Here are 3 pictures. One is at the rear bulkhead about a foot in length under the wet bay. About 3/4ths of a penny. The other two are the underbelly near the rear on both sides.
Any comments?
Thanks
That may need some attention real soon.
Rick this is a design flaw. Should of had a actual barrier layer to prevent water intrusion either from the outside or inside. So allowing to drain at this point would be beneficial. Completely sealed is the goal. Water leaking from inside into structure is ponding and can do existence damage quietly unknown. At some point you will need to know the extent of your damage. Brett has a good read on the subject Bulkhead Repair-- A Comprehensive Look (https://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=8645.0)
To speculate your damage without hands on would be impossible. Even hands on may be short of actual damage once opened up. It didn't happen overnight and probably will end up being a bigger job than what you will desire. If it strictly a delamination issue it may not be as bad. Address the cause then the damage. Good luck
Scott
Since I bought it I keep the wet bay area dry.
Who in my area could I take this to to look at it.
In the meantime I won't drive in the rain and can I seal that hole up with something.
I'm in northeast Ohio. I've never driven it snow and I don't think the previous owner did. It was always kept under cover.
A good fabrication shop can do the repair, especially if you can help with the non-fabrication fiddly bits such as removing the bottom, floor bay wall covering and tanks. Everything else is cut and weld readily available steel square tubing.
Rick,
Use the Forum search tool (top right corner of every page). Type "bulkhead repair" in the search box, and you will get 17 pages of hits. Read as many as possible to get a good idea what is involved in diagnosing and correcting bulkhead and bottom frame damage. You will see that every case is different. Some are very serious and require professional help. Some are less serious and can be handled by the "average" owner with good mechanical skills. Welding will usually be required to make a proper repair. The repair process is almost always time consuming, so the cost of professional "shop time" can be a big factor.
You want to be fairly confident that the place you select to do the repair work is, in fact, qualified to complete the project...whatever it entails. Once you start removing the bottom skin from the coach (a necessary first step in diagnosis) then you won't want to be making any long drives until it is buttoned up again.
Many Forum members have successfully dealt with this problem. By reading their reports, you can benefit from their experience (good and bad).
These are pics of my 98 U320 rear bulkhead.
There is minimal separation but the plastic covering is warping, which indicates some rusting and water retention below.
Although I do not consider it super critical it is on my list of repairs shortly
Peter
That's really ugly! Be sure to get it checked very soon--and be prepared for a substantial repair bill!
Make sure you check your front bulkhead.
Agree. But, given how the damage is concentrated on the driver's side/wet bay side, suspect this was an issue of water from the wet bay leaking down into the basement structure.
Were this road water/salt, you would likely see worse damage on the passenger's side (more salt and more water on side of road than center.
Said another way VERY PREVENTABLE-- just needed previous owner to use better "house keeping practices"!