Rotted wood in walls

[Tacouser]

I have a 2017 Four Winds Class C. I discovered today that the wood that is behind the fiberglass just behind the passenger door is all rotted and wet. I can see that the wood is gone almost four inches up from the bottom. I can't tell where the water is coming from, I am thinking it is wicking it up from the bottom. Can this be repaired ????....
Just another stake in this Thor built RV

[JimOIB]

I had the exact same issue on my 2017 Four Winds 24F. The bottom four inches of wood was missing in the panel. It appeared to be a manufacturing defect. I took it to the dealer since it was under warranty and they repaired it with Thor directions.

[nosticks]

Caught mine just in time. Bottom trim fell off giving me a clue something was wrong. Sealed it off with 4200 Marine sealant. It was wicking up from the bottom. Check the other side.

[Tacouser]

I am out of warranty by about 6 months.. I can't find anything in the warranty book on how long the warranty period is for structual issues.
But kind of glad others have had the same problem. Now I can present that to Thor and try to get them to pay for the repair.

[nosticks]

Thor's over the curb warranty will apply, meaning they won't do anything because it is out of their one year warranty. I think the warranty department holds their breath waiting for midnight of the 365th day of your purchase to be released from any responsibility to repair any issue.

[Tacouser]

Thanks for the responce. I am going to call Thor on Tuesday. For as much trouble I had during the first year I feel they should give me a little slack on the warranty, but I'll see how that works.

[JimOIB]

I just looked at my warranty and it appears the aluminum structure and walls are covered for 24 months or 24000 miles. Probably a lot of legal fine print but it is worth a shot.

[Wendell]

Are you talking about the wingwalls that mate the sidewalls to the cab? I have an appointment with Thor the 26th of November to replace both wingwalls and fix the slight bow in the bottom of the slide. My12 month warranty expired in July but was identified and documented earlier. I hope everything works out for you. Good luck.

Wendell
Evans, Ga.
2018 KM24

[blw2]

I found the same problem out of warranty.

I traced mine to a roof leak. I'm convinced the thing had been leaking since before it left the factory.
Yours might be built a bit different than mine. Mine has the vertical side walls, and nearly straight across curved nose, meeting at a typical vinyl insert corner trim.

Sadly, even if it was in warranty I'd bet they would try to not cover it. i remember a discussion with the Thor customer service guy when I was working through some early on warranty stuff. Basically sealing against leaks is considered routine maintenance, and so the warranty coverage against leaks was very short.

There were an unsealed screw or two in the corner trim...right at the top of the "P" shaped insert trim. basically right at the corner up there at the front of the membrane where it meets the nose and the side wall.

Mine has an upholstered wall cover over that wall on the inside. Some snaps covered with matching upholstery snap right off to reveal screws. Really easy to pull off for a look. the rot in mine went up a good bit higher, and wasn't complete through the whole wall. My guess is the water got into the sidewall frame, ran down the framing members sort of above the door and down into that wall. Looked like a very very slow leak.

When I pulled that corner apart I found that my nosecone skin was cut short, so that the upper most several inches basically wasn't under the corner trim at all. Maybe 0.5mm sealing surface at the most. I was shocked that it hadn't come apart and shown an obvious hole there...it was really only the structure holding the walls in close proximity, and a hairline of caulk along the edge of that trim covering it.....but from the looks of it the leaking wasn't from that point.

[blw2]

oh, one more thing...
at least in my case I'm fairly certain it has nothing to do with water coming up into that exposed bottom edge. My issue was only on one side, the other wall looked fine...and lots of other exposed plywood edges under there, also with no apparent problems.

[The Gritz Carlton]

FYI...another thread on a different forum addressed this issue as non-treated plywood used as the backer board. They blamed it on water spray splashing up into that cavity from the road. I checked mine then and there is no plywood there...they must have done something bout it so they must know it was a problem. Maybe you can get warranty assistance based on these facts.

[Zippy]

This is what I like about this forum. It is like an extended warranty if you read and check. Checked my new 2018 Freedom Elite 30FE and sure enough I felt behind the wall at the bottom and it was bar plywood. I will coat it with a can of spray in bed liner for a pickup truck and keep a close check on it. I am just sorry someone had to take the hit for the issue for people like myself to make sure it does not happen to me. Thank You!

[KCKim]

Originally Posted by The Gritz Carlton

FYI...another thread on a different forum addressed this issue as non-treated plywood used as the backer board. They blamed it on water spray splashing up into that cavity from the road. I checked mine then and there is no plywood there...they must have done something bout it so they must know it was a problem. Maybe you can get warranty assistance based on these facts.

We have a 2017 Chateau 35SF - lots of problems, but this does not sound like one we've had (yet - knock on wood). Just to be on the safe side, and keep my eye on it, where exactly is this area? I'm having trouble seeing it in my mind.


Thanks!


Kim

[Diemaster]

is this the area every one is talking about?

[JimOIB]

That’s what I’m talking about

[The Gritz Carlton]

It's in the curved section at the front where you staight body side meets up with the back of the cab. Typed this before looking at the picture. Yep, right there.

[KCKim]

Originally Posted by The Gritz Carlton

It's in the curved section at the front where you staight body side meets up with the back of the cab. Typed this before looking at the picture. Yep, right there.

Thanks for this and for the picture posted before. I will keep an eye on this area. Our rig was in the shop for 8 months after we returned from Alaska last year (a couple of driver error mishaps, one vandalism, and a long list of warranty complaints). When we went to pick it up and I was doing the exterior walk-around, I discovered a problem above the point circled in the photo. There's a strip of trim that covers the seam between the curved section and the straight section. It appeared that it had slipped down, exposing a couple inches of the seam at the top. Further inspection revealed that it had not slipped - it had shrunk! We looked at the other side and found the same thing there. So we had them replace it, too, while we waited. The service tech said to keep an eye on it, because it will probably shrink again.

Honestly, can the manufacturers not build these things right???
Kim

[Tacouser]

Diemaster...... yes that is the area that is rotted away

[carlgorski]

Glad you pointed that out. I sealed that area as best I could. What a crappy design.

[RSSinMS]

Can anyone here post a pic showing the "official Thor repair" for this problem? I'd like to tackle on my own vs. letting the RV sit at Camping World for 2 months.