water leak

Hi Can any of the members help please !

I have had a water leak through the small windows on my Trident for some time. I've stripped them down and checked the rubber seals inside.Both seem to be in good condition.Having had some rain come in recently I decided to level the van in the driveway thinking this would help.It seemed to make things worse !!!
To get the complete unit out looks a little daunting as there is a bead of silicon and some six brackets holding the window against the fibreglass roof.

Can any one advise please.Would be very grateful.
Regards.
Mike VW.

Hi there,

I'm not familiar with the particular model but as a general rule:

o  leaks can only be fixed from the outside.

o  leaks are hard to fix in situ because most seals use a "flange" that gives depth to the sealing surface.

o  silicon is not the best sealant on the market; please check out the Sikaflex product line.

If you scrape out the existing sealing compound on the outside and replace it with a bead of this type of Sikaflex ....

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.... it MAY stop the leak. 

Hope this helps. 

Best regards,

Hi Mike
Welcome to the forum from Bridlington, if you are unable to repair the leak yourself, give Mark Burdett a call at A/S Willersey.
They have a great team of engineers, expert in all types of repairs.
Boaby

Many thanks for your early reply.Much appreciated.
Kind regards.
Mike VW.
p.s will keep you posted as to how I get on.

burlingtonboaby wrote:Hi Mike
Welcome to the forum from Bridlington, if you are unable to repair the leak yourself, give Mark Burdett a call at A/S Willersey.
They have a great team of engineers, expert in all types of repairs.
Boaby

Alan Burdetts phone 01386853511

Hi,Many thanks for the members advice regarding water leak.Following your suggestions all seems to be well. .The June weather will be a test   !!!.

Can I pick the members brains again please. I have a VW T4 Auto sleeper Trident 1999.I'm considering fitting an awning.As you know there is no bead in place at the moment.The joint between the roof and the van consists of a long 75mm joint running from back to front.Is it possible to fix a bead directly to this plastic strip and what type of bead would I need ? Do the members also have a preference as to there choice of Awning ?

I would be very grateful for any advice you may be able to offer.
Thanks again.
Mike VW.

MikeVW: I had a VHT model on a T3; your Trident is similar. I bought (and still have, in the loft!) a freestanding awning. It hada zipped "front door" which was placed so as to face the motorhome's sliding door, and there was a connecting "porch" which covered the gap between the awning and the VHT. That awning attached to the motorhome along the gutter above the sliding door. I bought some heavy duty clips from a Pontypridd market stall-holder, and it was also pegged to the ground. There was also a strip of PVC which filled the gap between the ground and the floor of the motorhome, held in place by bungees to the nearside wheels.

Incidentally (in case you don't know this trick) it's easy to drive back into the correct position when returning to the awning: after putting up the awning on site, take 2 small tentpegs and, on the offside, put one in the ground at the mid-point where the tyre centre is on the ground; do the same for the rear tyre; tie a string between both pegs (and push pegs flush with ground. Once made, you can keep the string with the pegs, so marking out the location next time is a 5 seconds job). Leave the pegs there when you drive away; on return, approach awning and lean out of window and look at your offside front tyre. Line up to the cord. Stop when the wheel is next to the front peg.
Takes less time than I've taken to type this!

I had a C rail fixed with the original screws that were already in the strip between van and roof, worked a treat, just slide canopy on at one end,  stops will be needed so that the wind doesn1`t push it off the end. cheap and quick to do.

Many thanks Cymro and Daisy Mae for your kind reply.

Will keep you posted as to my quest.

Kind Regards.
Mike VW.