Rear Bump Tray Collecting Water

[KJRitchie]

I had my 2008 Classic 25fb parked outside the house and a heavy thunderstorm passed through. Later I noticed the bumper tray had pooled some water. Is this from water entering through the tray opening? Are there any tips for sealing it better? I lifted the vinyl matt out and the tray had a large white corrosion spot. What's best to clean the white corrosion. Should I coat the inside of the tray and not use the vinyl line?

Thanks

Kelvin

[dznf0g]

They are not sealed. I did run some big box rubber weatherstripping along the back edge of the drawer where it meets the lower rear edge of the fiberglass bumper top. This slows the incoming water enough to allow most to run off the metal shelf at the rear of the drawer. But you'll always have some water in drawer. My advice is to enlarge the drain holes and add two more at front corners.

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[KJRitchie]

OK, so it appears normal for some water to get in. This is the first real heavy rainstorm it's been in. Thanks

Kelvin

[KJRitchie]

A couple of weeks ago I took out my drawer and removed the white and red rust with a wire wheel on a drill. I purchase a spray can of Rustoleum Cold Glavanizing Compound and shot several coats on the tray. I've kept the tray in the back of my Tundra since then so the paint should be fully cured now.

I ordered a pint of bedliner coating from Grizzly Grip in the Dolphin grey color, fine texture, along with a couple of their rollers.
Truck Bed Liner coating for bed liners, camper top, pick up truck

I plan to apply it this weekend in the garage. I should be able to get a couple of coatings on the inside of the tray. I'm also going to drill a few more drain holes before I apply the liner material.

I'll post updates.

Kelvin

[msmcv51]

How about drilling a couple of 1/4" holes to let the water just run out after it runs in?

[AWCHIEF]

Originally Posted by msmcv51

How about drilling a couple of 1/4" holes to let the water just run out after it runs in?

That makes too much sense. No fun in doing something the easy way.

[perryg114]

Seal the inside of the box where it meets the cross member at the back of the trailer. Now drill some holes in the box so water and run out and the caulk will keep water from going up under the trailer. Another area of concern is where that plate goes under the trailer on the top side. The joint is hidden under the belly trim. This one area is responsible for a lot of rear end rot and separation. Airstream went to a lot of trouble to design a rear bumper area to make sure water gets in from the top and the bottom of that compartment.

Perry

[dznf0g]

Perry, I don't think the Classic design is nearly as bad as the other bumper compartment types. This is the slider drawer with the fiberglass bumper. I do not recall any Classic owners on the forum with rear rot. I have had no leaks from the rear....I though I did, but it was the rear awning upper mount that leaked and ran in the c-channel to the rear.

[Ray Eklund]

dznfOg's advice "drilling extra holes for draining water" is the first thing I did.

2006- 23 foot Safari: This is a dust collector #1, and water collector #2.

The second was to put on the left and right sides some dense foam strips that come in a roll at Lowes. You take off the white paper to expose the adhesive on one side and stick it onto the edges of the lid. That helps too.

I then took some Duct Tape and ran it from the left to right sides over the hinges to keep water from running into the storage area.

The bumper, on the Safari 23 footer, is curved at the ends. When driving in wet conditions, the water would hit the bumper and follow the curve into the storage area. I took two flat pieces of wood, cut them to the shape of the bumper and used silicone to seal the edges. This kept dust and water from getting in from that side.

Even with all this... you will always have DUST collecting in there after traveling dusty roads. We keep our wheel chocks and leveling plastic squares stored in there and dirt nor water will hurt them.

But, the most important is drilling large enough drain holes. When you wash the compartment out at a car wash, you get the dirt out and it starts clean... until the next trip.

[KJRitchie]

Here are some photos showing the bumper tray and the bedliner product I used.

I drilled a couple of extra drain holes.

I used the whole pint. I painted one coating on the sides and applied two coatings on the bottom. The 2nd photo shows the cold galvanizing compound sprayed on a couple of weeks ago. The last shows after the bedliner material was applied.

Kelvin