slide seals and roof reseal, what to use and how often (2019 Rockwood 2608BS)

you have an EPDM roof on that year of Rockwood, the white rubber one, not TPO. matters because you want a sealant rated for it. Dicor 501LSW self leveling for anything horizontal, the roof seams, vents, the rear cap where it meets the roof. Dicor 551 non sag for anything vertical, corner moldings, the front cap seam where it goes down the side. you do not need to scrape old Dicor if it is just cracked and still stuck down. clean it with a rag and some denatured alcohol, let it dry, run a fresh bead over the top. if a chunk is lifted or peeling, that piece comes off with a plastic scraper first. metal scrapers go through EPDM.

on the seals. stop the silicone spray, it dries the rubber out and makes it crack sooner, and it makes everything slippery for the next guy. use a slide seal conditioner, Thetford makes one, 303 Aerospace Protectant works too. wipe on, wipe off, twice a season. the wiper seal folding under is a sign the rubber has lost its memory, conditioner may bring it back, if not it is a replacement, the seal comes as a roll and it is glued on, not a hard job.

the twice a year thing is real and i will tell you why. one crack at the rear cap plus one wet fall and you have delam in the rear wall by spring, which is a four figure repair. twenty minutes on the roof in april and october. if you want a checklist, granddesignrv.com has an owner manual with the best sealant inspection chart of any brand, it applies to any stick and tin trailer whether or not it says Grand Design on the side.

adding the ones that got me. 2017 Jayco 26BH, i did the roof seams religiously and the water came in at the front cap seam where the fiberglass cap meets the sidewall, down low by the marker lights. nobody looks there because it is not on the roof. by the time the paneling bubbled inside the front wall it was two years of water.

so when dale says the vertical seams, look at the clearance lights and the cap seams on the sides too. and the fridge vent and water heater door on the side wall, the putty tape behind those gets tired. a cheap moisture meter from the hardware store, poke the inside walls at the corners once a year, 15 bucks and it tells you before the paneling does.

we are eight winters into a Micro Lite that sits in Arizona sun from november to march, so ours ages faster than yours. what saved us was Eternabond tape over the long roof seams, the 4 inch white roll. one application, it does not crack, you check the edges of the tape for lift and that is the whole inspection. we still Dicor the vents and the cap seam. the thing about Eternabond is it does not come off, so put it on straight the first time. my husband did the front seam crooked in 2020 and it is still crooked.

19 on a pin meter in a rear corner in october is damp, not soaked. under 15 i ignore, 15 to 25 i dry it out and re-check in a month, over 25 i open the wall. run a small heater in there with the bunk cushions pulled for a week and check again. and one thing for anyone reading this in november, Dicor wants 50 degrees or better to level and skin over. it goes on like taffy at 35 and never flows into the crack. do the roof before it gets cold or wait for spring.