Rear wall of 5er detached from floor

[Marc2007]

I have a 2007 Gulfstream Canyon Trail fifth wheel with the fiberglass walls. After returning from a trip I noticed that the bottom of the rear wall separated from the floor and you can pull on the ladder and it will flap in and out. It seems like it is just foam on the bottom. Anyone else ever have this problem? What do you do to fix it?

[24tucson]

I had a similar issue on our 2006 Keystone Copper Canyon Sprinter. The whole rear end panel was letting loose from where it was attached to the sidewalls to the point where it would be open over an inch at floor level. I discovered that the problem was that the end wall panel was attached to the sidewalls with a thin strip of metal on each side. When that piece of metal failed, the end panel just started pulling away from the side walls. As far as I could tell, there was nothing else holding that end panel on to the sidewalls. At least not from the floor to about 2/3 of the way up the wall. There was no way to replace that strip of metal because you couldn't get at it. I tried several different fixes (long screws through the end panel and into the side walls) etc. that didn't work. I finally fastened an 8 foot piece of angle iron to the bottom of the end panel and then fastened the angle iron to the trailer frame I-beams. That took care of the problem. Interesting problem to fix when you're on the road and you think your end panel is going to come completely off!

[RustyJC]

I guess I don't fully understand your rear wall construction. The bolted wall system I referred to is what DRV uses in their Mobile and Elite Suites.



Rusty

[Marc2007]

RustyJC that is kind of the solution I was going to use. There is no bottom plate. The steel frame is flat in the rear and the wall sets vertically against it. They drilled holes in the steel frame and used 4 small self tapping screws screwed into the 1/4" paneling to hold the wall to the frame. I am going to drill through the fiberglass and the metal frame and use the carriage bolts through the whole assembly. That way the screws cant pull out of the paneling again.

It looked like an expensive repair when I first noticed it.

[RustyJC]

Can you use carriage bolts and fender washers to bolt the bottom plate of the wall through the floor?

Rusty

[Campinfan]

Sounds like you will be able to fix it. I would glue and screw it, if possible.

[Marc2007]

Today I took a flashlight and got a better look. Turns out there is only 4 screws screwed into the lauan paneling holding the bottom of back wall to the frame. Quality! Don't buy Gulfstream campers.

[Big_Dog2]

A friend of mine had that happen to his 5th. He had it repaired by the dealer. In his case (not suggesting this may be same issue) the most likely cause was he would lower the rear stabilizer jacks then raise the front of the trailer with the electric landing gear. This can easily result in a lot of pressure on the corner of the frame (much more than merely cranking the stabilizers) if one side is on softer ground than the other side.

My recollection is that it was not an expensive repair. Since the repair, he stopped lowering the stabilizer jacks before levelling and has had no problems since.

Just throwing this out for info purposes as to possible cause.

[BTPO1]

donn0128 wrote:
Sounds like a serious structural issue. You need to find a really really good service shop to fix the mess you have. I would first start with pictures and emails to the mfg. Maybe they will have some suggestions.

I agree, I also would not use it until your problem is corrected. JMO

[donn0128]

Sounds like a serious structural issue. You need to find a really really good service shop to fix the mess you have. I would first start with pictures and emails to the mfg. Maybe they will have some suggestions.