2008 17C bunk seal mystery

[kurzschluss]

Hi, I recently bought this camper and there is a small spot of water damage on the Left and right ends of the shelf under the front bunk hinge, all the way against the wall. The particle board is swollen there from previous damage.

I just replaced the original gasket with a new one and it rained on it a few days later. I just drove it through the rain and when I got to the campsite I noticed the swollen spot especially on the right is wet again.

Also the cloth “skirt” that covers the hinge (and velcros to the shelf) had a few tablespoons of brown water on it when I opened the bunk end. There was also a small amount of water on the shelf right under the skirt but the swollen particle board damage is still concentrated on the far end. The skirt is discolored and mildew stained on the underside which is against the hinge. I also noticed the horizontal bottom seals have the imprint of the fabric in them which makes me think they’re interfering with the seal.

I looked in the manual to make sure I’m doing it right but have more questions than anything after reading it. It says in bold font to “Make sure the bed tent is pushed in at least 1” above the side bulb seal“ but the picture doesn’t match my camper (as-purchased seal pictures included). The manual shows what looks like a short vertical piece of seal at the bottom and a seal attached to the bunk end itself.

Should I be lifting the bottom skirt out of the way of the hinge gasket when closing the bunk? The manual doesn’t say I have to, but I’m thinking I should.

Were my seals correctly installed (originally)?

Has anyone had and solved this problem?

[mleger11]

I dont have water damage YET but im getting water into my back bunk when its closed and raining.
I noticed my white seal that goes around the bunk is falling apart. I see in your pictures your seal looks like its due to be changed as well.
I bought 14/13mm hollow D weather strip on amazon. It should be here friday.

Also another thing... When i was talking to Jayco they asked if the bunk was bowed in our out? I really never noticed till then. But mine is bowed out in the middle. So its not touching the old dried out broken seal.
Im not quite sure how im going to reverse that but im sure the new seal will fix it.

My biggest isssue is the bunk end plastic rail thats sewn to the tents. Where is connects to trailer and screwed in is all broken. I mentioned it to Jayco and they said its a common issue and i have to replace the whole tent! So i took big washers and screws and sandwiched the plastic to the frame.

Hope any of this helps.

[kurzschluss]

Thanks that’s interesting. My back bunk hasn’t leaked yet so I guess I’m ok there. I’ll look for bowing on both. I saw someone else added a third latch in the middle to fix their bowed bunk. One of the old school round screw down ones that wouldn’t interfere with your drip edge. Maybe this could work for you?

I also have the cracked plastic rail on a few spots. I’m tempted to preemptively put washers on all of the screws considering they’ll all crack at some point anyway.

[mleger11]

If i were you, i would take spray nine or super clean and clean everything really good! Then i would dry it all and close up the bunk with nothing inside except for canvas of coarse. Then take a sprinkler and aim it at the bunk and roof. Go inside and see if you can find any water.
If this is the front bunk, re caulk the lights above it and make sure the roof lap seal is good and no cracks.

[kurzschluss]

Thanks guys. I think I figured it out. I unvelcroed the bottom skirt and folded up the front bunk end, being careful not to let the skirt interfere with the bottom gasket. I had to drive it a few hours through some heavy rain and it also poured while sitting in a parking lot while all closed up. This time it stayed dry!

My next project will be to add some Velcro to the bunk to let the skirt stick up and out of the way of the hinge while folding up the bunk end.

[mleger11]

Im going to do that as well.