Inside Wheel Well poorly sealed

[Bullgould]

We have a 2014, 2304, Rockwood Mini Lite. I was sealing up places where the wall chalking had cracked; side walls in the front where body trim curves between side and front both sides, along the top of the wheel wells and over the outside power plug. On the plug I tried to tighten up the screws and noticed 2 of the 4 were striped bottom didnt have a grip. I was intentional going very gentle. This explains the gap at the top of the outlet and the wall. In pondering options I thought I would look and see if I could take out the screws drill all the way through the wall and replace the screws with long bolts with large washers. I was easily able to get to the back of the outlet by removing one of those flimsy panels in the bottom of the cabinet next to the frig. When looking through the opening in the floor where the wheel well, wall and floor meet I could see day night! With a mirror and flash light I looked at the area from the outside. Which sure would of been a good idea before I bought the thing in August of 2014 (another lesson learned). Outside I see areas where the thin layers of exterior plywood is exposed, taking what ever water mud and crud the tires pick up and throw in that direction. On the inside there is a small area that is slightly blacken from having been wet, appears dry. I checked the other corners of the wheel wells and found the exposed plywood on 3 other corners. All four corners had the trim from the bottom of the side walls open.
Any opinions about;
1: I am thinking about taking silicone to the exposed areas on the outside. In some places I will need may be 2 or 3 layers to fill the gaps.
2: I am thinking I should also cover over the exposed open trim ends under the wheel wells, again I was thinking of just covering them with the silicone.
3: On the inside I have been debating about using silicone or non expanding spray foam.
Maybe there is a better way.
Given that it's been almost 2 years I question if any warrantee would cover this. I'll dig through my materials and check warranette details. The dealer I bought it from is a day and half drive away. I should check with them also. I don't have much patience for getting the run around which is what I am expecting.
I have pictures I'll try to post.
(This in addition to, the frig stopped working on gas and the light strip under awauning stopped working. Which I've stopped worrying about until I get the wheel well issue taken care of.

Did have a great trip to Lily Bay State Park in Greenville Maine. Our site was right on the edge of the lake! It rained and most the campers left, we had the place almost to ourselves. Where ever we went through the the park we were the only ones there except for the deer, ducks and loons. I wasn't aware of my wheel well problem so I did have a very peaceful trip.

I am fairly new to the RV world and am still learning. Any suggestions and feedback is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[Bullgould]

Hopefully these will post. The 2 inside shots show the light coming through, my first sign of a problem and the blacked plywood. The 3 outside pics show the areas that did not get chalked during manufacturing. I tried to also show the visable edge of the plywood and the open end of the lower side wall trim.

[Bullgould]

I thought I had posted 5 pic looks like only one went through. I've got to get to work will check post additional pic later.

[Mr Havercamp]

That's actually a common condition. The answer from the factory will be "That's how we build them".

Silicone would work, Geocel 2300 tri polymer would be better if you can find it.
If you do use silicone get a good neutral cure product such as Dow Corning 790.

[Bullgould]

Plywood visable

[northstar1960]

sealing it all with silicone would be a great idea just to keep the water from rotting everything . to bad that's just the way they make them . but common

[Tom48]

Originally Posted by Bullgould

We have a 2014, 2304, Rockwood Mini Lite. I was sealing up places where the wall chalking had cracked; side walls in the front where body trim curves between side and front both sides, along the top of the wheel wells and over the outside power plug. On the plug I tried to tighten up the screws and noticed 2 of the 4 were striped bottom didnt have a grip. I was intentional going very gentle. This explains the gap at the top of the outlet and the wall. In pondering options I thought I would look and see if I could take out the screws drill all the way through the wall and replace the screws with long bolts with large washers. I was easily able to get to the back of the outlet by removing one of those flimsy panels in the bottom of the cabinet next to the frig. When looking through the opening in the floor where the wheel well, wall and floor meet I could see day night! With a mirror and flash light I looked at the area from the outside. Which sure would of been a good idea before I bought the thing in August of 2014 (another lesson learned). Outside I see areas where the thin layers of exterior plywood is exposed, taking what ever water mud and crud the tires pick up and throw in that direction. On the inside there is a small area that is slightly blacken from having been wet, appears dry. I checked the other corners of the wheel wells and found the exposed plywood on 3 other corners. All four corners had the trim from the bottom of the side walls open.
Any opinions about;
1: I am thinking about taking silicone to the exposed areas on the outside. In some places I will need may be 2 or 3 layers to fill the gaps.
2: I am thinking I should also cover over the exposed open trim ends under the wheel wells, again I was thinking of just covering them with the silicone.
3: On the inside I have been debating about using silicone or non expanding spray foam.
Maybe there is a better way.
I am fairly new to the RV world and am still learning. Any suggestions and feedback is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Suggest you avoid silicone. Most sealing is better done with. With Dicor brand products. Self leveling for flat areas. I used spray undercoat in my wheel wells over black polyethylene pieces used to cover the bad openings . It worked well and for the year I owned after that repair with no new years or openings. .

[jeff64]

I noticed that too while crawling around under the TT and looking up under the wheel wells and seeing the spray pattern from the tires. The first thing I noticed was how the sheet of polyethylene fit( not the greatest), secondly at the outside perimeter where the floor and side wall meet the attaching bolts penetrated the vapor barrier adjacent to the side walls. The third thing I noticed is the staples in this area as well. I had a piece of eternabond tape left. Knowing the strength of the adhesive, and after wiping off the loose dirt, those oversights of the manufacturing are now covered with eternabond tape. Since I still have some of this left, I'm going to crawl back under and look for more "opportunities" to add a piece here and there. The polyethylene itself is probably pretty robust in itself as long as there aren't any holes in it to pass moisture IMHO

[WatkinsGlenCamper]

I also had a wheel well issue on my 2013 Micro-Lite 23lb. You can read a description of the problem and see photos, of before, during and after I repaired it, on the following Forest River Forum thread:

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...tml#post949291

note: The photo in the link of the sloppy calking job is excatly how it came from the factory!

[B and B]

I had a leak on my slide beneath the fridge. There was a channel that was installed to protect the propane tank. It was nit caulked underneath so water did enter and cause mildew. I caught it in time and no longer any issues.

[Lowes48fan1]

I found similar issue with my 2014 Salem Hemisphere. I, like someone else already mentioned, sprayed the wheel well area with automotive undercoating including all the staples that hold the poly onto the floor plywood. I hadn't noticed any water damage before doing this, but driving down the highway in the rain, it's very likely water was find a way in given this design of TT wheel wells.