2012 Thunderbolt - Water pouring through bedroom elec. outlets
We have a 386x12 XLR - Title says 2011 but its really an early run of the 2012 Thunderbolt, just with different stickers. Bought it new at the dealership Oct. 2011 Anyway...
We had some problems early on that we wrote off to being a new unit:
Leak in the roof because they forgot to tighten the sat. dish screws.
A couple seals on the inside of the slides weren't there at all: But they sent them to me and I installed them.
It didn't have the Winterization package as stated, but they did some stuff to make up for it.
We actually tried to pressure them into replacing the rig but just couldn't swing it.
When we moved it from our house in AZ (Dry climate) to our property in Florida, we had 2 tires blow out. Tires less than years old and less than 3000 miles on them. We bought 6 all new tires to be safe.
Its been set up here as a guest place when friends and family visit. We keep the air con. running on it just to keep it dry in this humid climate. I use the garage as a tool shed now and then, store stuff in the underbelly storage and use the underbelly radio etc., so its not like we've totally ignored the rig.
Now that we have some friends arriving at the end of the month we starting going through it to make it ready. As dumb luck would have it I was in the bedroom when it started raining. After just a couple minutes I saw water just POURING IN through the master bedroom headboard wall outlets and light fixtures.
I guess this has been happening over the last couple months of rainy season be we weren't living/sleeping in the rig so we didn't know. All that water has been poolin at the night tables ruining them, mold, ruined carpet, molded the mattress, the bed deck, the wall lights and so on. Everything on that forward bulkhead is ruined. (See attached video)
So here's what I'm asking:
Has this happened to anyone else?
Any guesses where water would be coming in such that its NOT causing wet ceiling or side walls, but its a fountain on the forward bulkhead, which is inside the decorative nose-cone? Looks like coming in through the hole for the electric lines (see 18-22-20.jpg)
Since this rig is clearly past the one-year warranty does this seem like manufacturer defect and/or roof issue? Roof I think is 12 years, right? I'm thinking a leak at the roof where the nose-cone is attached.
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2011 XLR Thunderbolt toy hauler. 44'5" at 12'2" tall
2011 Ram 3500 dually, 6.7L Cummins turbo diesel
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this is something that is not except-able weather you're past your one yr warranty are not. Maybe FR will take care of it Maybe you'll need to lawyer up . either way this needs to be Fixed . unless customers start demanding quality for the hard earned dollars this stuff will continue . time for a big shake up in the RV industry .
My little 29hfs had bubbles in the dicor at the seam where the front cap is attached... which could allow water in if not fixed. Have you been in the roof to take a look? Most don't but it should be inspected every year. I don't know this trailer so I wouldn't have a clue, but I would guess the insulation in the wall has held all the water it can; for it to run out of the outlet covers. Had to be leaking for some time. That much water sounds like the roof is uncovered.
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Hyper Lite was sold
2017 F-250 4x4 6.2L Gas
I can't fix everything, but I can make it so nobody else can
I'd be willing to bet the T-Molding on the top of the slide isn't sealed somewhere. Just a guess from where I see the water getting, and since it's not just one spot. Not sure if you have a slide topper, which would somewhat minimize it, and I'm guessing there is no window at the head board, so that's why I guessed T-Molding. Have you looked on top of that slide out? Some use a sealant where the molding joins, most use an Eternabond wannabe tape. On our last rig, the bottom t-molding wasn't sealed at the factory. Leaked from day 1. Didn't notice until slide floor was saturated and ruined. They replaced without question.
__________________ John and Rebecca Dickson Emma-7 / Little John-5 / Iva-1 Full Timing Again, Rev B
2013 Ford F-350 Lariat CC LB PSD
2015 SOB TT - With OC's Awning Poles (#8) At least in Heaven, RVs will be perfect, and I won't have to keep fixing them.
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this is something that is not except-able weather you're past your one yr warranty are not. Maybe FR will take care of it Maybe you'll need to lawyer up . either way this needs to be Fixed . unless customers start demanding quality for the hard earned dollars this stuff will continue . time for a big shake up in the RV industry .
I would agree with you that the RV industry needs to do a better job of policing their products, but the only thing a lawyer will do is take your money to the bank and leave you with a leak to fix.
I would agree with another poster that the seam at the top of the cap is probably leaking, whether it was not sealed properly or it has come loose. Still this should be part of a routine check during the washing of the roof and body to see if everything looks ok. A second air on mine started leaking due to the gasket getting compressed with age, I found this during a normal cleaning, thankfully and it didn't do much damage.
Good luck with fixing the leak.
I had the same thought about the seals: That it either had to be at the bedroom air con. unit or the nose-cone. After a day of solid looking I finally found it. Roof seam at the nose cone looked fine - UNTIL - you walked close to it flexing the roof down. The seam and the dicor didn't move but the roof did, revealing a 5" wide gap where the seam wasn't at all sealed to the roof. There's nothing I can prove. Maybe it came from the factory that way... Maybe it happened when the dealership added the bedroom air con. ... maybe it popped during the sub-zero Nebraska winter. We all know their QA is for shite, but there is nothing I can prove on this. Trying to take action against Forest River on this would be a case of throwing good money after bad.
I know there are better ways of dealing with it, but for now with it raining every day I needed to act fast. I have applied multiple treatments of spray Flex-Seal until it is vastly over protected and sealed. Its rained two days in a row and not a drop has come in.
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2011 XLR Thunderbolt toy hauler. 44'5" at 12'2" tall
2011 Ram 3500 dually, 6.7L Cummins turbo diesel
I had the same thought about the seals: That it either had to be at the bedroom air con. unit or the nose-cone. After a day of solid looking I finally found it. Roof seam at the nose cone looked fine - UNTIL - you walked close to it flexing the roof down. The seam and the dicor didn't move but the roof did, revealing a 5" wide gap where the seam wasn't at all sealed to the roof. There's nothing I can prove. Maybe it came from the factory that way... Maybe it happened when the dealership added the bedroom air con. ... maybe it popped during the sub-zero Nebraska winter. We all know their QA is for shite, but there is nothing I can prove on this. Trying to take action against Forest River on this would be a case of throwing good money after bad.
I know there are better ways of dealing with it, but for now with it raining every day I needed to act fast. I have applied multiple treatments of spray Flex-Seal until it is vastly over protected and sealed. Its rained two days in a row and not a drop has come in.
Glad you found it but my heart goes out to you for the trouble. 5" wide gap... WOW!
I also hope there isn't severe damage under the roofing.
After reading this I remembered that when I was coming back from central Florida a month ago a 5th wheel going the other way on US301 and the rubber roof was loose at the cap and billowing and flapping in the wind. I would guess 3 or 4 feet had to have been pulled back at that point. If I had not been towing, I would have tried to chance him down... that and if he wasn't going above 70mph, which he seemed to be.
WW
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Hyper Lite was sold
2017 F-250 4x4 6.2L Gas
I can't fix everything, but I can make it so nobody else can
People need to maintain there rv,These rigs do not maintain themselves ,People need to walk there roofs at least once a month these rv travel down the road at 70+ mph bouncing around ,twisting,running over curbs,rubbing tree branches .All the chaulking needs to be checked regularly especially between the front cap and body.There is a lot of movement at this area.I would blame myself if this happened to me but that's just me.Im sorry you are having this problem but it is a maintance issue,I think you need a couple tubes of dicor not a lawyer.
First off its "their RV" not "there RV". As I said, this rig hasn't been traveling for the last 12 months: Its now a stationary guest cabin on my property. Before that it only had 1500 miles total on it and had only been in two parks for a period of 1 year each. So to say this rig has gone through a lot of road time just isn't accurate. I don't appreciate saying I don't maintain my rig. And if you're rubbing tree branches you should learn the size of your rig better. I've never taken any of my rigs anyplace where I rubbed anything. I power-wash it monthly starting at the roof working my way around and down to the ground, do all the awnings with anti-mildew, then wax the entire thing. The generator gets run every month. Even sitting empty the A/C and all the appliances are used regularly including the fuel tank and dispenser. Its two solid long full days every month. As part of that wash & wax process I examine all of it. As I said, the seam in question looked perfectly fine UNTIL you walked right up to it so that your weight flexed the roof at that very point - a point where if you're not careful you'll fall right off the edge. If a person has to physically put hands on each and every square inch, each and every month, then that too points to a real quality problem. The time it would take to perform that level of inspection every month would leave no time to actually enjoy the rig or your travels. Routine and regular inspections are part of owning an RV, but that have to be just that 'routine' and 'regular' and not 'constant' and 'what is the damage this time'.
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2011 XLR Thunderbolt toy hauler. 44'5" at 12'2" tall
2011 Ram 3500 dually, 6.7L Cummins turbo diesel
You wax your tool shed once a month? Do you think I believe you wash and wax your rv every month ,Also I had a corvette that had 1500 miles on the tires and one blew out.Because I never drove it tires rotted ,By no way am I saying the tires they use are great.By the way I drive just fine I don't need to learn the size of my rig.I just read the posts about how this is crap and that is crap ,lawsuit here,people complaining but that's fine.You have a 2011 rig ( with different stickers) you have a roof leak that you should have found during one of your two full maintance days ,Fix it,Clean up the mess ,Buy a new mattress.Then go back to complaining about my spelling.
Ok ok guys let's each take a step back. You have both made your points to each other now let the argument go. You can get some good help here, the site team doesn't want to close this thread down or delete a bunch of posts if it can be avoided. Best of luck with the repairs.
You wax your tool shed once a month? Do you think I believe you wash and wax your rv every month
I said nothing about what I think you believe. But yes, I wash and wax my $75,000 investment every month. Along with my Dodge Ram Dually and my wife's Dodge Charger 100th Annv. Edition. All together they amount to around $150,000 in assets: OF COURSE I take care of that. Who wouldn't?
Not that it matters but:
While I have the pressure washer out, am wearing my 'outdoor work clothes', etc. I also do a quick once-over of the house siding. It just seems that as long as I've gone through the trouble of getting out all the gear, unrolled 100' of pressure hose, etc. I might as well take care of everything I need to.
I also change the oil in my lawn mowers and chain saws that weekend. Ten bucks in oil is pretty cheap maintenance to keep things running well.
I also add Rid-X to the septic system.
I also sharpen my chain saw chains.
Do I need to go on about my monthly maintenance regime?
I am in Northern Florida. Its a humid climate and thus requires a conscious effort to keep everything from turning green... from having hornets taking up home in the eves... and so on.
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2011 XLR Thunderbolt toy hauler. 44'5" at 12'2" tall
2011 Ram 3500 dually, 6.7L Cummins turbo diesel
Well for now the leak has stopped thanks to ample application of Flex Seal. Until the rainy season is over I don't think its feasible to remove the FlexSeal and redo it with something better like Dicor. Until I can do that better, more long-term repair I'm not going to put in any permanent bedsides. Maybe just a couple small wire-rack shelves so I can continue to observe the space behind. Plus the airflow would do the area some good.
The wall sconces are down and the bedside table cabinets have been removed, along with the mattress.
I used my snake-cam (flexi-shaft camera for looking inside walls, or down into engines etc.) to look into the void between the wall and the fiberglass nose-cone. I was even able to back towards the wall from the outside, to a small degree. The wall and all the interior space seems remarkably undamaged; probably because its a vertical surface so there was no pooling.
I can de-mold the edge of the bed pedestal so I don't have to replace that. The mattress took some work but has scrubbed up clean. The mattress pad and other bedding took most of the damage and was thrown out.
I need to clean the carpet from under the bed and under where the bedsides were. Once clean I can decide if it needs to be replaced or not.
After I can do a more professional re-seal of the roof seam, I think I'm going to make new bedside cabinets that go floor-to-ceiling. You can never have too much storage in an RV. I might even add a small shelf spanning the two cabinets at the ceiling for a video projector. I'd like to take the LCD off the wall at the foot of bed and a projector would mean a larger screen size with nothing hanging off the wall to be in the walk-way.
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2011 XLR Thunderbolt toy hauler. 44'5" at 12'2" tall
2011 Ram 3500 dually, 6.7L Cummins turbo diesel
Sorry about the water damage.....but, sounds like you at least have a plan....more than a lot of folks who would just throw up there hands and walk away....that seam leak would of been hard to detect on any trailer.
If I were still taking this rig on the road regularly I would be more inclined to drive to the factory in Indiana and camp out in the parking lot until they made it right. But as it is now a permanent cottage on my acreage I'll just make all the repairs myself. I'm done fighting. All that energy and rage is better spent on other things like doing repairs.
In an absolute worst-case scenario: For all the time and trouble and expense of going to the factory and staying in a hotel while they do the work I can build a pole-barn over the top of the rig and extend it out to give myself a ton of coverage for other things. Maybe even a small work shop to one corner.
I might even do the pole-barn anyway, even if the repairs are all good. It will keep the RV cool reducing the load on the air conditioners, keep the sun off the paint, keep it dry and so on. Suddenly a 10 year lifespan becomes 30 for the rig.
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2011 XLR Thunderbolt toy hauler. 44'5" at 12'2" tall
2011 Ram 3500 dually, 6.7L Cummins turbo diesel