Slide-in Camper Plywood Repair

[MT-Camper]

At some point in it's life, my camper must have taken a hit to this corner. There is no rot, just a small amount of water damage to the cracked area since it's exposed. Is there a good way to brace it? I'm hoping not to cut and replace plywood, but who knows...This is the front passenger side lower corner of a slide-in truck camper.

Also, do these campers have some kind of special marine-grade weather-resistant paint, or is this likely just run of the mill outdoor black paint?

Thanks for any insights.

 

[Mickey Bitsko]

Looks like quite a bit of dry rot,
Is the floor in that corner soft? Inside or outside?

 

[rruff]

Ya, that floor looks bad....

If I wanted to save it I think I'd slather it with thickened epoxy (fumed silica), and maybe some FG cloth too, and make sure it's sealed.

 

[simple]

What does the access to that area from the inside look like?

 

[Sparse Gray Hackle]

If it were my camper… I’d get some epoxy into all the wood, especially the exposed edge plywood to seal things. Fill voids with epoxy wood flour, then a good grade exterior house paint.

 

[FAW3]

If the wood is soft, replace it. Paint with a good exterior paint.

Hard to tell from photo…is floor bottom surface flat? Most camper floor bottoms have runners/slats that raise the floor about an inch or so to prevent just sitting in water. Something like pressure treated 2x2 running lengthwise spaced about a foot apart.

 

[MT-Camper]

Thanks. Yeah this lived it's whole life in dry, eastern Idaho, so no true rot, but some dry rot. I don't like that they left the plywood edges exposed. I will cover them with something. That bottom plywood is the bottom of the camper, no slats or anything. That's a good call, though. I'll consider adding some slats.

I'll post a photo from the inside after work. Everything inside the camper is solid. No soft spots, no water stains. I'm tearing the floor and some wall panelling out of my pull-behind camper right now due to wet rot so I definitely know all about rotted floors and walls...Luckily this slide-in doesn't have any.

No soft/squishy wood, luckily.

 

[MT-Camper]

Here are some interior photos. I can also easily see why the floor feels rock solid - there are two layers of plywood. The interior layer hasn't (yet) experienced any rot.

There's definitely some dry rot going on outside, but this interior crack is what makes me think some mechanical damage happened here.

 

[simple]

What is that cutout hole for? Looks like it weakened that front section of the camper.

 

[MT-Camper]

It's a cabinet door to...the outside. I was a bit confused on their purpose at first. There's one on each side, up at the front. The only way I've been able to get the tie-down chains attached to the camper and truck up at the front is through those holes. I guess that's what they're for.

I don't know what the setup is on other slide-in campers. But I wouldn't be able to reach that hardware without them.

 

[Sparse Gray Hackle]

It's a cabinet door to...the outside. I was a bit confused on their purpose at first. There's one on each side, up at the front. The only way I've been able to get the tie-down chains attached to the camper and truck up at the front is through those holes. I guess that's what they're for.

I don't know what the setup is on other slide-in campers. But I wouldn't be able to reach that hardware without them.

That is the most popular way to tie down small slide in campers, and it can give you a bit of additional storage. Be careful when tightening the turnbuckles, too much tension can lead to eyebolts pulling out of the floor pack.

 

[MT-Camper]

Hey thanks. Yeah I did have some intuition that I shouldn't crank down too hard, but I'm not sure where the Goldilocks zone is.

I went pretty HD with my truck tie-downs, but I still need to worry about the camper braces cracking the plywood if I go too tight.

 

[Sparse Gray Hackle]

Some owners have made braces that sit on the bed floor to keep the camper from shifting. That would help control the forces on the camper eyebolts. You might also occasionally check the underside of the bed to ensure it isn’t deforming or cracking. if it is, a larger plate to distribute the load would help.

 

[FAW3]

As mentioned, those doors are for easy access to the tiedowns.

I run a 2018 Four Wheel Camper Hawk on a Ram3500. The Hawk sits on a rubber stall mat. The camper has wood runners/slats that keep the camper from sitting in water and allow ventilation. A plain flat floor sitting in the truck bed is likely asking for wood rot issues.

As to "how tight": I hand tighten my turnbuckles till they have no "wiggle" and have a lock nut on the shaft that locks the adjustment down. I recheck them over a season. In an extreme body flex situation...something is going to finally give. If a turnbuckle bends...it's a clue and you replace the turnbuckle and ease off extreme terrain driving a bit. Better the turnbuckle fails than tearing out a mount.

 

[rruff]

Hey thanks. Yeah I did have some intuition that I shouldn't crank down too hard, but I'm not sure where the Goldilocks zone is.

What are the truck and camper models?