Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I remember someone on face book said they had screws wicking water into their trailer.. My co worker mentioned he had a trailer that the screws kept loosening, so I could see how a loose screw would leak.. But is this common, or is it rare that the siding screws back out and leak? I wouldn't know, because my old trailer had rivets..

Thanks!

The fix would be to remove the screws, squirt a good sealer in each hole, then reinstall. I did that with Sikaflex 221 on mine and have not had issues going on 5 years. The Sikaflex waterproofs the hole and holds the screws so that they won’t back out.

lfhoward wrote:The fix would be to remove the screws, squirt a good sealer in each hole, then reinstall. I did that with Sikaflex 221 on mine and have not had issues going on 5 years. The Sikaflex waterproofs the hole and holds the screws so that they won’t back out.

Thanks lfhoward.. But it sounds like it's a rare condition if it only happened to one person.. Seems like most used trailers I see on CL have screwed on sheeting..

I've seen it happen on several tent trailers ("pop ups"), several RVs (including my last one), a couple '80s travel trailers, and some utility trailers.
98% of the time, the screws were never sealed, to begin with. So, it's easier for them to loosen up and they may even leak before loosening.

Remove, dry thoroughly, reseal, reinstall.

My current tent trailer requires a twice-round with the screwdrivers (PH#2 and a square drive) at least once per year. Even some of the properly sealed screws still loosen up. They don't leak, but they do loosen up.

I saw it happen on a friend's CTC. Screws did loosen and wick water. It appears those particular screws may have been overtightened at the factory and actually had srtipped/run the threads on the steel studs where they would not pull tight. Only a thread or two at most end up engaged due to the thread size and thin steel beams in any case.

Instead of putting in a larger screw to rethread, we installed rivets and they pulled very tight. I think it is only an issue if the screws are loose. No sealers needed .

My aluminum 14 footer is glued together. No screws and after huge miles on it, no issues. I hope you solve the issues.