Rust Under Brand New Camper

Transported during the winter on salted roads I would bet!

I have to wonder what the brakes look like if you pull the drums off.

I have to wonder what the brakes look like if you pull the drums off.

When shopping for our 5er we found a new one with the floorplan we wanted at a dealer 50 miles away. But looking under it I saw the entire bottom side metal parts with a lot of rust. I told the salesman I did not want a new trailer with that much rust. He offered to sandblast it and repaint but I did not feel good about that.

Found the exact same new trailer with the same floorplan at a dealer about 100 miles away. No rust under it at all and we bought it. That was 2007 and still very little rust.

If you live in a road salt state, you should know that it is impossible to remove all the salt and chemicals.

Leaf springs will rust to some degree even if they were not exposed to salt. I spray the springs and other suspension parts with Fluid Film about once per year, it helps prevent further rusting and provides some lubrication.

You don't state where you live or purchased the RV. NO, it is not normal on a new RV. Go to your RV on the outside usually the Left front sidewall. There will be VIN sticker listing the VIN and weights and such. On that sticker will be the Month/year RV was built. Post the results once you find it. Dealers are supposed to wash all undercarriages of RV's when they are delivered during the Winter months from the OEM's which the majority are built in Northern Indiana. The washing is supposed to remove all road salt and chemicals used by hi way crews in icy conditions. Almost ALL OEM's send out bulletins to their dealers in the early fall to remind them to wash the undercarriage of all incoming new RV's. We have a washer system we drive the units over to rinse the undercarriage's. The rust is really unsightly surface rust and should cause no problems. But, it should not be there regardless. Bad news is this, the OEM will NOT warranty this problem as it is the fault of the Dealer who failed to follow the OEM's guidelines. Dealers do not have to wash units that come in on LOW BOY trailers. This is only for RV's that are transported rolling on the ground. Doug

Looks like surface rust on the springs - your frame looks pretty good;
Every Fall I crawl under my camper and hose it down. The I use Rustoleum
Undercoating and spray the entire frame and other exposed areas. Usually
about 5 cans of the stuff. Protects the whole underside from getting worse.


on previous TTs, I used to spray the frame with a solution of Marvel
Mystery Oil/WR40 from a garden sprayer. It worked really well in halting any
further corrosion but it was a bit messy.

there are rust eating paints now ,check them out.

I'm the type that I would rather do many things myself than take it back to the dealer as I'll generally do a better job and know exactly what was done. So that said, I think if this were my RV, I'd invest in a couple wire wheels and get my drill and go brush off the rust underneath and then put a coat of rustoleum on everything I could.

The pics look like it's just surface rust but like you I'm sure, I wouldn't be happy about it. I'd just be scared they would screw one thing up for everything they fixed. But that's just me.

That leaf spring looks pretty excessive...like the spring sat in water for an extended period of time.