rotten wall, where do I start?

[Seabass69]

Ok when I bought this 40' Monaco Windsor it had a roof leak and some wall deterioration from a leaky roof seam. leak is fixed but the wall is getting worse. Now the outside skin is buckling pretty good , I assume from not having a good surface to stick to..... Any chance this could be covered by insurance?

[Daveinet]

Seabass69 wrote:
its a 99, i cant find any issues with the main frame but it could be a problem in the wall structure

I do not recall how the wall frame is attached to the floor frame. The wall is aluminum, where the floor is steel. The attachment is unique, as you can not attach aluminum directly to steel or it will corrode. But either way, the fact that you had a water issue, it is more likely the foam held the water in contact with the wall frame, causing it to corrode away.
About 10 years ago, there was a really good thread on delamination. They guy who had the coach, thought it was going to be a small rot issue. When he started pulling it apart, he found the vertical stringers completely corroded away, as in the bottom foot or so, completely gone. While a Monaco will not delaminate, because there is no wood to rot, a leak with trapped water will still cause the wall frame to corrode the same as any structure.

Harbor Freight sells a cheap bore scope. You could use that to look inside the wall, although learning what the problem is, doesn't decide if it has to be repaired or not.

[msmith1199]

There is no chance of the insurance covering it if you don't file a claim. Can't hurt to at least explain it to your insurance company and see what they say. If you have proof that the wall got worse after you purchased it, there may be some kind of coverage for it. Can't hurt to ask.

[rgatijnet1]

Some of the older coaches used to have some rivets on the sidewalls. That may be what you will need to keep the sidewall attached to the frame.
You will need to remove the interior wall covering so that you can see the frame and put some adhesive on the frame members before you push the exterior into the frame and apply the rivets.
You can also use some type of wedge system to push against the side of the coach until the adhesive dries. This would work well if you can park next to a wall during the repairs. Once the exterior sidewall is refastened, then you can repair the interior walls. Not an easy job, but better than the scrap heap. More labor than material cost.

[Seabass69]

its a 99, i cant find any issues with the main frame but it could be a probem in the wall structure

[timmac]

Whats the age of that RV, that also looks like a structural issue.

[Daveinet]

Um, you may have a worse problem than you think. If one assumes Monaco is built the same way as an HR, the wall is glued directly to the frame. There is NO WOOD and NO rot. If the wall is buckling, that means the frame has corroded so bad, that is no longer supports the wall. When you pull apart the wall, you will probably find sections of the wall frame completely missing - corroded away. I think you have to repair it from the inside, as the wall is glued to the frame, which means it will be difficult to remove from the outside.

I'm basing my assumptions on how I have seen the late model HRs built.

[BuckBarker]

The chances of the insurance covering this is 0. Now for the repair. This will be extensive work in need of an RV body shop.

[donn0128]

Probably not since you bought it with a known problem. Guess its time to start taking things apart to fix it. Not going to be easy or cheap. I sure hope you got a really really good deal on it? Otherwise your going to be into it way more than its worth.