Forum Discussion

snowyegret52's avatar
snowyegret52
Explorer
Aug 09, 2015

1985 Fleetwood Bounder Roof

I have a 1985 Fleetwood Bounder 32 footer (well 31.9 or something) It is permanently parked on my land in Vermont. We use it to camp on and to stay in while we are building our retirement cabin (from scratch, using all materials from the property, well, mostly). Right now the RV front is very slightly downhill from the rear (about 2 inches). This has cause water from the roof to pool in a depression (that was there when I bought it) and leak into the livingroom. I'm not sure if the leak is getting in the air conditioner then running down or it's getting in the depression in the roof. I've tried everything. Painting on the white stuff, the black stuff, spraying flexseal. These things have helped but it still leaks. Now I'm going to try jacking the front of the RV up, leveling it (or even making the front an inch higher than the rear) so the water will not all run down and pool in the depression. The problem is the depression is pretty deep (3/4 of an inch) so I thought of using leveling cement to fill in the depression and make it level with the rest of the roof. I don't know what my roof is made of so I don't know if leveling cement will stick to it or what to put on the edges of the leveling cement so water doesn't sneak under the edges. Getting a new roof is out of the question. No money. The rest of the RV is in great condition, everything works, and I don't want to get rid of it. Anyone have any suggestions on whether this will work or other suggestions on what to do? Thanks for your help. Pamela
Class A
  • turbojimmy's avatar
    turbojimmy
    Explorer
    Aug 10, 2015
    bsinmich wrote:
    The seal around the AC is a foam gasket. On a 30 year old RV there is a good chance it needs replacing. This is not that expensive or difficult. You have to go on the roof, lift the AC, disconnect the wire, put the new gasket in place and put together. There are four bolts that hold it in place and they should not be tightened excessively, just pulled down and then in a few years when the gasket has compressed tightened again.


    Yep that was the case when I first got my '84 Allegro. Gaskets were ok but both units needed tightened down a bit.
  • bsinmich's avatar
    bsinmich
    Explorer
    Aug 09, 2015
    The seal around the AC is a foam gasket. On a 30 year old RV there is a good chance it needs replacing. This is not that expensive or difficult. You have to go on the roof, lift the AC, disconnect the wire, put the new gasket in place and put together. There are four bolts that hold it in place and they should not be tightened excessively, just pulled down and then in a few years when the gasket has compressed tightened again.
  • turbojimmy's avatar
    turbojimmy
    Explorer
    Aug 09, 2015
    gbopp wrote:
    Can you raise the front to help drain the water?
    I would not use cement on the roof.

    Find the leak and repair it with Eternabond or Dicor self leveling caulk.
    Then recoat the roof.


    I agree. Reposition it so the water runs a different way. While leaks are tough to find, it's not rocket science either. There are holes in the roof for stuff to poke through. Seal those holes.

    The A/C is a little different in that it will have a seal where it sits on the roof. You can wrench it down tighter from inside if that's where you suspect the water is coming in.

    I would guess that in 1985 your roof is aluminum?
  • gbopp's avatar
    gbopp
    Explorer
    Aug 09, 2015
    Can you raise the front to help drain the water?
    I would not use cement on the roof.

    Find the leak and repair it with Eternabond or Dicor self leveling caulk.
    Then recoat the roof.

About Motorhome Group

38,707 PostsLatest Activity: Feb 28, 2025