Suggestions for Seam Repair - Leaks

[KevinVT]

Hey folks,

Our new to us 2003 Born Free 24RB had a little neglect over the years but we are giving it a new lease on life. We noticed when driving it home from TX to Vermont major leaking. I have traced the front leak issues to the main seam from the nose cone and the side walls... it looks like once in the water travels along the roll bars - so water is evident in bunk area and behind the cab drive and passenger seats.

I decided to tackle the seam - and removed the trim and cleaned the area - see images below.

My plan is to reinstall trim. Using the butyl tape and new stainless steel screws. However, I feel I should seal the gap in places first... and not sure what best to use. More butyl tape? Or fill it with ProFlex, then add the butyl tape and trim? Or on the roof side use Dicor - then butyl tape and trim.

Anyone tackled this before and have advice on what worked best? From the factory I see evidence of some caulking in the gap (that I cleaned) and of course the trim and roof had the butyl tape. Odd thing was the butyl tape did not seem to line up 100% with the gap (maybe movement over the year).

Some images of the prepped area:

[Tahoe]

Kevin,

I'll follow this thread instead of mine. I don't have any pictures right now, but I'll ask around for suggestions on the best way to address these seams. I would rather fix our coach instead of selling and buying something newer. After looking at your pictures I wasn't suprised at all that this is how they were built. Hindsight is always 20/20, but if I were designing this coach I think I would gave attempted to do a totally leak proof bond between all seams. Having had several fiberglass sportscars and had to do repairs I know this could be accomplished. I would then put gutters etc to cover all areas sealed for cosmetic reasons. I understand that BF and others have assembled RV's like this for years and this is the most cost effective way to do it, and production costs get passed along to us. This is an important subject to cover because no matter how hard you try to stay on top of maintainance as the years go buy and the miles pile up leaks become more probable.

Keep up the good work!

[KevinVT]

Thanks Russ,

I think you should fix your coach.

Our first Born Free was a spotless 2001 24RB, with leveling system, solar, etc. Really well maintained.. but even that had some issue. We bought it in April of 2016. We took our two kids, ages 9 and 11 at the time on a 5 week cross country road trip. 10,000 miles... Vermont to San Fransisco, up to Seattle and back - over 20+ National Parks and Monuments.. over 130 miles of hiking.

I didn't think we would be able to do another trip like that - so I sold it in September of 2016. I paid $25,000 with 72k miles... sold it for $28,500.

But the moment it left the driveway everyone missed it.... so I found another last month with same layout and leather interior.

I paid $23,500 for this one in TX - sight unseen from craigslist (just pictures). I felt the price was right given the market or said another way - I really wanted another 24 RB with leather like Flexsteel and was willing to pay the asking price. But as you can guess this one "looked" good but had lot of deferred issues... these leaks are the biggest one. That said.. I still think the core of these units is great compared to other RVs. I cleaned it top to bottom on the inside and I just love the quality of the build. I would rather have a Born Free and do the fixes then have a cheaper mass produced RV and isn't worth putting the time and effort into. I guess that's why I am here posting on the forum That said, they have some weak points that will need to be addressed in time.

[Tahoe]

Kevin,

Have you seen this? https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-us/ ... 623&rt=rud I had found this before but I'm going to ask around and see what others think.

[KevinVT]

Yes,

I have seen the the 5200, but I was a little concerned about it being too good at bonding. For many areas I assumed things are going to flex and having something that can move with joint would be best. I am using Pro Flex by Geocel https://www.geocelusa.com/product/pro-f ... e-sealant/.

I did some more work this evening and things are going well. I'll share some insight and more pictures in the coming days.

I called today a spoke with two different RV techs and with a person at Dicor. I have some Dicor EPDM Lap Sealant https://dicorproducts.com/product/epdm-lap-sealants/ I plan to use on the roof. All three confirmed my thoughts on the process.

1) Fill the gap with ProFlex
2) Stick Butyl tape to trim and re-apply the trim.
3) Add some ProFlex or Dicor on the screw heads - Dicor can only be used on the horizontal surface because it is self-leveling.
4) Replace the insert trim.
5) -- overkill? -- Use ProFlex or Dicor to seal the the edges of the trim.

That's the process I did tonight.

Disclaimer - I am not an RV tech But this was the best I could come up with asking lots of questions to several folks and reading posts on the internet. There are a lot of different opinions out there. Best I can do is share my experience... then post again in a few years with an update (Ha Ha!).