Rub Rails / Bay Water Leakage

[bigskypc50]

On my rig I am having trouble with water leaking into my factory under bus storage bays. The water appears to be collecting on top of storage bays right under the floor of the bus, and it's rusting out the inside front edge of my storage bays and the button edge of bus body..

I am guessing the water is getting in on top of the lower rub rail and running down the inside of the body wall and collecting on the top of the bays, I see the upper two rub rails have drains but it does not appear the lower one does.

You can see in the photo, I start treating with a wire wheel and rust converter, right below that lower rub rail, everything below the lower rub rail is rusty, so I am thinking that has to be it.

Would it alright after painting to caulk the top edge of the lower rub rail, or is it coming from somewhere eals.

[Drew Bru]

Originally Posted by bigskypc50

Would it alright after painting to caulk the top edge of the lower rub rail, or is it coming from somewhere eals.

I dunno about putting it on top of the rubrails, I think it should be alright....you just don't want to seal up the drain holes on the bottom of the rub rails. On our Amtran bus the water was coming from the gutter that's above the storage bays. There's a seam in the gutter itself, so I put a bead of seam sealer in the gutter and smoothed it out with wet fingertips and it solved a great deal of the leakage issues. I don't have a pic of it, but if you've got a gutter above the storage bay (but below the rub rail) then you might want to look into that as a source of the wetness.

[CMORGANSKOOL]

Originally Posted by bigskypc50

On my rig I am having trouble with water leaking into my factory under bus storage bays. The water appears to be collecting on top of storage bays right under the floor of the bus, and it's rusting out the inside front edge of my storage bays and the button edge of bus body..

I am guessing the water is getting in on top of the lower rub rail and running down the inside of the body wall and collecting on the top of the bays, I see the upper two rub rails have drains but it does not appear the lower one does.

You can see in the photo, I start treating with a wire wheel and rust converter, right below that lower rub rail, everything below the lower rub rail is rusty, so I am thinking that has to be it.

Would it alright after painting to caulk the top edge of the lower rub rail, or is it coming from somewhere eals.

My IC leaks everywhere. I've put 20 tubes of silicone on it so far. Caulk away!!!

[Danjo]

I am also thinking of sealing the top edge of the rub rails before I paint. I was thinking of using this stuff.

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-...3193911&rt=rud

[CMORGANSKOOL]

Ac Delco Seam sealer is the best choice

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by Danjo

I am also thinking of sealing the top edge of the rub rails before I paint. I was thinking of using this stuff.

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-...3193911&rt=rud

Dynatron-550 is excellent stuff. Cheapest place for it I've found is at Autozone (and no shipping if you drive there). It's kind of difficult to work with, so if you treat it like ordinary caulk and just run a bead and smear it with your finger, it's going to look pretty amateurish (even after painting).

You can mask off the line where you're going to put the seam, run a thin line of the sealer, and then smooth it with a finger wetted with mineral spirits (you can also spray mineral spirits from a spray bottle to keep the sealer from forming a skin quickly, giving you more time to work with it), then peel up the masking tape before the sealer sets.

Also: don't keep your Dynatron-550 in the trunk of your car in hot weather like I did. Just this morning I went to grab one of my 5 tubes of the stuff and they had all popped their bottoms out.

[bigskypc50]

Thanks for answers back!

Cmorganskool, LOL wow 20 tubes that's a lot. I think someday I will end up there, I can see my rubber seals around the glass are starting to fail and shrink up out of the corners, were on yours did find the major leaks?

Drew, I think you found my problem, a gas station post got a little to close to my bus when I first drove it home , and it dented the rub rail and creased the drip edge above the bays in one spot, after closely looking at it I can see a maybe 1/8" seam that the drip edge is hiding. Did you do both the valley of the drip edge and the underside of it?

[Drew Bru]

Originally Posted by bigskypc50

Drew, I think you found my problem, a gas station post got a little to close to my bus when I first drove it home , and it dented the rub rail and creased the drip edge above the bays in one spot, after closely looking at it I can see a maybe 1/8" seam that the drip edge is hiding. Did you do both the valley of the drip edge and the underside of it?

I just did the valley.....hard to tell from your pic, but here's a pic of mine with the gutter area circled in red. I put a bead of seam sealer the length of the gutter and smoothed it. Didn't put any on the underside. So far, so good.

[bigskypc50]

Thanks mine is built identical to that. Expect mine has a much wider bottom edge. Lucky is does as it's going to get the rust cut out sprayed with converter painted white then covered with 4"X 4" diamond plate.

* Best Photo I have without going out there

[CMORGANSKOOL]

Originally Posted by bigskypc50

Thanks for answers back!

Cmorganskool, LOL wow 20 tubes that's a lot. I think someday I will end up there, I can see my rubber seals around the glass are starting to fail and shrink up out of the corners, were on yours did find the major leaks?

Drew, I think you found my problem, a gas station post got a little to close to my bus when I first drove it home , and it dented the rub rail and creased the drip edge above the bays in one spot, after closely looking at it I can see a maybe 1/8" seam that the drip edge is hiding. Did you do both the valley of the drip edge and the underside of it?

Mines and 07. Top down. Every light on the roof leaked needed to be re sealed. Every seam on the roof needed to be re sealed. Every vent and hatch leaked and needed to be re sealed. Every window needed to be caulked around the frame (so far the glass seals are still ok. Every antenna hole. Plus everything I installed. I’d say 20 is about accurate. And that’s really not the right way. The proper way is to use butyl tape and that black sealant that looks like tar that stays mushy for 100 years. Do yourself a favor and seal proactively because you’ll never find the pin hole leaks once you build the bus out.

[bigskypc50]

The school district had pop riveted some large galvanized steel sheets, down to the bottom of the bays. I often wonder how bad it was, well now I have found out and uncovered this horror.

My plan of attack is just to finish removing the "floors" of the storage bays. Built a wooden frame then bolt/screw the frame to the walls of the bay. Then install a wooden floor in the bays, then cut out the rust and treat the rusty metal on the outside lower edge of the body then cover with diamond plate 4" X 4". I can't decide if I should use automotive undercoating on the exposed wood on the under side of bay floors or just a spray can of deck seal. Then of corse seal the drip edges.

I don't how to weld or work with metal, so wood is my only choice..

[bigskypc50]

Have been making some progress on repairing the rusty storage bays. I used and angle grinder and cut out the cancer and ground flat the rust bubbles on the outside of the bays, then wire brushed everything cleaned it well then sprayed rust reformer then top coated with white paint, the final color of the bus.

Last step is to install the 4"x 4" diamond plate wall guard stuff on the bottom edge.

[bigskypc50]

Well did some more work on the storage bay rebuild project, got the frameing done on the sides of the bays. Bolted them to the sides with carriage bolts and washers, next step is to add the TG pine for the floor and call it a day.

[bigskypc50]

Not sure if anyone is following along, this will be my last post if no one is, but I have finished the interior of the luggage bays, here is the completed project.

[Rochey6957]

Looks nice, your going to have to do something so the wood doesn't rot from road water.

You can seal it with a LOT of lacquer or poly. Still I'd keep an eye on rot and rust.

[Sleddgracer]

Originally Posted by bigskypc50

Not sure if anyone is following along, this will be my last post if no one is, but I have finished the interior of the luggage bays, here is the completed project.

if I wasn't going with metal in an under the bus storage, I'd at least use pressure treated plywood, especially for the floors

[o1marc]

No pat on the back so you want to leave, that's a strange attitude. Many may be following along and just not commenting. I don't see any requests for answers or advice, so what were you expecting?
I would have run a piece of sheet metal over the hole before adding the wood, a thick piece of metal would eliminate the need for wood.

[bigskypc50]

Who said anything about leaving and needing a pat on the back? I was simply saying I won't keep updating this thread if no one is following along. What am I expecting oh I don't maybe some comments about other's luggage bays etc, if they had the same issues etc. You know it's a forum, a conversation or what ever you call it.

Edit: I am not worried about it rotting out, it's not going to sit in water pooled up, I have seen wood around here exposed to the weather for 30 years and still look good. I will likely not even own the bus in 20 years but who knows.

Originally Posted by o1marc

No pat on the back so you want leave, that's a strange attitude. Many may be following along and just not commenting. I don't see any requests for answers or advice, so what were you expecting?
I would have run a piece of sheet metal over the hole before adding the wood, a thick piece of metal would eliminate the need for wood.

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by bigskypc50

Who said anything about leaving and needing a pat on the back? I was simply saying I won't keep updating this thread if no one is following along. What am I expecting oh I don't maybe some comments about other's luggage bays etc, if they had the same issues etc. You know it's a forum, a conversation or what ever you call it.

All you have to do is ask. My build thread is for my documentation of the build, doesn't bother me if no one responds to it.

[bigskypc50]

To those who find this post in the future, this helped slow the water down a lot. I still had water leaking in.

I was able to repair by caulking the top edge of the lower rub rail, water was getting behind the rub rail and then leaking on top of the bay under the bus and getting the bay floor slightly wet. IF you look at the photos there is a piece of sheet metal that is on top of the body and that go's under the lower edge of the rub rail. No further leaking since sealing the upper edge of the rub rail to the body.

I had new drip edge custom made, to match the factory.

Originally Posted by Drew Bru

I just did the valley.....hard to tell from your pic, but here's a pic of mine with the gutter area circled in red. I put a bead of seam sealer the length of the gutter and smoothed it. Didn't put any on the underside. So far, so good.