New to Forum and First 5th Wheel / Found Water Intrusion

[hvlm]

My wife and I are new to fifth wheel as we are avid boaters and spend almost all our free time boating on our Regal. As family expands we decided to add the love for camping to our fun list.

Looking to purchase a 2007 28 RK. I am not familiar to fifth wheel - so I asked the dealer to let me spend a few hours going over the unit. All looked good until I found a six inch spot on the rear right side corner inside the cabinet. The wallpaper was not sticking and was a little soft. Spot was only 4-6 inches round. Went outside and noted a very small area of bulging on the aluminum. Inspection on top noted that FR did not bring the butyl caulking all the way to the rear. Water stops and hits a staple and would go down. Called dealer and he opened up wallpaper and we found some damp wood.

Other than this - the unit is cherry. I can get for 1k over real NADA WS as I bought the book from NADA. I am seeking suggestions on what other Wildcat owners would do. Should I open the whole interior of the wall up and remove and replace? Should I just re-caulk the roof edge again and try and dry out and forget? I just don't know and want to make an educated decision as this unit is just right for our family needs and otherwise very nice.

I would very much appreciate your thoughts.

Regards,

Hank M

[AVid]

First Hank...welcome to the group. Glad you're here.

Personally, I would walk away from it. My last rig had an elusive leak that ended up to be a major headache. The hidden damage was way more extensive than the visible damage. The bulging aluminum on the outside is evidence of that. If you are intent on the purchase, all the damage should be replaced, and the entire roof should be checked and re-caulked where needed.

John

[bsmall2800]

to the forum. I have to agree with John walk away from this one. Water damage can spread like cancer and rear its ugly head in multiple places, some obvious and others not so obvious...

Check out the classified section on this site you might find something there also....

[Sean]

to the forum from the U.K.
I agree with the other postings just walk away. there are many more Wildcats out there that don't need any damp problems sorting out.
And if you are lucky you might even get one that has had a bit of upgrade treatment.
Sean

[Jim&Dianne73]

from southern illinois . I would be afraid of a camper with that kind of h2o damage.There are more wildcats out there . Jim

[Frank]

.

Looking to purchase a 2007 28 RK. I am not familiar to fifth wheel - so I asked the dealer to let me spend a few hours going over the unit. All looked good until I found a six inch spot on the rear right side corner inside the cabinet. The wallpaper was not sticking and was a little soft. Spot was only 4-6 inches round. Went outside and noted a very small area of bulging on the aluminum. Inspection on top noted that FR did not bring the butyl caulking all the way to the rear. Water stops and hits a staple and would go down. Called dealer and he opened up wallpaper and we found some damp wood.

Hank M

Hank to the forum. You did right by spending some time checking over the unit. I agree with all above and I would walk away from that one. There are more units out there for sale. In the long run if you keep checking out them like you did it will pay out for the good.
Check out: rvt.com
RV Trader

[Scruffy and Tater]

Hank,
The expense of fixing that leak and the damage it did would probably exceed your savings. Keep looking, and give every unit you are interested in the same thorough inspection.

[Mopar_Earl]

I agree, I'd keep shopping.


Earl

[hvlm]

Thank you all for your advise. We walked away. Still looking. Thanks for your suggestions!!!

[AVid]

I think you made a good decision. The perfect rig for you is out there somewhere. Good luck on your search!

John

[Admin]

HVLM, what part of the country are ya'll from ?

Welcome to the forum.

Look at RVWholesalers.com also if you haven't already.

[TeamPlumlee]

from Ft. Worth!