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myredracer's avatar
myredracer
Explorer II
Oct 19, 2017

Leaking slide from towing in heavy rain?

The background: Got home last night from a late season camping trip in southern WA (just the dog & me so no copilot). Sunny summer-like weather on Monday! Started out in light rain and no wind that should have been a routine 4-5 hour trip home. Turned into an epic 10 hour trip due to a fall storm with high winds and pounding rain. Knew about the weather forecast but no concern. All was well until almost to the ferry I had planned to take from the Olympic Peninsula to Whidbey Island (about an hour from the border), there was a sign on the road saying the ferry was shut down. Had to double back southward and take another ferry over to the north side of Seattle area, then got caught up in HEAVY commuter traffic out of Seattle. So, many hours of towing in heavy rain... :( :(

The issue: Went into the TT at home last night to find water on the floor from under a foot or two length of the carpeted slide floor and running across the floor. Not much but enough to be a concern, as any water intrusion is. Def. not from an inside spill. (Wheel well is under the slide.) Pushed a paper towel a bit under the slide floor and it got wet. Definitely not from the vertical seals or seal along the top.

Can a leak be from water thrown up from the tires into the wheel well area and get inside? Looking under the slide this morning, there looks to be a seal immediately above outer edge of the outrigger and under the slide floor and it *seems* okay. Could the slide maybe need adjustment or is the water simply a consequence of towing for so long in heavy rain? Don't recall ever reading about something like this.
  • DutchmenSport's avatar
    DutchmenSport
    Explorer
    Oct 19, 2017
    Your camper should be able to withstand any type of rain, towing or set up for camping. Me-thinks you are right, in the fact it came from the wheel well, under the slide and across the floor. You may never find the exact spot where it happened, and it may never happen again. All you can do is try to find any places where water could intrude and seal it up.

    Many moons ago, I was taking clothes out of the slide-out closet in my current camper. The bottom of the clothing was wet where they hung down on the carpet on the bottom. The carpet was drenched. I removed all the clothing and get towels and dabbed up the wet from the closet, and then went to town looking for the leak. I never found it, spraying water with a garden hose from all directions, including upward, as if it could have intruded from the bottom when driving in rain. Finally I gave up looking and trying. That was more than 3 years ago, and it's never done it again. Dry as a bone under all conditions! Sometimes things just happen,in a fluke, very weird, when all the circumstances are just exactly so-so, and never occur again. I keep an eye on the closet after rains, and especially when traveling in rain, and "knock on wood" it's always dry. Never did figure that one out.

    Hopefully, it will never happen again to you either.
  • the_bear_II's avatar
    the_bear_II
    Explorer
    Oct 19, 2017
    Wheel well sounds possible. In the dark use a flashlight to look for holes. Have someone inside shining the flashlight and someone outside to look for light.

    Is your refrigerator close to where the water is. On ours, while traveling in heavy rain/wind the water will blow into the refrigerator vent and leak out onto the floor from time to time. I use duct tape to seal the vent if I know I will hit rain.

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