Silverback 29RE

prairiecamper · 11-21-2012, 07:04 PM

hello folks, I am new to the forum. we purchased a new silverback 29 re and after getting it home we examined the trailer a little closer, like excited new owners trying to figure out where we were going to store all our camping gear.
as I was poking around in the storage areas I found an opening approx 4 x 5 inches to the outside. this opening is located in front of the battery storage area at floor level and outward of the LH landing leg!! enquired about it to Cedar Creek and was told this was intentional!! I am totally amazed this would be intentional as its a perfect entry point for insects, rodents, etc. with access to the entire inside living area of the trailer. completely open you could drop baseballs thru there!! Anybody else out there with same model and same opening?? Thanks
Don

grayfox · 11-21-2012, 07:35 PM

Is this below floor level in the basement? If it is, it might be a hole for the battery vent. ??? Can ya post a picture?

prairiecamper · 11-21-2012, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grayfox

Is this below floor level in the basement? If it is, it might be a hole for the battery vent. ??? Can ya post a picture?

the battery is in its own enclosure and vented to the outside. I have pictures but I can't reduce the file size (3MB) for love nor money!! It appears like an assembly oversight?

grayfox · 11-21-2012, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by prairiecamper

the battery is in its own enclosure and vented to the outside. I have pictures but I can't reduce the file size (3MB) for love nor money!! It appears like an assembly oversight?

Send a picture to Cedar Creek, maybe that will make the description a little clearer to them . Just sounds a little weird to me,but I don't have a Cedar Creek. Hope someone out there with the same model will respond

Did you check to see if there is a Cedar Creek forum???

skidoonut · 11-21-2012, 08:31 PM

my 31b2 was the same. i installed some blocking and a panel and then spray foamed around both front legs. have to make sure the little critters cannot get in.

grayfox · 11-21-2012, 08:41 PM

Did you figure out why it's that way?

PapaSmurf · 11-21-2012, 10:16 PM

I have a 2011 29RE and we do not have such a hole to the outside, near the landing gear. My first thought was for the dryer vent hose. Our unit has the washer/dryer connection in the closet, but there is no provision for venting the dryer. By it being on the battery side it would make sense to be the dryer vent location.

Our unit did not come with the central vacuum, but it does have the hole pre-drilled in the bottom step, it is just covered over by the carpet. That is why I am leaning towards the dryer for your mystery hole.

Oakman · 11-25-2012, 03:33 PM

Great catch prairiecamper. I have the 29RL and today I went to the storage to take a look and sure enough, I too have that opening. As a temporary solution I am going to take some roll insulation out to the trailer tomorrow and stuff the hole with it.

The $64,000 question is, if it was left open intentionally by Cedar Creek, what was the purpose?

Here are some photos I took today. The first one is looking into the battery compartment. You can see the daylight shining up in the left of the picture.

In the second photo I blindly held the camera over the area. Although blurry, you can see the landing gear pad on the ground.

The third photo I took laying on the ground looking up. You can see the landing gear leg in the left of the photo.

prairiecamper · 11-25-2012, 03:56 PM

Yep!! thats exactly what ours looks like! I believe we have almost identical trailers Oakman. I didn't think cedar creek still made the 29 RL as it doesn't show up as a floor plan in the new brochure? And I think the salesman at Couch's rv also said they discontinued that plan, although I don't know why they would as I believe both floor plans are awesome! Still no reply from CC as to the purpose of leaving that space open. If and when I receive a reply will post here!

Oakman · 11-25-2012, 07:18 PM

I believe we bought one of the last 29RL's built by Cedar Creek. Our timing was right and we got a great deal on our unit from the factory. Our unit was just coming off the line when we purchased it so we only had to wait a week before it arrived at the dealership. I think they replaced the 29RL with the 33RL which is longer and a bit heavier than our unit.

mdamm · 11-26-2012, 12:09 PM

I found the same issue on our 2012 35QB4. We had never had a rodent issue at our storage location but as soon as we bought our new fiver, we had a mouse get into our front garage area, and it accessed it through that very location.

For $200, we had our local dealer install a thin steel plate, which they riveted in place, and problem solved. Thankfully, it stopped the one mouse in the garage area from setting up shop and bringing in all of his furry friends! We have not had any further rodent issue as a result.

If you are handy with the tools, it would be pretty easy to do this yourself, and it would just cost you the price of some thin steel (or tin) and some rivets.

If you are interested, I'll find the pictures of the final result - the dealer did a great job, and it looks like it came from the factory with the plate installed.

Neither I or the dealer found any reason for the hole, structural or otherwise, and in fact, the dealer said that it was just a design flaw. The battery box has a separate vent hole, and the battery box is sealed so "rodentia" cannot get any further than the battery.

I felt much better once the "fix" was put into place, and like I said, no more rodent issues! We had stored two separate travel trailers at the same location for four years and never had an issue, until we parked our new fiver, with its landing gear "roadway" directly through the "ingress hatch" into the front garage!

I recommend that you make the fix before you have an issue...

If you want a picture of the fix, PM me and I'll find it and send it off to you.

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