Anybody Seen Something Like This?

[Eddie2002]

Hi everybody, two months ago I purchased a 2017 Catalina from a local dealer here in Florida. The slideout had some major water damage on the front corner which was repaired at no charge but now I've noticed some bubbles in the exterior finish above the main window in the slide. I'm not sure if the actual siding had corroded under the paint causing the bubbles or if the paint is flaking off causing the problem. I'm a little disappointing at the build quality of this unit so far. It spent over six weeks in the shop getting the slide repaired and now I've found this problem.

[Eddie2002]

I contacted Coachmen about the corrosion and am waiting for a reply. Will let everybody know what they say about it.

[ALANU33]

Eddie,
I had this same issue on my 2013 Dutchmen Aspen Trail travel trailer.
I had no Warranty. So I pulled the corroded panel and found that wherever there was a steel staple touching the panel there was corrosion at that point of contact. The whole back end framing was rotted and completely disintegrated. I bought a new panel from my local RV shop, replaced all the rotten wood and replaced the panel and traded it in. It was also doing it on the upper side, i wasn't going there as the repair would have been extremely Involved. I bought it to use not repair it. Now I own a 2006 coachmen class c fiberglass exterior and we love it.

AlanU33

[Eddie2002]

Alanu33, thanks for the reply, I figured it was a case of electrolysis between steel and aluminum when I first noticed it . I sent a picture over to Coachmen customer service, apparently they forwarded it to the siding manufacturer who said that the trailer was out of warranty and the corrosion wasn't covered. Pretty much what I expected from the crappy Coachmen warranty even though it was a manufacturing defect.
I dug out the pits in the siding and found that four had corroded through but the wood behind the pits looked good. I did a temporary repair by squishing quick set epoxy into the holes and pits which then got painted with some silver paint. Looks ok but I'm going to lay a thin skin of fiberglass over the area and with a little blending and paint it won't be noticeable. Changing out the panel would call for pulling the outer lip of the slide disturbing the new rubber roof, cutting the panel around the window which would need to be removed along with a lot more disassembly. Not into doing that unless the wall shows rot which it doesn't, think I got it in time. What really bugs me is that the camper was in the shop getting the front end of the slide totally rebuilt from a water leak and this could of been taken care of at the same time. Of course the dealer and his monkeys with hammers in the service department don't give a flying F### about proper repairs. I'm almost afraid to bring it in for the yearly checkup, don't trust them as far as I could throw them after the mess they made with the repairs to the slide. It's mine now and paid for so I'm doing as much as possible on it instead of letting a questionable service department touch it.
I started RVing with a 26 foot 2001 Dutchmen Ultra Lite and after 18 years of working on it I don't have any expectations on the quality of my Coachmen. Pretty much had to rebuild the Dutchmen from end to end to keep it on the road. I know what you mean by having to repair a rotten wall, I had to replace the master bedroom walls and a large section of floor in the main living area along with some serious rotten wood around where the slide went in. It's just the way they are built and I've stopped expecting anything different from the RV industry. Still it's what my wife and I were looking for and the floor layout is close to the Dutchmen we replaced it with.
Happy camping and safe travels.