Lazy Daze Owners' Group

On Oct 8, 2011, at 1:17 PM, mylazydaze wrote:

Quote

I strongly suggest that you do a trial removal of a few screws that show some rust about their heads for the purpose of finding out how much of the screw is actually rusty.
 If their is rust 'down there' on the threads of the screws, water is getting into the area inside the metal 'skins'.
 It is most probably that this water incursion is not just leaking in around the screw head, but is leaking in along the joint seam itself.
 In other words, just replacing the screws with sealant-dipped stainless screws is NOT going to resolve the problem of structural wood getting wet and eventually rotting!

On Tue, 11 Oct 2011 18:13:43 -0000, mylazydaze wrote: "  I believe your 1985 LD has end caps mfg out of aluminum."

Correct -- all straight end-caps are aluminum but all curved pieces appear to be fiberglass -- the very top corner on the passenger side of ours was hit and has a dent in the fiberglass that will need to be repaired.
 "  I also believe the full length rust on the screw you have found is caused by water that has gotten into the wood joint structure from somewhere else than around the screw. That is why I mentioned the interior air pressure test to show just where there is a passage between the inside and the outside of your LD.
[ ... ]"

That was my thought as well although I'm not sure how these rigs were made way back when -- did they install the original screws with caulking on the threads or cover the screw heads with clear caulk? Who knows -- probably a moot point now.  While I'm not convinced ALL of the screws are rusty, some amount of them are.  Also, the cab-over bunk does not show any signs of water damage that is obvious and after removing the passenger side sliding window that seems to be confirmed -- the wood was in very good shape.  However, I took the flange off the bathroom ceiling vent yesterday since the vent doesn't work and the wood up there appears to be at least somewhat damaged due to water (or venting) issues.  We'll be replacing that with a new Fantastic Fan once I can repair the wood damage (if deemed necessary).
I'll look into the pressure test as well.
 "  There are some people on this BB who have removed and reinstalled their aluminum end caps. Would someone who has done so please advise Rick and Nellie?"
 Yes please!! I'd love to hear the pros-n-cons of doing this!  It sounds like the big issue with this is that once a corner is removed, that the structure wants to "relax" and then its much harder to get it back tight again so the holes line up, etc..
 "  If I had a LD with Aluminum End Caps on which there was no sign of wood damage, I would use Ultrabond tape to seal the wood and the [ ... ]"

All of the older 80's rigs used #8 screws that are either 1" long or 1 1/2" long.  I confirmed that with Steve at the factory last week.  He said the underneath cab-over bed surfaces (above the cab but on the bottom of the bed) take the shorter 1" screws -- if you use the long ones you'll have screws popping up through and into the bed area.  The rest of the sides use the 1.5" screws.  He also suggested not using stainless steel since their heads snap off since they're not as strong.  I'm personally using GRK Fasteners Pan head screws since they're covered with a coating called Climatek which consists of 6 layers of coating to protect it from the elements.
They seem like a better screw to use for this sort of thing in lieu of using your average pan head screw from the local home center.
I will keep the up-sizing suggestion in the back of my head should I find a hole that doesn't want to hold.
 "  There is a point where another LD would be a better and much less costly approach." Agreed. I am certainly now much better versed on what to look for in a used LD than I was a month ago.. I know what to look for on the windows, end-caps and roof seals among others aside from chassis issues..

" One other suggestion: Windows on a 1985 LD should have been inspected yearly and at least every five to ten years, removed and re-conditioned as necessary, then re-installed with a new seal.
Whenever there is any separation of window frame joints, that has to be either repaired correctly or a new window and frame installed. To not do so is to invite wood structure water damage. If wood damage has occurred, a new window installation would be a waste of money if the wood damage is not first corrected."

Agreed.. I'll be calling Nagco Glass in Pomona today to find out if they'll sell me any of the glazing/seal material that surrounds the glass on these windows. If I'm going to remove them from the RV, I might as well spend the extra bit of time to do the window properly to ensure no leaks as much as I can.. These old windows are super easy to remove with the old caulking but a pain in the rear once I've re-sealed them with the 3M 5200 caulking which sticks like a banshee and is a pain to remove once it's set.

-- Rick

On Tue, 11 Oct 2011 21:02:09 -0000, Larry wrote: "  While removing all the rounded caps would be a big job, taping the corners with Eternabond tape would stop all leakage. It could be difficult to remove the caps without damaging them."

Larry.. I'm not following what you're talking about in the last sentence.. Why would it be difficult to remove the end caps? Are the screws not the only thing that holds them in place on the mid 80's LD's?  I gather some of the newer models use some sort of 3M tape stuff in addition to screws but I'm not sure about the older models as there's not much written up about them..