213X Front Door Leak

[mahelinski]

Has anyone else had water get into the internals of the front flip down door?

My 2105 213X has bubbles in the interior front door lining, dealer has ordered a new door, fingers are crossed.

Water must have got in on one of the caulk joints. However the caulk is in the same condition as it was the day we pulled it off the lot.

[RamsFan1]

Originally Posted by mahelinski

Has anyone else had water get into the internals of the front flip down door?

My 2105 213X has bubbles in the interior front door lining, dealer has ordered a new door, fingers are crossed.

Water must have got in on one of the caulk joints. However the caulk is in the same condition as it was the day we pulled it off the lot.

Hi,
Are you talking about the (paper?) liner attached to the bunk wood?

If so, I have had some sort of weird bubbling around the outer edges of that door on the liner too in my 147x. It has done this around both side edges of the door, not top or bottom. It has been that way since just about new and has remained the same, almost 2 years later.

I check often and have not noticed any issues with water getting into either bunk door. We have had a lot of rain/snow since we have owned it and also towed it in the rain. I never have noticed water in the camper or a wet door when I open it.

Do you have a noticeable leak or water in your camper?

So far I have attributed mine to poor attachment of the liner to the door on those two sides. Maybe poor glue? The front bunk door on mine faces west in our storage lot and gets the brunt of the elements as well.

[mahelinski]

The tan colored paper/contact paper, yes. But the bottom edge is the only edge that has bubbles, blisters and waves along the entire bottom width and up approximately 6". With the door lowered water started to slowly come out onto the internal liner. Your bubbles on the sides may not be from water, maybe just a shift between the inner panel and frame.

What I learned late last evening makes a lot of sense for what might have happened to my door. On the exterior of my front drop down the lower caulk line has as much as a 1/8" gap between the metal frame and the original bead of caulk on the fiberglass panel. That gap is where the water got into my door no doubt, but what caused the caulk bead to pull away from the frame, probably being overloaded from the inside while for sale on the dealer lot. The gap was in the caulk the day I bought it.

I found a story last night from an owner who claimed to be a larger person who noticed splits in the caulk joints after each use and after each recaulking. I believe these drop downs when overloaded from the inside while lowered deflect the outer fiberglass panel enough that the panel pulls away from the outer frame and separates/splits the exterior caulk joints.

Being a designer myself I gave the manufacturer the benefit of the doubt that an adhesive/sealent bead of material would have been used between the outer fiberglass panel and the outer edge of the metal frame, but no, anything to save $1.50 in the fabrication process.

I guess the moral to the story, watch your external caulk joints between the fiberglass and outer metal frame after every use. Thinking about applying black eternabond tape around all of the outer edges of the bunk doors.

[RamsFan1]

I hope they get your bunk door issue resolved for you.

I agree with you on the bunk door where the metal meets the fiberglass; I have applied some caulk in the bottom corners as a precaution as it appears susceptible to gaps where water could get in. Although I can't imagine it is due to weight, since the door says it can handle (I think) 1200 lbs??

Overall, we have been very, very happy with our Palomino and have had very few issues.

Good luck, thanks for sharing and please follow up as I am interested to hear how it turns out!

[mahelinski]

That stamp on the door with the maximum weight limit is to avoid a complete failure of the door.

That does not mean that 500 pounds up on that door in the lowered position will not cause the front fiberglass panel to sag and pull/stretch at the caulk seams around the edges.