200 miles in and some weather stripping fails.

[SheaLoner]

Or I assume its the weather stripping. I'm 200 miles in of a 400 mile oneway trip, NY to Virginia. Of course I'm following the tailspin remnants of Ian most of the way.
Stopped to dig out the bag of snacks that got put in the camper by mistake, and the floor is wet.
Wet not damp. Spray on the front walls. Water at the door. My blankets on the table were soaked. Of course I sleep on the front bunk, so chances are thats all wet too.
Top is down even and square, or what amounts to square on a '91 Jayco. Going to assume with the sheer amount of rain, that the spray is making its way in through that gap in the center and the crank door.
Fun start to a trip.

 

[jmkay1]

It could also be that center seam. My center seam was constantly needing to be recaulked. That and the vent was the source of most of the leaks on my ‘90 Jayco along with the weatherstripping around the door. Just wanted to provide a few things to check as those seemed to be the weakest link on mine. Personally I cheated and used whatever I found at Home Depot or other home improvement stores. That way it was easier to take care of at camp. Enjoy your trip to VA.

 

[PopUpSteve]

Sound like the same issue I had with gravel road dust. But instead of road dust you picked up water spray from the TV's tires . Your bunkend bedding may be OK since it's above the lid/box seam-line and the tenting should have protected it.

 

[PopUpSteve]

And after my experience on that gravel road, I was thinking of adding some type of an additional seal along the front of the camper. Perhaps using Velcro above and below the edge of the lid/box and attaching a strip of tarp to help keep water/dust out while on the road. Or as other have suggested, cut a pool noddle lengthwise and wedge it along that same seam.

 

[Snow]

Aluminum speed tape... 2 inches wide, will cover the gap , keep unwanted dust, rain, mist and blowing snow out.. easy to apply and easy to remove, even after sitting for 6 months in an Ontario winter..

 

[DanLee]

We drove all day through a rainstorm in NY and had water get into the front board of the roof. I had added 2 inches of foam rubber under that mattress, so apparently the roof was not closing enough to keep out driven water. The seal was in good shape. Lesson learned. This was on our Coleman. Gave it to our daughter who lives in the Southwest and it seems to stay dry now.

 

[Wybb3]

Might this D seal help?

 

[rsdata]

blue painters tape 2 inches wide will help seal out water and be easily removable and CHEAP

 

[Wrenchgear]

See that the front of the roof is pulled down tight onto the top of the box. The seal in there should be half squished while latched down. If its not, you could try and give the latches a few spins to have them pull down harder on the roof.

 

[ChiefHart]

Or I assume its the weather stripping. I'm 200 miles in of a 400 mile oneway trip, NY to Virginia. Of course I'm following the tailspin remnants of Ian most of the way.
Stopped to dig out the bag of snacks that got put in the camper by mistake, and the floor is wet.
Wet not damp. Spray on the front walls. Water at the door. My blankets on the table were soaked. Of course I sleep on the front bunk, so chances are thats all wet too.
Top is down even and square, or what amounts to square on a '91 Jayco. Going to assume with the sheer amount of rain, that the spray is making its way in through that gap in the center and the crank door.
Fun start to a trip.
View attachment 88392

On my 1993 Coleman Chesapeake, I replaced the bed weather strip that closes the gap between the bed and trailer box when bed is out. I also replaced the weather strip on the outer edge of the bed that closes the gap between the bed and the top of the box when the bed is IN. I also replaced the weather seal on the roof bottom edge that meets the trailer box. Those actions tightened up the closures of my popup. Never had any trouble with the center seam, but I did have some water leakage at the corners of the roof. Those were repaired when I rebuilt both ends of the roof.

 

[SheaLoner]

It was definately the center of the roof closure. Water came up under the front platform, soaked the bench cushions, and my bedding. The mattress cover must have been overhanging so that wicked water up.
Luckily sun was shinning and the wind was blowing so I got everything dried out quickly enough.
What style of weather stripping is best to replace the old with? It has some odd square stuff that seems half metal? And how do you secure it?

And I probably should see about patcbing these corners.

 

[ChiefHart]

I bought the bottom of the roof edge weather seal and the bed seals from https://colemanpopupparts.com/. I am not sure if Coleman used the same seal as your trailer, but look around.
It does look like you trailer box corner could allow water in either when your trailer is stationary or especially if it is the front corner then traveling during a rain event would allow water to enter your trailer.
Good luck on finding all the possible ways for water intrusion. I know that it is frustrating to have water inside your Popup.

 

[SheaLoner]

I have half a tube of butyl caulk in my storage box. If I get around to it will just run a bead when I close it up to head home. Chance of rain that day.

 

[MNTCamper]

You can solve most / all of your problems by simply adjusting the roof latches and closing the roof tighter to the camper box. I had this similar issue when my 2001 Jayco camper was new to us, road and wind driven rain coming in the front seal. At first I thought that it was the weather stripping, but after adjusting down the roof latches some, I have never had an issue at all - that was 15 years ago and we have driven through some rains that were so hard, we could hardly see to drive. The seal can only work if it is adjusted correctly so that it is tight on the camper box.

 

[PopUpSteve]

You can solve most / all of your problems by simply adjusting the roof latches and closing the roof tighter to the camper box.

True, but not always the case. My latches are maxed out, as tight as they can be. As you can see, the dust still got in on a gravel road.

 

[SheaLoner]

You can solve most / all of your problems by simply adjusting the roof latches and closing the roof tighter to the camper box. I had this similar issue when my 2001 Jayco camper was new to us, road and wind driven rain coming in the front seal. At first I thought that it was the weather stripping, but after adjusting down the roof latches some, I have never had an issue at all - that was 15 years ago and we have driven through some rains that were so hard, we could hardly see to drive. The seal can only work if it is adjusted correctly so that it is tight on the camper box.

Mine are as tight as I can make them. Already need to lean on the front half to do up those latches. Everything is just out of square enough that the roof will no longer sit "over" the box. Bigger better weather stripping seems to be the best bet on this not happening again.

 

[PopUpSteve]

And see this link for getting the most out of you latches: https://popupportal.com/threads/take-down-lowering-the-roof.125089/