Leaky rivets?

[wacnstac]

In my quest to find the leak(s) in my trailer I was thinking to myself last night as I was crawling around on my roof, what's to stop every single rivet up on the roof from leaking? It's not like they are screws like they use to put up pole barn roofs that have a rubber O-ring on them.

[markdoane]

I don't understand how airplanes can hold the air in when they get up to cruising altitude. It's the same aluminum and rivet construction as an airstream.

I'm more worried about the oxygen leaking out than the water leaking in.

Keep your stick on the ice and your feet on the ground!

[clancy_boy]

I have seen lose rivits that retain mounts on my trailer and just passed that off as stress from wind resistance when towing (TV antenna mount). Same can be said about the awning rail with the awning deployed, wind flapping the fabric over time would put great stress on the rivits that attach the rail to the skin. These will leak over time. If you read some of the posts on axels you see alot of people are replacing axels because of the rough ride on the trailer while towing. It's not to far off to imagine that some of this towing stress is passed to the joints in the skins and can lead to rivit failure and leakage. I have been on the hunt for leaks myself, most of mine is the rear bumper mounts alowing rain to pass under the skin to the wood subfloor. I have yet to see a roof leak but will do the wood popsickle stick method and remove then replace my sealant.

40 years is a long time for this stuff to hold up.

[wacnstac]

Hmmm, can you show me a picture of what you did to prevent the rear bumper mounts from transferring water to the wood floor?

[clancy_boy]

Originally Posted by wacnstac

Hmmm, can you show me a picture of what you did to prevent the rear bumper mounts from transferring water to the wood floor?

I'm not home to take pictures. The best I could do for the short term is put some Alco Gutter seal under the liftup hatch for the sewer storage box and try to divert the water before it ran down the frame. Some water also goes down the skin and behind the trim at the base where the body meets the frame. More sealant there as best I could. I also store my trailer tongue high (slightly) my drive slopes alot to the backyard. When (AND I SAY WHEN) I do the fram off I will look at placing a thin AL piece up and under the wood (like a termite barrier - I know you folks up north won't know what that is but they are common here) to prevent the wood from having direct contact with the steel frame. This will divert the water early. LOTS OF SEALANT. Hey, the wood is still firm but shows areas of having been wet in the past BUT IT'S 40 YEARS OLD.