Help with Wildernest

[jgk91]

Can anyone give some advice on how to reinforce the sleeping area of a Wildernest (the area under the mattress)? When the tent is fully deployed, I hear crackling sounds as I move around on this part of my camper. It just feels weak and I don’t really have any experience working with fiberglass. I was hoping someone on here could give me an idea of how to go about strengthening this area before cracks develop straight through to the outside of the roof. I would greatly appreciate any ideas anyone might have or if anyone has experienced this with their own Wildernest. Thanks.

[Deleted]

Unless you are a fiberglass tech nothing is going to happen. In the bed area
under the fiberglass you have what is called foam core material. It is sandwiched
between the top outside and the bed area inside to give strength when built and
keep the weight down too. Somehow a hole or crack has let water in the sandwich area,
causing moisture to rot out the core foam. Now you have a gap between the top outside
fiberglass and the inside fiberglass, about a 1/4 inch gap. Now when you crawl in the
bed you hear crackling sounds. But even without the foam corm there there is still
enough strength to support you without breaking and falling through. I have been down this road before
.Luckily I am a fiberglass tech and repaired mine by cutting the bad section out under the bed
and replacing the core foam, then re fiber glassing over it then painting it white.
All solid now with no creaking, flexing or crackling sounds. Water most likely came in
from the top outside from a screw hole somewhere not properly siliconed to prevent this,
or a small crack. You can go to a fiberglass repair shop and have it fixed, but even
if you don't it still should hold your weight. But the core foam repair would give you
better piece of mind. Hope any of this helps.

[jgk91]

Will, thanks you were the perfect guy to answer this question for me. Your thorough explanation of how this part of the shell was constructed, and what’s involved, has helped me to understand exactly what is going on in this area. You are correct about the cracks in the top of the Wildernest. When I got the camper it needed a lot of work. I noticed some hairline cracks on the roof and used a putty knife to spread some silicone over them to temporarily stop any additional water from getting inside this area. I have not had a chance to properly repair this part of the structure yet, but I hope to someday soon. Your explanation of how to perform the repair is definitely a little beyond what I think I can do as far as working with fiberglass goes. Furthermore, due to the overall condition of my camper, I don’t think I want to dump a ton of money into it and have professionally done. I have an idea though, and I wonder if any of you out there think this would work. I can see that there are metal plates beneath each of the four roof rack mounts on top. I know this will add a bit of weight, but I was thinking of drilling and attaching two rigid flat metal rails across each set of mounts (lengthwise along the inside) and then cutting to shape and attaching a piece of ¼” plywood to the fabricated rails essentially covering over the entire bed area with a new “floor” on the inside. I would of course remove the old mounting screws and reinsert longer ones back through the rail mounts (from above) and then through the new metal rails (on the inside). I hope I explained it well enough so that you all get the general idea. Do any of you think this would work or is it crazy? Anyway, thanks again Will for your insight and response. I really appreciate it.
Jim

[Deleted]

Your idea will work, I've seen people do this on
their boats when the transom gets rotten. They just
put a new piece of plywood inside the boat over the
transom to stiffen it up to hold the weight of the
motor. It's a rig job, but will do the trick. You'll
want to pay close attention when you put your bolts
or screws through the top/bed to use some good silicone
to prevent any further rot. And to be extra safe you
should remove your old hardware- hinges, rear lift handle,
and anything else mounted to the top, and re bed it with
fresh new silicone. The water that rotted out your core foam
may have come in from one of those areas, and not nessisarily
from cracks on the outside top, but could have. Also on the inside
you should use the silicone to prevent moisture from coming
out from the bed area. If there are any cracks in the fiberglass
in the bed area, then eventually that moisture has
to go somewhere. On a very hot day that moisture could be released
inside and cause mildew to the tent material. Everyone is concerned
at making the outside water proof to keep everything in good shape,
and that's a good thing, but if water has already got in then at
some point in time it will want to come out or rot whatever it can.
Not sure but you may have an issue with your 4 steel plates on the
top outside. There is a possibility that they may be cancerous with
rust inside because of the moisture, or maybe not. I suppose you'll
find out when you begin drilling for your screw holes, and because
it is steel, you will have to use a tap for the threads, unless you
use bolts instead. Through bolts would be my recommendation for your
project. I believe your idea will work to get you by to sleep in the
bed without fear out it falling apart or you falling through. Hope
this has been helpful.

[jgk91]

Thanks Will. I really appreciate your input and advice.