side) and below window on other side. From where it gets wet inside I can tell it's coming from the seam. I took off some of the black plastic trim over that seam and see mostly rivets and some screws. I assume from reading other posts here that some of those screws are too deep and allowing water into the camper. SO what to do. If those screws hold the 2 clam shells together I don't want to take them out. Should I just take them out and replace with shorter ones? Don't want to make the unit come apart while driving! It's already old. I also thought about caulking the entire gully under that black plastic strip and leaving the strip out. Just filling up the metal seam with caulk. Any ideas? What would you do? The water is wrecking the inside, and I'd hate to see it ruined.

Also have a leak in the back "door", the whole back end flips up, and somewhere on top it's leaking, evident when you pull the back up and see the old water damage on the wood cabinets. Not too bad right now but want to fix it. On top there's a piano hinge with what may be old vinyl type material cover. Hard to tell as the material is pretty old and worn. I put duct tape over it for a temp fix, but wonder what I might do to make it better. Hasn't rained since I put on the tape so no idea if that helped. Also caulked around the roof vent on top as some was coming in there, but the self leveling sealant was so toxic I ended up making a huge mess and didn't get some of the screw heads completely covered. I just felt dizzy and couldn't aim the gun any more! I maybe should have taken the vent out and resealed properly, but hoping the sealant around the perimeter does the trick.

Any ideas for the seam leak would be great.

 

 

sunradertc.jpg

Edited by lexxxel
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the trim along the side is just to cover where the top and bottom are fiberglassed together. You can take it off reseal and install new screws without the whole unit falling apart. Never heard of Glasstech. As far as I knew all stand alone campers were made in California. Maybe if you post some close-ups of the door molding I can figure something out for it or maybe someone else here with an older model and the flip up door knows what to use. Probably a good idea to pull all the windows and reseal too. Except for front wrap around unless they leak

Linda S

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Thanks for the info Linda. I thought the screws held the halves together, but if they're glassed together that's way better. Then the trim has been screwed on to hide the seam, I get it.

Thing is, mine appears to have rivets beside every screw. So looks to actually be riveted to the shell too. I will try to take out some screws and see if it comes free at all. I'm attaching some pics of what it looks like. I think if i take out all the screws and fill the holes with caulking, then caulk the whole trim "gully", I should fix any leaking, but it will be a super huge pain to get the trim off if I ever want to. Would be better to take it all off and glass over any holes, but I'm not sure I'm up for that. Maybe I will just take out all the screws, fill the holes with caulking, and put the plastic runner strip back in the aluminum trim.

 

srr.jpg

sr.jpg

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Looks like the screws were added later. I'm pretty sure they aren't original. If you do fill the "gully" with caulk, don't use 5200 or any polysulfide. That would make the trim piece mostly permanent. Same goes for silicone. There are several caulk compounds available that should do the job very nicely.

John

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Actually those rivets could also be a source of leaks, if they are also too long, or penetrating the shell on the inside. And filling just the aluminum gully won't work because rain can still seep in from the top. It has old caulking on the top of the aluminum trim, so someone was trying to address this leak in the past. Perhaps something that could wrap over the whole thing would work. Kinda stupid they finished these so carelessly. Why make a nice fiberglass shell and then stick screw holes in it??

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Thanks John. I'd have to caulk that gully but also along the top edge of the aluminum trim so rain can't seep in behind it. Has a lot of not so old caulking there now that I will have to remove. I was thinking of using ProFlex RV, but would love to hear your suggestions.

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So not exactly sure about fixing your leaks but I have found a couple of references online about a camper like yours made by Glastek. All of them were also 1982's and all full sized campers. Sunrader stopped making the campers in the 70's. My guess is they sold the mold to Glastek. Would explain why I have seen more full sized Sunrader type campers in Canada than the US.

If it was mine I would reseal the windows first. leaks from the window frames drip down and look like they might be that trim section. Windows are easy. Again I'm not talking about the front wrap arounds. Just all the other windows. Butyl tape is what you use to reseal them. I buy the white type. Looks cleaner

Linda S

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I would clean the top edge of the strip then apply a thin bead of this stuff as a sealant "Lexel" http://www.sashco.com/products/lexel/
A little dab on the rivets and screws also. Then replace the molding strip with new. If you get Lexel on your fingers you can remove it with WD40. I have been using Lexel for years and love the stuff. When cutting off the end of the tube just cut a very small piece then you will have more control during the application. 

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thanks for all the replies. Yes, I will likely reseal the side windows as it's easy. One of the window pulls has come off (the inside pull to move the window), and I need to figure out how to get that back sealed on before taking out the windows. I was thinking epoxy but it seems to have some kind of rubber grab seal thing inside that the glass goes into. Not sure how. Maybe it will become obvious when the window is apart.

Anyway, that caulk suggestion looks promising (and hilarious it's called the same as my screen name!). I feel like taking out the screws and leaving the rivets, but will see when I have time to actually do it. Where can I get new plastic moulding strip? Is it some standard thing? Mine is obviously original and don't think does anything except look pretty (if moss is looking pretty!)

I have taped over the worst leaky area with aluminum duct tape for now, and that seems to have fixed the leak. So it must be the trim section there that's causing it.

Edited by lexxxel
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thanks linda. That's great, I looked some up online and seems to be easy to get. That may also help improve my leaks. The old trim definitely doesnt form a seal anymore in any way.

All the suggestions have been great. Now I wish I had signed up earlier bc I likely would have taken out the vent to reseal instead of just putting sealant on the roof around the perimeter. But now the sealant is on it'll be a couple years bf it's brittle enough to scrape off easily! Hopefully it won't leak again there for a while. Seems to have fixed it for now anyway. Just left with a stain on the interior "carpet like" roof covering. Any ideas about how to get that stain off? Maybe just carpet cleaner spot spray? Don't want to weaken the foam under the covering though. It looks like tweed polyester over foam.

Edited by lexxxel
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