Our camper is a bit low on the door side, opposite of our slideout. Today, after very hard rain I noticed some water, which appears to have crept in past the rubber seals very near the slideout track. Is this "normal" or expected? And mostly a symptom of the trailer being angled poorly?We have previously camped through a much longer and harder rain with no issues. It's a 2015 Coachmen Apex. To me, the rubber on the sides looks good, and on the top, but the pieces around the track looks poorly designed. Not broken, but not a great seal either.

acritzer wrote:Our camper is a bit low on the door side, opposite of our slideout. Today, after very hard rain I noticed some water, which appears to have crept in past the rubber seals very near the slideout track. Is this "normal" or expected? And mostly a symptom of the trailer being angled poorly?We have previously camped through a much longer and harder rain with no issues. It's a 2015 Coachmen Apex. To me, the rubber on the sides looks good, and on the top, but the pieces around the track looks poorly designed. Not broken, but not a great seal either.Why not use some lynx lock levelers and make your trailer a tad higher on the opposide side which would solve your problem ?Jack L

No water should creep in at all. Check seals first. Were you level?

Trailer needs to be level for seals and drains to work properly around the slide.Experience speaking.

spud1957 wrote:Trailer needs to be level for seals and drains to work properly around the slide.Experience speaking.Or even better, a little low on the slideout side?

Slides are a result of a major hole in the side of the RV. The top, bottom and side seals do a decent yet not perfect job of preventing water intrusion. One should not been surprised with a small amount of seepage during a storm. Do what you can to keep the seals clean and lubricated, and trash off the top of the slide that might cause a poor seal.

Water tracking in from slideout? | Good Sam Community

NanciL
Explorer II
May 24, 2017
acritzer wrote:
Our camper is a bit low on the door side, opposite of our slideout. Today, after very hard rain I noticed some water, which appears to have crept in past the rubber seals very near the slideout track.

Is this "normal" or expected? And mostly a symptom of the trailer being angled poorly?

We have previously camped through a much longer and harder rain with no issues.
It's a 2015 Coachmen Apex.

To me, the rubber on the sides looks good, and on the top, but the pieces around the track looks poorly designed. Not broken, but not a great seal either.

Why not use some lynx lock levelers and make your trailer a tad higher on the opposide side which would solve your problem ?

Jack L
Lwiddis
Explorer II
May 24, 2017
No water should creep in at all. Check seals first. Were you level?
spud1957
Explorer
May 24, 2017
Trailer needs to be level for seals and drains to work properly around the slide.

Experience speaking.
acritzer
Explorer II
May 24, 2017
spud1957 wrote:
Trailer needs to be level for seals and drains to work properly around the slide.

Experience speaking.

Or even better, a little low on the slideout side?
wildtoad
Explorer II
May 25, 2017
Slides are a result of a major hole in the side of the RV. The top, bottom and side seals do a decent yet not perfect job of preventing water intrusion. One should not been surprised with a small amount of seepage during a storm. Do what you can to keep the seals clean and lubricated, and trash off the top of the slide that might cause a poor seal.
acritzer
Explorer II
May 25, 2017
wildtoad wrote:
Slides are a result of a major hole in the side of the RV. The top, bottom and side seals do a decent yet not perfect job of preventing water intrusion. One should not been surprised with a small amount of seepage during a storm. Do what you can to keep the seals clean and lubricated, and trash off the top of the slide that might cause a poor seal.

Sounds like what I was thinking too. Hard to explain over text, but the bottom part of the seal just doesn't look especially well thought out. I realize the track not being flush with the wall makes it's a challenge, but there's a goofy little rubber piece that doesn't fit in here particularly well. I suspect that's where it was sneaking in.
horton333
Explorer
May 25, 2017
Is it the seals around the tracks that look suspicious? I had to put drops of silicon calking on the tracks on the inside to stop it leaking through as the seals can't really wipe there and the water runs down the side in large quantity.
acritzer
Explorer II
May 25, 2017
horton333 wrote:
Is it the seals around the tracks that look suspicious? I had to put drops of silicon calking on the tracks on the inside to stop it leaking through as the seals can't really wipe there and the water runs down the side in large quantity.

Yes, it's the seals around the track. Can you describe where you caulked? I'd be nervous about putting caulk on the track for fear of messing up the mechanism. And I can't really say that I could get to the track area from the inside.
Camreal
Explorer
May 25, 2017
I had a similar problem couple years a ago and it was the vertical seams on each end of the slide not caulked properly. Water ran down the slide and seeped into the inside and ran out the bottom of the slide. My slide is trimmed with aluminum strips attached with sheet metal screws.When I took the screws out I found them very rusty. Recaulking these seams cured the problem. I also try to level with the slide side of trailer slightly lower and the water will run away from the trailer.
acritzer
Explorer II
May 25, 2017
Our previous trailer had the track underneath the slide, which seems like a better idea. This new one has the track on the side, creating an uneven surface to try and seal.

Well, we leave Sat for a 3 week trip out west. No time to dig into things and try to caulk or otherwise redo and seals. I'll try to clean it up real well, spray some seal conditioner on the flaps, and angle a bit so it's tilted away.

Forum Discussion

Water tracking in from slideout?

About RV Tips & Tricks

Related Content

Slideout in another Slideout

Tracking miles of trailer?

back on track

Noisy slideout

slideouts issue