Replacing an End

[PrettyinPink]

Oh No! One of my tent ends got wet and the wood rotted. I am going to have to replace my larger bed end on my roo. Fortunately, the mattress and tarp are still in great shape ... just the wood board part. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to start on getting this repaired?

Thanks for your help!

[Triguy]

I'm sorry to hear this.

I advise that you do not do this yourself unless you or someone you know is handy.

The easiest way (and probably most expensive) is to take it to a dealer who services Forest River bunk ends.

You might be able to find an independent service shop who can do it cheaper so maybe get a quote.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by PrettyinPink

Oh No! One of my tent ends got wet and the wood rotted. I am going to have to replace my larger bed end on my roo. Fortunately, the mattress and tarp are still in great shape ... just the wood board part. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to start on getting this repaired?

Thanks for your help!

for this to happen, there had to be a leak for the wood to rot, not just wet canvas. either bad seals or canvas caught in the seals when it was closed up.
and it's not a job for a novice.
you may have to order a new bunk door if it's damaged, along with repairing the bunk sill/hinge area.

[PrettyinPink]

Thank you! I actually found a Forest River dealer in my area and am towing the camper to them for them to look at it.

Thanks again for your help! I just was so unsure on where to start!

[camdenites]

I've got the same issue.... Would you please keep us posted with the solution and maybe an estimated cost?

Thank you!!

[pixleys]

There is one othe thing that hybrid owners aren't aware of, condensation. The sure way to tell is by the heads of the small staples found on the mattress side of the door down near the hinge. What happens is that the inside of the door is not completely filled therefore there is air and moisture in the air inside all of these doors. As the colder, damp night air gets inside the doors followed by the sun beating down on the door the moisture condensates on the inside of the door, trickles down to the hinge area and rust will creep up the little staples finally showing on the mattress side of the door. I have seen Roos two weeks from manufacture date with this issue. I have never seen a Roo hybrid that did not have the rusty little staples. I'll bet that anyone that looks will see this. The angled front doors all have this problem although I have seen it in the rear. Just compare the staples near the hinge with others found on the door. This almost constant mositure is rotting away at all our doors even if slower than an actual leak. Without completely filling the voids in the door this will continue. I have thought of minmally expalding great stuff injected into hand drilled holes on the mattress side to cure this but have not done it yet. Adding proper venting on the mattress side might also resolve this by giving the moisture somewhere to go. Just my 2 cents.

[Mizzou660]

Replacing the entire door is about the only option if it has major rot damage. I replaced the front bunk hinge and seals yesterday on a 2008 23ss. Make sure that the bottom corners on the bunk bed frame are well sealed. Because of the angled front the camper door frame will hold water and it can seep into the bottom corners of the bed frame. Mine was not sealed from the factory and I could see signs of moisture, luckily no damage though. I used lots of caulk when reassembling and then put eternabond tape on the outside of the bottom corners. Hopefully that will stop water from getting in the door. I think this is more likely the cause than condensation. The only air inside the door would be inside the square aluminum tubes that make up the interior door frame. The majority of the door is just styrofoam and thin plywood glued together.

[baldy]

I have read two posts that elude to the inner frame of the bunk end door being aluminum. Is the internal frame wood or aluminum. Seems to me that if it was aluminum there would not be an issue with water penetration.

[Mizzou660]

The bunk end door is a composit structure that fits into the exterior door frame that we can see. This composite is basically like a sandwich, the meat is the aluminum frame with stryfoam between the pieces. The bread is Luan(thin plywood) that is glued to the aluminum frame and styrofoam. The outside piece of luan has lamilux glued to it to protect it from weather. The inside luan is covered in wallpaper to make it pretty. This sandwich is then inserted into the exterior metal frame that we can see. If water gets inside the exterior frame it will wick into the luan and eventually turn the luan into mush and door will have to be replaced.

[manzie91k]

I purchased my 2001 Roo a few months ago. It had roof damage that the previous owner had repaired. We recently discovered that the front bed area feels rotten and we are scared to sleep on it. I thought the damage was related to the previous roof leak, but now that I see these posts I believe it is related to the lower hinge area. I noticed that it doesn't sit flush with the side of the camper. I am trying to contact the dealership to find out if they can repair it and how much it may cost. If anyone has any useful information I would love to read it. Thank you.

[manzie91k]

I e-mailed Sheri Dunlap, sdunlap@forestriverinc.com. She is the contact for the Forest River Rockwood model parts department. She gave me some prices for the door, seals, and hardware. Looks like the door will cost me about $350 after shipping charges, which is a lot less than I thought it would be. My seals look good, and my hardware seems to be good. The new door comes with the hinge. Does anyone recommend any additional items I should purchase? Thanks!

[kingranch]

Ask for some new screws to go into the hindge

[manzie91k]

I was wrong, the bed frame part is $350 before shipping. I hope shipping doesn't cost too much, I don't want to put a lot of money into this camper. I will get new screws, thank you kingranch.

[PrettyinPink]

I am going to order a new bed from a local RV dealer. The part with shipping is going to be $460.00 and to have the service department install it will be another $300 - $400. But it will be worth it to have it fixed and fixed correctly. I used my camper 14 times last year and intend to use it just as much if not more! :-)