Wheel Wells not protected from moisture

[gary31]

I heard from a fellow Carbon owner that he was repairing his Carbon due to a factory flaw in the wheel wells. So I looked under my Carbon and found that above my tires there was only a thin poly sheet as barrier to the sub floor. In my case I have already rubbed a hole in the barrier with the tire. So I bought some auto undercoating and sprayed the wells with it. Hoping and thinking that it is still new enough to not have had a lot of moisture and thinking that this will if nothing else slow any moisture decay from appearing. HAs anyone else seen this or even looked under their wheel wells?

[JRTJH]

I check mine every trip. The DARCO (polyethelene reinforced "fabric" sheeting) that's used in the wheelwells is an "industry standard" and found on almost all "entry level", "mid level" and most "luxury level" trailers along with almost all fifth wheels, except the very upper "luxury models". It's used because it's "fairly durable", waterproof, doesn't decay and will last an extremely long time (unless damaged). All Keystone products (to the best of my knowledge) use DARCO in the wheelwells and as a "belly cover" on all trailers that don't have Coroplast as a belly cover.

While it's durable, it can be damaged. Spraying automotive undercoating is one solution, although I don't now how long it will last to seal the wood if there's a hole in the DARCO. Once the undercoating pulls away from the edges of the hole, it's "wide open" again... There is a repair kit available, although most people use Gorilla Tape after cleaning the DARCO well and wiping down with alcohol. Once that dries, the Gorilla Tape will adhere "almost permanently" to the DARCO.

While there are more durable materials, tin sheeting, old PU truckbed liners, etc, they add significant weight and won't protect from a blowout, so they don't offer much more protection than the DARCO.

[gary31]

Thanks, I will keep a eye on it and maybe use some tape if it opens up any more. Glad to hear that it is an industry standard so not much to do other than keep an eye on it.

[CWtheMan]

Thanks, I will keep a eye on it and maybe use some tape if it opens up any more. Glad to hear that it is an industry standard so not much to do other than keep an eye on it.

There are lots of tapes available. They can be very expensive. However, some are very necessary. If your slides have their seams protected from leakage with seam tape it can be found in the reference below.

That seam tape is considered a maintenance item. If you ever experience damage caused from water intrusion from deteriorated tape your insurance investigator/claims adjuster will find it. No adjustment, they wont pay a cent. I do my seems every three years. You only have to be burnt once to learn that lesson.

https://www.bigrocksupply.com/store/Search.aspx?SearchTerms=rv%20roofing%20tape