Van high top leaking, can't find replacement seal

[M3W2]

Trying to replace the seal/molding on the high top on my van. I can't find any kind of seal that looks like it. It's an aluminum channel screwed on that goes through the high top and into the body sheet metal. I think it's necessary to keep the top on so I need to find a new rubber piece to go around it. Some parts of the rubber are broke off and water is getting in through the screw holes. Does anyone know what you call this kind of seal and where I can find it? Or any other ideas? Also advice on the proper way to replace this is appreciated. Amd any advice on how to make it totally waterproof. Thanks.

Pictures of seal:
[img=200x200]

 

[Cammalu]

I don’t know if this can help

 

[Sasnak]

The black outer trim is just decorative and not the cause of the leak. The 25+ screws around the metal band is the cause but there is a fix! You need to lay butyl tape around the cap under the metal band.

Remove all the screws and remove the metal band. Clean the surface and apply 3/4 wide butyl all the way around making sure to cover each screw whole.

Then put the metal band back and carefully reinstall the screw. You don’t want to over tighten them.

I did this on mine and followed another guys write up. You might want to get new self tapping screws one size bigger for a better bite. If you do that use a drill bit on the fiberglass outer shell to enlarge the hole with care. You only want to enlarge the fiberglass so you don’t crack it.

When I did mine I bought new black outer trim online. The company sent a sample to make sure it worked. Sadly I don’t remember the store.

 

[maki2]

That is a stadard type of RV seal that fits into the aluminum trim piece that  covers  the joint. iIt comes in diffrent widths and colors. You can still get it from RV sources. A RV supply store could help you find it their supply catalogs and have it deliverd to the store. Unfortunately just replacing it will not fix the leak  as that vinyl strip is pretty much just a decorative trim cover over the joint between the top section and the lower body.

I had to deal with a similar leak situation on a fiberglass RV. In my particular situation the screws along that aluminim trim joint cover had rust rotted. As some of them had penetrated all the way through the fiberglass, which they should not have done, they were the source of numerous small leaks as rainwater in that channel reach their level and then entered into the RV though those holes.

The fix on my RV involved removing the exterior trim piece, removing the interior wall panels, walls, using fiberglass cloth on the inside along the whole joint area to seal up all those numerous holes caused by the installer using over length screws and then putting the aluminim exterior piece back on with the correct lenght of high quality screws, then buying new vew vinyl insert for that channel.

However if your leak is confined to a small area you should be able to stop the leaks by with removing the aluminim  trim, inspect the joint for integrity then reinstalling that trim using a layer of black butyl rubber tape under it. Putting new stainless screws in and put some of the butyl tape aroudg the screw theads for extra seal protection. Then of course put in a new piece of the decorative vinyl insert.

You can order black colored butyl rubber tape on Amazon. You want the black color versus white because you have a dark vehicle.

Yes you can DIY this job. Time, patience, a ladder and some money but not a huge amount of money. Also not a huge amount of skill required. The worst task will be if a screw head is so rust rotted the slots on the head do not allow you to remove it easily. That would require drilling the head off using a carbide drill bit to drill into the stainless steel screw.

 

[maki2]

That decorative seal is easy to find using the keywords "RV vinyl insert"  measure the width of the inside of aluminum track , it is likely 1 inch or 3/4 inch.

An important thing to know. You can stretch that trim while intalling it and if you cut it off to what looks like the right length immediately then a few day later it will be too short with a gap at the ends. So work carefully to avoid pulling it to get it into the channel. Install it while the material is cool and the outside temperature is cool. The heat of a hot summer day will make the vinyl softer and it will be a lot more prone to stretching in that condition. Do not leave it sitting in the sun, keep it in the shade. Use a small tool to tuck the edges in as you go rather than pulling on  it. Also at the ends leave it at least two inches too long. Tape that over length down if you have to travel right away. Then wait a week or two so that insert material has time to relax before you make the final cut to length. Save a scrap piece, vinyl tim like that does shrink over time and you can use the scrap to fill in the resulting gapped area.

Working with butyl tape is also much easier in cool temperatures. So do this job very early in the morning at this time of year.

 

[highdesertranger]

Yeah the plastic insert is really not the seal. The Butyl tape between the the fiberglass and the van is the seal. You need to replace the Butyl tape. New stainless screws and new insert also. Here's the insert,

https://www.amazon.com/rv-trim-inserts/s?k=rv+trim+inserts

Highdesertranger

 

[M3W2]

Thanks everybody! This is exactly what I needed. Should I sand any rust down and put rust reformer over or will that interfere with the butyl tape?

 

[highdesertranger]

"Should I sand any rust down and put rust reformer over"

Yes. That is why I said replace the screws too.

Highdesertranger

 

[maki2]

Some more tps for you, if you have trouble backing out a screw stop before you damage the screw head. Hold a hot soldering iron against the scew head for a couple of minutes to heat the screw up on into the thread area. Then try removing it. Quite often that will help break apart the bond of whatever was holding it tight.

If you do damage the screw head so it can't be turned you will need to use a cobalt drill dit of the appropriarw size to drill off the screw head, that will allow you to remove the aluminum trim. You can sand that screw flush to the surface, leave it in the hole and put a new screw through the trim strip a short disance away.

A good quality screw driver bit makes a huge difference when removing funky old screws, I like the ones made by Milwaukee tools and most hardware stores including Home Depot carry them. To save frustration do not start this job with a superior quality tool driver tip and one or two cobalt drills of the appropriate size on hand. It also helps to have a miniature sized fibered cutoff wheel to chuck in your drill motor or Dremel motor. That is for grinding a little flat center area in the center of a screw head that needs to be drilled out. It helps keep the drill bit from grabbing into the recess slot on the screw head and then fracturing. Cobalt drills are more brittle than standard high speed drill bits and they are not cheap. So do that little extra step of prep to the screw head if you have one you can't back out, it is both time and cost effective to do that.

 

[maki2]

As to that aluminum channel being necessary to keep the top on. That is not its function. Its only function is to dress up and hide the join between the hightop and the van body. So do not get stressed out by thinking it has a critical structural function. It is just there to hide what is underneath it.

 

[Sasnak]

Use the drill in Reverse if you need to enlarge the holes in the fiberglass glass.

Like highdesertstranger said, get stainless steel screws. I’d say one size fatter and self tapping.

The aluminum band dose act like a washer at each screw point. It’s needed to not crack the fiberglass.