Monday, September 19, 2011

Leak in Camper shell -- Rope Caulk

I bought this rope caulking on the advise of a friend:
I first went to Walmart and they seemed to have every type of caulking except this one. I finally found it at ACE hardware. I got the $3.29 size.

The place the camper shell was leaking was in the corners next to the cab. So I wouldn't have been able to get a caulk gun in there. With this stuff, I could just squish it in as far as my fingers could reach.

It's raining lightly now. The campershell is not leaking where it hits the truck bed anymore. BUT now I find it is leaking around the window that leads to the truck cab window. Now I need to fix that.

Addendum:
It has been suggested that I use the rope caulk to seal around the window and see if that works. I have only brought that window down 3 times in the six years I have owned the campershell. So no problem sealing it up. I was told that if I want to ever take the window down, just remove rope caulk and reinstall when I bring window back up. I can handle that. I will try it and report back how it worked.
It has a smaller window within that larger window so I can always open the smaller one.
AND it has two side windows with screens and of course the large back window.

#2 Addendum:
I used the rope caulk to seal the bottom of the window that goes from bed of pickup to cab last night. I put everything out in the sun to dry at campground. Slept in back of pickup last night, high and dry though... it didn't rain last night. ;-) All this makes me want to get a little cabover camper for the back of the pickup. It might be easier. I am going to look into it.

2 comments:

  1. They also sell the same type caulk at RV shops and home improvement(lowes,home depot)you can also get rolls of it about a inch wide. It is the same type caulk used in building and sealing RV's around windows and doorways. If you take your camper shell loose and raise it up and put a strip all the way around the top of the bed and then rebolt the shell to the truck you will have a good watertight seal. You dont have to completely remove it just use a block of wood to support it till you get the putty in place.
    James in da GRAYDAWG

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  2. I didn't realize that. Thank you. I will not hesitate to use it more, then.
    That's a good tip about not having to remove the topper completely to seal it. I was thinking I would need to take it all the way off. But using a block of wood to prop it up will work!

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