7'*18' V-Nose Cargo Trailer Toy Hauler Conversion

[flboy]

Made a portable wireless backup camera setup. Just plug into cig lighter. When done hooking up, throw it in the glove box. Saves a lot of getting in and out. Rear camera has been there for a while. It is powered by the reverse lights and it is wireless. I just cut all the wires and spliced together to make a real neat budle to just plug in cig lighter and set display on console.



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[flboy]

Check the effectiveness your drip edge in the rear and if you see any rust along the bottom of your ramp door, make sure the drip edge along the top is doing its job and water is not getting inside the rear ramp. The weather seal should stop any water from getting in, but these doors are not perfectly flat and do not seal well. I suppose you could get a much thicker seal where it would compress more, but the seal is only a backup.. water should not be consistently getting to that top seal where water can just set there. The drip edge on this trailer did not stick out far enough in my opinion and it was also too high up. A good flow of water and winds flowing would push water up on the seal.

When I went camping in December I noticed that my flooring on the ramp door was coming loose right along the bottom 12 inches and I also noticed a little rusty water when I let down the ramp. I suspected I had a leak, but did not take time to look real close. I pulled the CTC in the driveway today to start getting ready to leave next Thursday AM and I removed the trim on the ramp and took a close look thinking I just needed to re-adhere the flooring. Nothing rotted yet thankfully, but if the flooring had not started to come loose I would not have noticed and damage would get worse. Basically, the drip edge is not big enough and water finds its way on the rear seal and then between the plywood and frame of the door.

I bought some 1.5 In Aluminum Angle stock today and built out the drip edge to cover the door seal and after some rust conversion chemical dries tonight, I will be taking Eternabond tape and sealing the edge where the plywood attaches to ramp door frame by taping across the aluminum trim I installed to the door frame itself.. That appears to be where it was leaking as water found its way there. I could see a slight gap there where the plywood was not flush to frame.

Tonight I have the flooring pulled back and held with the AC on in the camper and a fan blowing on the wood. Hopefully it will dry up and I can re-adhere the flooring before I leave. The issue was just along the bottom 12 inches or so where gravity took the water. Past where the flooring is pulled back, adhesion is tight and I really cannot pull it loose without stretching the flooring... so it is good there,

The damage: You can see where some water wicked along the trim on the bottom also. We had some torrential rains a few weeks back and I suspect that is when most the water got in.. but it has been leaking a bit for a while now , obviously. The trailer sits on the parking pad slightly tilted to the back so water runs off the back mostly.



Where the water was getting in








Drilled 1.5 Angle stock and screwed to existing drip edge and caulked.




That is a serious drip edge now!




Water coming off the roof will clear the door and nothing should get onto that seal. If it does however, I will also seal fron the aluminum trim strip to the frame with some eternabond tape. Nothing will get in.

[Iconfabul8]

That should postpone the inevitable for a while. The fact of the matter is, everything in Florida rusts, rots, and goes moldy eventually! Have fun this weekend! Looking forward to pics.

[flboy]

This is true if you ignore maintenance. You do have to keep after things more here and keep water out. It will destroy things very quickly.

Lots of pics this weekend. :-)

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[hankaye]

flboy, Howdy;

Sorry to hear of your water intrusion good that you are on it as quickly as you are.
What I find to be interesting is that the damage is solely at the base of the door
and you are not finding any nearer to the top of the door.

Your mention of; " When I went camping in December I noticed that my flooring on the ramp door was coming loose right along the
bottom 12 inches and I also noticed a little rusty water when I let down the ramp. "
Not that saying that your repair is in the wrong location, far from that. As I can't
really see if there is a seal around the bottom of the door or not or where you saw
the rusty water but I'd be interested to know when the last time you drove over wet
roads. I'm thinking about road mist siphoning in at the bottom then migrating up the
wood. Another possible route for the intrusion may be that the original drip-edge isn't
long enough from side-to-side and could be allowing the water to be directed into the
edges. Just some thoughts that came to me as I was reading your post about this.

I do hope that you are correct with your assessment and that you have solved the problem.

hank

[flboy]

Hi Hank. The water just ends up at the bottom. There are signs of the water intrusion up top. The pictures do not show it well. But gravity takes is right down to the bottom.

Old drip edge goes to sides of trailer, but is narrow and does not help alot it appears. I screwed new edge into the old edge.

I think I got it, but time will tell. I have been wrong before. Will keep a close eye on it now for sure.


Old drip edge with new. I did not cut off the dicor tape yet in this pic.





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[Padilen]

Are you latches & bolts, sealed around?
In my ramp they used scrap pieces of plywood to fill in behind latches. When I insulated I found this was all wet. While I believe wood was wet when installed, I sealed around the latches. It's possible water came from above. But I didn't notice any evidence of this.

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[flboy]

Hi Padilen, I noticed something similar when I had the plywood off while insulating during the build. I caulked inside and out then.

I am going to get this dried out and keep an eye on it. It appears the be coming in at top, but if this doesn't do it, I will soon find out as the rainy season approaches. I could have more than one leak for all I know.

If this doesn't fix it, I am probably just going to take the door apart and figure out exactly what is going on. I'd rather not because I am lazy, but better to fix it when it is a small problem. :-)

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[hankaye]

flboy, Howdy;

The main reason I was asking about water being sucked up from the bottom is the early
Station Wagons (my vintage 50's & 60's), would suck up the exhaust and literally gas
the rear facing occupants until they started putting those deflectors that channeled
fresh air to the folks in the rear seat also supposed to keep the rain out and the
window cleaner some debate still goes on about that. Basically, creating a Low pressure
zone like your Vortex Generators do on the sides of your trailer. Perhaps a row across the top???


hank

[StrongFeather]

What's that funny lookin' green stuff around your trees?

[flboy]

Hank, the area is drying up well with the Fan and AC on. Almost dry to the touch this evening after one day. I will re-adhere the flooring Wednesday and keep an eye on it. Something to consider. Thanks. I always appreciate your input.

Strongfeather, that is grass, I think. ;-)



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[McDave]

I remember grass. We used to have grass too. I remember it felt good on you feet and I would use this machine every Saturday to trim it, like a snowblower for grass. I miss those days, good times..... sigh ..

McDave

[Padilen]

I think everyone in snow/cold areas are wanting winter over.
The only good thing these last few below normal extremely cold days of March. We've had some sunshine! Oh wait that's bad- cause it's clear skies, so even colder nights.

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[Rainier70]

You might drill some drain holes in the bottom of the doors to allow any moisture that makes its way in a way to escape. Opps I forgot that it is a ramp. It works for barn doors anyway.

[flboy]

You might drill some drain holes in the bottom of the doors to allow any moisture that makes its way in a way to escape. Opps I forgot that it is a ramp. It works for barn doors anyway.

I actually did something like that on an old car once. It had some rust holes around the rear window that allowed rainwater in to get the carpets wet and then my car would stink of mold and etc.. Other than that leak, the car ran great and was reliable, but not worth putting much money in as I was saving to buy a new truck. I drilled a few holes in the spare tire well and diverted water in there... solved the problem in that case.. Only had the car another 8 months. I think in this case, I'd rather fix the leak.