2001 Palomino Stampede S-21. Purchased Aug 2012.A few weeks ago I opened up the bathroom floor to repair a soft spot, thinking that I would only need to replace a wet subfloor board. The farther I dug, the more water damage I found. The bathroom subfloor was solid black rot. When I went into the main area, I found that someone covered the original subfloor with a 1/2 plywood floor in an attempt to hide the damage, essentially sealing in the moisture. Under the plywood subfloors is the luan plywood/styrofoam/hardboard sandwich in between wood joists and above membrane. This method has been referenced in numerous other articles here. I haven't yet found a spot anywhere, front to back, that didn't have a totally rotted bottom portion of that sandwich. In some spots I removed the rotted sandwich, in most I left the original subfloor and added a good temporary plywood piece so that I can work on that floor. I plan to replace everything from the joists up relying heavily on info I received at this forum and others online. Currently, only the kitchenette remains, I've pulled the toilet, shower tub, vanity, fridge, hot water heater, furnace and all furniture. Then yesterday I discovered a new unexpected problem. The seam that joins the rear and passenger side walls separated. This is a new problem, it was not separated when I started ripping out the floor. When I poke my finger into the exposed walls I find, you guessed it, rotted wood.A limited number of Pics with description can be found at my Photobucket Stories page.I am only reasonably handy. I was stretching myself with my plan to rebuild the trailer from the floor up. I don't know what to do about the walls. Is this a lost cause?

Not sure what you paid for this unit. You need to seriously think of all financial factors. What it would take to fix. The main problem is do you know where the original leaks is or was. Sounds like it still might be leaking somewhere. Hybrids are notorious for leaks. In addition now you have the side walls to be concerned about. I certainly would let the manufacturer know; not that they will do anything with a unit this old, but just to let them know. Perhaps you might want to throw in the towel, sell what you have removed for parts and begin again. Sorry for your troubles.

twins89 wrote:Hybrids are notorious for leaks. That's a pretty generic statement. A few early hybrids had some issues with bed leaks. Other than a few anecdotal statements like this HTT bed leaks seem to be a pretty rare thing these days. Judging from the photos this had nothing to do with bed leaks and everything to do with a failed roof seam that someone doctored up without "doing it right" so to speak. Man that's really bad. I too am sorry to see you have to deal with this. Hope it works out for you in the end.

hurry winters coming. sounds like you,d be better off scraping what you can and move on, never ever buy a rv that has a leak. oh! you already know that now. good luck in your adventure.

Look's like your leak must have started at the top and ran down the corner. These things are built in sections. You could try opening the wall. You'll probably find more sandwich construction. You can replace the bad spots with a lot of ripped 2 bys and foam. Once your read to fasten the corner back in you can clamp it with ratchet straps around the outside. You'll need a place to work inside.

This is unfortunate...on the bright side, think of all the awesome mods you can do as you Reno !

How now brown cow? Floor repair project gets larger

j-d
Explorer II
Oct 03, 2014
This Terry has been all over the continent. Built in Maryland, sold in Virginia, found its way to Alaska. From Alaska to Chicago via Michigan, then on to Texas. From there to California. Then probably one more PCS move with the Air Force then likely to be sold within the next 18 months. So... We're going to deck over the soft areas, install vinyl floating flooring and call it good. The soft areas on this are largely toward the center of the front half of the flooring. We just found some water at the upper right corner also, trapped in the fabric. The trailer has held up well over literally thousands of miles of bad road. I think a lot of that is the rubber-mounted torsion axle setup.
Probably best if you post a couple pix and maybe somebody can help. I've found old aluminum signs to be good repair improvisation material. It's easily bent and drilled, can be cut with a Skil Saw with an ordinary carbide-tipped blade.
Can't prove it but my guess is that these trailers have construction that's more alike than different, even across brand families.
gwh1bass
Explorer
Oct 03, 2014
Well In feel your pain. I just discovered a water problem with my 2006 KZ Coyote at the front right corner. The side and front wall panels have separated because the wood framing is rotted down low near the trailer frame. At this point I do not see any obvious place where the water has entered.

Good luck with your fix.
j-d
Explorer II
Oct 01, 2014
Working on a similar Fleetwood Hybrid, a 1999 Terry UltraLight 721. Those of you who "floored over" with a new layer of 1/2" plywood - Where did you Stop? How did you treat the Bathroom/Toilet? Did you remove furniture or just work up to it? At this point, I'm thinking of removing the front U-shaped seating/table/sleeping are and flooring over that are wall to wall. Then down through the kitchen area, just floor up to the existing sink and fridge cabinets. That still leaves the What To Do With The Bath? Question.
THANKS!
RVinND
Explorer
Aug 22, 2014
Project update.

I worked through October last year then sealed it up for the winter. I got busy with work this year and couldn't, or didn't, start the project again in 2014 until August. The two wall to wall/floor separations have been fixed, new floor joists were installed, the roof and seams re-coated/sealed, and the last piece of subfloor went in this week. I'll put the new tile floor in this weekend and then I'll be at the point of putting the puzzle pieces back together. I have lots of pictures taken during the destruction period, but still might need some help to see how things go back together, especially into a non-rotted floor. So, I'm asking that anyone that has an RV similar to my 2001 Palomino Stampede S-21 (different length, different year) and would be willing to send me some pictures, to please send me a private message.

Here's the story: http://s792.photobucket.com/user/brianstone00/story/16031#

Please and Thanks!

- Brian
wfreeth
Explorer
Aug 23, 2013
I had the exact same trailer, and petty much the same thing happened to the floor. But mine was soft only in the bathroom and kitchen. I figured the leak was in the wheel well area as I could never find any evidence of leaks on the roof/walls. I did the 1/2" plywood and Allure vinyl flooring to get a couple more years out of it. Only problem I had after doing the floor was due to the extra 1/2" I kept hitting my head on the air conditioner (I'm 6'3").
RVinND
Explorer
Aug 22, 2013
Thanks everyone for your replies. Here's some answers to presented questions and comments:

- RV cost was $2500. This was (I thought) low because it had some needed fixes including fried water heater, incomplete wood flooring, broken table/bed.

- I figured I could replace the floor for only $500 and a lot of sweat equity.

- I still have no idea where the leak was. The rear/right wall corner that is coming apart is rotted, but the wood inside is dry. The top of the subflooring was in terrible shape at various spots in the trailer including bathroom (rear/left), the rear/right area under the benches, the front under the skylight and center/right at the entryway. However, when I dug down to the sandwich, it was moist and rotted EVERYWHERE. Even where the subfloor looked OK, the bottom layer of the sandwich was a swamp.

I don't know how to interpret those clues. If there was a big leak at some point that was fixed, could the water potentially filter down to the membrane, be held in by the membrane, and essentially run/wick its way all around the camper?

- The big question that I need an answer for: Can the walls be repaired, or does that make it a salvage for parts project?

- The boards under the pop out beds are completely dry. There is no evidence of any worthwhile leaks through that avenue. Also, the cabinets and furniture, everything above the flooring, is completely dry.

- Yes, winter is coming. Its not that close, it was 102 deg on the day I created the post. Buy an RV with no leak you say, hmmm, thanks.
Padlin
Explorer
Aug 21, 2013
I'm half way through doing about 1/3 of my floor and am having enough issues to keep me boggled, can't imagine going on if I found the walls gone too. In order to insert a new sheet of ply for the bottom of the sandwich I have to jack up the body far enough to clear the new 1/4" ply. The guy at the local rv shop that does such said to remove the outer corner moldings and attach 2x4's with screws to use as jacking blocks, with your sides rotted you can't do that. Being an 01 and a wood frame, I'd toss in the towel. Mines aluminum so at least the frame is solid. Did you find the original source/s of the water?
MudChucker
Explorer
Aug 21, 2013
This is unfortunate...on the bright side, think of all the awesome mods you can do as you Reno !
Peg_Leg
Explorer
Aug 20, 2013
Look's like your leak must have started at the top and ran down the corner. These things are built in sections. You could try opening the wall. You'll probably find more sandwich construction. You can replace the bad spots with a lot of ripped 2 bys and foam. Once your read to fasten the corner back in you can clamp it with ratchet straps around the outside. You'll need a place to work inside.
midnightsadie
Explorer II
Aug 20, 2013
hurry winters coming. sounds like you,d be better off scraping what you can and move on, never ever buy a rv that has a leak. oh! you already know that now. good luck in your adventure.

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