Leaking roof on my 1980's FWC Keystone Camper

[hpcbmw]

We finally got some rain out here in Northern California and I found that my roof is leaking. I get water accumulating in the folds of the top, when the roof is down -does that make sense? There is enough water leaking in that a couple of cups of water collected in a catch bucket. I had the truck parked in a level spot during the last rains, and didn't notice any leaking, but now it's parked with the nose pointing uphill in my driveway, and I'm getting the water leaking in the passenger side rear of the camper (right rear corner).

Whats the best way to stop the leak? I'm assuming it's coming in from either the roof screws or the seam where the corner meets the roof. Should I just pull all the screws and re screw with a dab of silicone? Should I silicone the entire roof corner? Any input and experience would be appreciated.

 

[Mark W. Ingalls]

We finally got some rain out here in Northern California and I found that my roof is leaking. I get water accumulating in the folds of the top, when the roof is down -does that make sense? There is enough water leaking in that a couple of cups of water collected in a catch bucket. I had the truck parked in a level spot during the last rains, and didn't notice any leaking, but now it's parked with the nose pointing uphill in my driveway, and I'm getting the water leaking in the passenger side rear of the camper (right rear corner).

Whats the best way to stop the leak? I'm assuming it's coming in from either the roof screws or the seam where the corner meets the roof. Should I just pull all the screws and re screw with a dab of silicone? Should I silicone the entire roof corner? Any input and experience would be appreciated.


Sorry to hear of your troubles. I have leaks in my roof, too (front corners, left more than right). I have tried re-sealing the screws, I have taken the edge trim completely off, cleaned it and resealed it with marine sealant (3M) and have removed the front rack and calked those holes. Still leaks. I am sort of busy right now, and sort of clueless, so other than mopping up after it rains, i'm not trying anything else right now.

Maybe we can crack this nut together...

 

[hpcbmw]

Mark, when yours leaks, does it leak into the ceiling, or into the fabric poptop? In mine, the water accumulates in the inner lining of the poptop and then drips into the camper. I think it's also dripping on the driver side of the camper, because the cabinet is damp where the top fold down onto it. Glad to know you've done a bunch of sealing to no avail. I won't waste alot of time with a caulking gun and silicone sealer.

I usually wait til the rain stops, then pop the top and open the windows for a few days to dry things out. I use a light plastic snow shovel as a rain bucket - it catches the drips over a wide area and can hold a few cups before it fills up.

Anyone else have leaking roof repair ideas?

 

[Mark W. Ingalls]

Mark, when yours leaks, does it leak into the ceiling, or into the fabric poptop? In mine, the water accumulates in the inner lining of the poptop and then drips into the camper. I think it's also dripping on the driver side of the camper, because the cabinet is damp where the top fold down onto it. Glad to know you've done a bunch of sealing to no avail. I won't waste alot of time with a caulking gun and silicone sealer.

I usually wait til the rain stops, then pop the top and open the windows for a few days to dry things out. I use a light plastic snow shovel as a rain bucket - it catches the drips over a wide area and can hold a few cups before it fills up.

Anyone else have leaking roof repair ideas?

Both.

 

[gandhii]

I got the same problem with the same back passenger side corner on my 83 fleet model. After buying it last summer I have cleaned out all the seams and screw holes in the roof and resealed them with silicone, but that corner is still a problem. Not sure what my next plan is. I've read about others using more serious marine grade caulks, so maybe I'll go through the many many many man hours of cleaning out all of this silicone again and re-caulking. We'll see.

 

[natjwest]

Someone on the forums did a rhino-liner type of truck bed spray-on or paint-on to just cover the whole roof. That sounds pretty bad ass.

FWIW my roof leaks a bit.

 

[gandhii]

That does sound bad ass. But having a black roof sounds pretty painful in these coming months....