Disintegrating Seal

S&JAllen · 09-25-2019, 02:32 PM

The seal between the upper shell on our 2008 3124 is disintegrating (see picture) probably due to life in sunny Florida but never the less needs replacing. Has anyone done this?

Keith Wire · 09-25-2019, 02:47 PM

I haven't, but there are many who have. Search for "bag seal" and you will find them.

Here is one... bag seal

HTH, Keith

**wrenchami** · 10-04-2019, 11:36 AM

I found the process of replacing my similarly deteriorated seal daunting and tried plan B which seems to have worked well. Your seal may be too far gone for this, but here is what I did in July. I bought a can of white Flex Seal to renew the seal. I started by gently but thoroughly cleaning the seal with Simple Green. Once fully dry I repaired the split areas using contact cement in order to restore shape and hold it together long enough to get the Flex Seal on. I then applied the Flex Seal with a paint brush. The stuff is very thick and it is more dragged across the surface than painted on. Once dry, it is very strong yet flexible and becomes the structural material of the seal. It seems to have worked very well. It is a flexible rubber like coating that is claimed to be UV resistant. I know I just kicked the can down the road with this approach, but hopefully it'll give several more years of service.

oldstick · 10-06-2019, 06:03 PM

That is actually a pretty good idea you have there, Wrenchami.

In our case the camper was older than yours. I discovered that water had gotten underneath the edges of the seals for a period of time. I removed a few of the screws along the perimeter of the seals that secure the trim pieces to wooden strips that the bag seal edges are also stapled to. The screws were totally rusted away and I had to pull many of them out with pliers. Most of the wood strips were also completely rotted away which contributed to even more water intrusion. I had to replace with treated wood then replace the seals.

Your idea may be a way to at least temporarily fend off this problem that seems to occur with any trailmanor stored outdoors. That plus make sure all the edges (especially the roof-top edge) of those metal trim pieces are kept secured with sealant periodically.