Looking for wood rot damage

[F150k]

When looking for wood rot or wood damage in a truck camper, I was told to take a screw out of the jack brackets and see if they were rusted. Do dealers or sellers have a problem with you doing this? Anyone ever do this before buying a camper and how many would you look at? Any other tips for finding damaged areas? I am new to truck campers.

[AnEv942]

As long as its one of the smaller lag bolts its safe, it wouldnt hurt anything. Pull a bolt could be bad. Lag bolts arent usually that long and are good tell-tale, if really bad you could pull them off-unthreading not required. However you wouldnt be pulling mine off either.
(note to self-when selling camper replace all the lag bolts):)

[niftypkg]

Take a look at the general condition. Was it sitting around with out maintenance? What is the age? Condition vs Price? I might take some heat on this but if I were spending big bucks I would want it look almost new. Are you skilled to do a rehab? These units are mean to be put together not taken apart.

[jtlingo123]

Here's what I found when I re-built the front end of mine.

I didn't know this was going to cause a total re-build on the entire front end.
Here's what was hiding!

If you notice some of the lag bolts weren't even grabbing anything. Most of the bolts were rusted and not doing a dang thing! I would just keep an eye on RUSTY BOLTS, this should give you a good idea and if they have it sitting on it's own or on supports.


Josh

[Bumpyroad]

when you call the seller, mention this up front. no way would I let somebody start disassembling my RV. it would save them a trip.
bumpy

[joe_b_]

I would look for screws that are beyond just rusty. When I stated pulling the trim off the skirts of my Lance 845, some of the screws were without threads, others were about half the original length. Since I always have a Swiss army knife in my pocket, it is easy to pop a screw in and out to look at it. Have never asked, just have done it. Try to remember the ones you take out for it you buy it, you need to put a touch of caulk in the screw hole and run it back in.
You can have rusty screws and not have any damage I have found. The quality of the screws used on most RVs, matches the quality of the workmanship in many cases. Just not the best available. I tend to replace steel screws on my RVs with a good grade of stainless ones and caulk each hole before putting in the new screw.

Around an area of high humidity, like here in south Florida, (I live 3 blocks from the ocean) steel screws/bolts, etc. will rust in the original box on a shelf in my garage. I keep most of that stuff in sealed Tupperware type containers. So to find surface rust on a RV here in Florida, I would expect it and not be too surprised, now screw deterioration is different and would indicate a water leak. A potential buyer has to figure the cost of time and materials on buying any RV that needs work. We have some forum members that could buy the damaged TC Bob has posted the photo of, and six months later, they would have it looking better than new. If a person has the time, the talent, the tools, the space, the money and the interest to do the work themselves, there are lots of good buys out there. The labor cost to fix the one in Bob's photo would be out of sight, but as a hobby project, it could be good for some people at the right price.

Also rely heavily on the smell of the unit. Wood rot, mold, etc have a distinctive smell. While my sense of smell is about dead, my wife can spot a molding smell every time. Maybe I should train my beagle dog to spot and respond to rotten wood. He could become a paid shopping consultant. (with me as his agent, of course. LOL)

[midnightsadie]

you can buy a moisture checking hand held meter ,not that much of a cost. high reading ?move on. boat survayors use them.

[bobndot]

I would print a picture like this and carry it with me. Present it to the seller and explain why you would like to remove a screw , check it and then replace it. If anyone has a problem with that ,
" i would let the door hit me where God split me" .

[azrving]

What years are you looking at? 4 legs right? Yeah it wouldnt seem like they would let you start taking it apart. But who knows. You are on the right track though. Start at the top and inside to see if there is evidence of water damage. Stand back and look for ripples or distortion in the siding too.