Forest River Surveyor Bubbling Lamination

[obxpix]

I have a 2003 Surveyor....it is in mint condition, but I guess the correct term is "Delaminating" in a couple of spots...the front above the window..the thin fiberglass is bubbling from the foam, looking like a ripple or bubbles...
Is there any fix for this?
I am assuming there is no warranty on these trailers after a couple of years?

[grhodes50]

FR's warranty is for 1 year, but at the time of purchase you can buy an extra year for $150.
As far as a fix for delam, the only thing I know is repalcing the entire wall. Hopefully someone else may know of a cheaper and easier fix.

Good luck.

[rockwood06]

Not another one..............................

[Round Mound of Sound]

You might try drilling a hole just under the skin and injecting epoxy.

[Danimal]

i hads some bubbling going on below a window in my last camper and it turned out to be water leaking from around the window and it ended up rotting the the wall panel from the inside of the out, it got so soft that you could poke your finger right through the wall,
IMO if you have bubble you got a water problem some ware

[MtnGuy]

Originally Posted by Danimal

i hads some bubbling going on below a window in my last camper and it turned out to be water leaking from around the window and it ended up rotting the the wall panel from the inside of the out, it got so soft that you could poke your finger right through the wall,
IMO if you have bubble you got a water problem some ware

I am dealing with a similar issue. I got a bubble underneath my fridge vent. I took it to the dealer for the service manager to look at it, and he showed me where water was getting under the caulk between the fridge and the camper. It feels like the luan plywood is separating instead of the fiberglass coming unglued. I hope to do a post with pictures and a remedy (cover up) soon. Too cold to mess with it right now.

[rockwood06]

It is amazing, there are products on the market like 100% silicone that could be used and i would pay the extra price......The problem with these type of issues is that in most cases by the time bubbles develop there is more damage with in...There is no warning!!!

[MtnGuy]

Originally Posted by rockwood06

It is amazing, there are products on the market like 100% silicone that could be used and i would pay the extra price......The problem with these type of issues is that in most cases by the time bubbles develop there is more damage with in...There is no warning!!!

Wade, it looks like the old caulk that failed on my fridge was silicone. I got a screw driver out to pry it out to see what the problem was, it pulled out easy with out prying, and all in 1 piece. It just did not stick. I am not sure what I am going to use to replace it. For the time being, I stuck it back in place, and also have a garbage back over the fridge vent to keep water out of there to minimize further damage.

[grhodes50]

Originally Posted by rockwood06

......The problem with these type of issues is that in most cases by the time bubbles develop there is more damage with in...There is no warning!!!

That's the way it was with mine. By the time I noticed the bubbles, water had intruded into the walls and caused damaged. The styrofoam insulation expands when wet and loses some of it's insulation capabillities. Once the delam starts it usually will continue, so if you "fix" a spot there is no guarantee that it will stop there. At least this is what I was told and the reasons why it had to go back to the factory to replace both sidewalls. I was lucky that mine was still under waranty because I was told the cost of replacing one sidewall could run as high as $4,000.

A couple of things bothered me about my tt's delam problem. First they said the cause was a bad batch of glue used during the manufacturing process when mine was made, but I have noticed that many tt's made long before mine and long after mine have this problem. Also they never answered how the water got inside the walls. I just speculated on my own that the delam caused some of the caulking to seperate and allowed water in, but I don't know for sure. They did not caulk anywhere other than where the new sidewalls were attached. I would have thought they would re-caulk the whole roof, just in case. I did clean and re-caulk the roof myself.

Hopefully no one else will experience this problem, but I'm afraid that's just wishful thinking.

Good luck.

P.S. mtnguy, perhaps Dicor will work for you. I picked some up at the dealership for around $7 a tube.

[MtnGuy]

Originally Posted by grhodes50

P.S. mtnguy, perhaps Dicor will work for you. I picked some up at the dealership for around $7 a tube.

I have been thinking about using Dicor when redoing the seam. Since I own an RV, that is a shelf item around my house.

I have been going back and forth on how to address this, so your suggestion confirms my initial thoughts.

[grhodes50]

Originally Posted by mtnguy

I have been thinking about using Dicor when redoing the seam. Since I own an RV, that is a shelf item around my house.

I have been going back and forth on how to address this, so your suggestion confirms my initial thoughts.

I was told that I can use silicone anywhere on the tt except the roof. Dicor was recommended for all roof applications. I received this info from the service tech at my dealer.

[rockwood06]

Originally Posted by mtnguy

Wade, it looks like the old caulk that failed on my fridge was silicone. I got a screw driver out to pry it out to see what the problem was, it pulled out easy with out prying, and all in 1 piece. It just did not stick. I am not sure what I am going to use to replace it. For the time being, I stuck it back in place, and also have a garbage back over the fridge vent to keep water out of there to minimize further damage.

Chap, it looks like the the stuff they use on the roof is different then what they use on the body of the camper, there different types of silicone as you know, there is a water base and a 100% type they both need a none smooth sureface to stick to and it seems to me that the water base will not hold up as long as 100% type, but it is all in how it is applied and who.

Hopefully the area around the fridge vent is dried out, with cold weather if there is still some moisture behind it, it could freeze and expand causing bigger problems.

[rockwood06]

Originally Posted by grhodes50

That's the way it was with mine. By the time I noticed the bubbles, water had intruded into the walls and caused damaged. The styrofoam insulation expands when wet and loses some of it's insulation capabillities. Once the delam starts it usually will continue, so if you "fix" a spot there is no guarantee that it will stop there. At least this is what I was told and the reasons why it had to go back to the factory to replace both sidewalls. I was lucky that mine was still under waranty because I was told the cost of replacing one sidewall could run as high as $4,000.

A couple of things bothered me about my tt's delam problem. First they said the cause was a bad batch of glue used during the manufacturing process when mine was made, but I have noticed that many tt's made long before mine and long after mine have this problem. Also they never answered how the water got inside the walls. I just speculated on my own that the delam caused some of the caulking to seperate and allowed water in, but I don't know for sure. They did not caulk anywhere other than where the new sidewalls were attached. I would have thought they would re-caulk the whole roof, just in case. I did clean and re-caulk the roof myself.

Hopefully no one else will experience this problem, but I'm afraid that's just wishful thinking.

Good luck.

P.S. mtnguy, perhaps Dicor will work for you. I picked some up at the dealership for around $7 a tube.

Gary, i know what you mean it all becomes a real pain and like you said $4,000 for replacment....I gave up and bought a Log Loft Cabin for $4,000 bucks and my camper is in the driveway waiting for me to come up with a way to repair the walls....I would like to know how many campers out there that have this one issue and how old they are, i hope not many.

[shineysideup]

You can add me to the list of MULTIPLE delamination issues. I caught the first one... underneath the fridge, only a trained eye could see it starting. It only ended up being the size of a thumb in a few spots. My dealer fixed and guaranteed that it would not get worse (since it was under warranty). I have posted the problem previously.

This past june, after washing my TT I noticed the rear slide developed a bubble near on the right edge. (TT now out of warranty). The dealership agreed to take care of me (they were going to peel the molding off and inject some glue, and clamp it up for a day. When the dealership contacted Forest River and explained the problem, Forest River sent a whole back panel including the sticker! for replacement. The dealership was shocked... said that this hardly ever happened with trailers that were out of warranty.

There was discussion of whether I would contribute to the labour costs... I store this trailer indoors every winter since new, bought the extended warranty etc. so I felt I had done my part and felt that it really wasn't my problem. The repairs went forward.

I wanted to keep a good relationship with my dealership so I asked them how much they needed when I picked up the trailer. Dealership said "no cost". The dealership had been in contact with Forest River and sounded like they were going to help them out with labour costs as well.

Turns out it was more than just the side of the slide, there was damage along the bottom also. The dealership thought that the original installation wasn't the best and that likely contributed to the problem.

I got the see the old back panel, I was a little surprised at the thickness of the aluminum framing. I sure wish they would insulate inside the framing also, my slide isn't the warmest place to be when camping in freezing temps.

Good dealerships take care of their customers and sometimes the manufacturer does too!

I have an '09 surveyor 235 RKS that was bought june of '08.

happy camping (if you can...)

[rockwood06]

Originally Posted by shineysideup

You can add me to the list of MULTIPLE delamination issues. I caught the first one... underneath the fridge, only a trained eye could see it starting. It only ended up being the size of a thumb in a few spots. My dealer fixed and guaranteed that it would not get worse (since it was under warranty). I have posted the problem previously.

This past june, after washing my TT I noticed the rear slide developed a bubble near on the right edge. (TT now out of warranty). The dealership agreed to take care of me (they were going to peel the molding off and inject some glue, and clamp it up for a day. When the dealership contacted Forest River and explained the problem, Forest River sent a whole back panel including the sticker! for replacement. The dealership was shocked... said that this hardly ever happened with trailers that were out of warranty.

There was discussion of whether I would contribute to the labour costs... I store this trailer indoors every winter since new, bought the extended warranty etc. so I felt I had done my part and felt that it really wasn't my problem. The repairs went forward.

I wanted to keep a good relationship with my dealership so I asked them how much they needed when I picked up the trailer. Dealership said "no cost". The dealership had been in contact with Forest River and sounded like they were going to help them out with labour costs as well.

Turns out it was more than just the side of the slide, there was damage along the bottom also. The dealership thought that the original installation wasn't the best and that likely contributed to the problem.

I got the see the old back panel, I was a little surprised at the thickness of the aluminum framing. I sure wish they would insulate inside the framing also, my slide isn't the warmest place to be when camping in freezing temps.

Good dealerships take care of their customers and sometimes the manufacturer does too!

I have an '09 surveyor 235 RKS that was bought june of '08.

happy camping (if you can...)

Happy to hear things went well with your issue and it's great that you have a place to store your camper out of the weather in the Winter, but the unit should hold up while out side, summer weather can cause delame and pop loose as well, my problems develop during the Summer time on the inside and out as well. I am glad you had a happy ending.

[grhodes50]

shineysideup

Sorry to hear about all your problems, but glad to hear that you have a good dealer and that FR is stepping up as well.

Even though they replaced both sidewalls on my '09 Rockwood, I lost all confidence in the tt. Especially after I continued to be plauged by minor problems as well as a leak around the kitchen window. I had read where some have continued to have delam problems even after their sidewalls were fixed or replaced. I thought I would be better off starting over with a new tt. Only time will tell, but as of right now I'm satisfied with my decision.

Good luck to you and happy camping!