Leaks from Roof?

I was inspecting the roof of the Revel the other day, and I noticed that a Mercedes-installed port, near the backup camera, had sealant broken around its perimeter. I assume that this is due to walking on the roof, and I resealed it with standard rooftop sealant.

Rear Window Shade Straps

I got tired of removing the rear shades and folding them up everyday, so I bought a couple of simple velcro cinch straps and installed them as you see here. I find it faster and a bit easier. The straps are 14" Cinch Straps from West Marine.

Fixing the Window Rattle in the Sliding Door

Ralph Hill, a member of the Revel Facebook group, has developed a fix for the rattling window in the sliding door. He wrote up all the details, and I'm posting it here with his kind permission.

For me, the noise in the sliding door is mostly rattling. I found three issues:

1. The body panel the window is mounted in is not stiff enough—the window tends to flop in and out.
2. The grey interior trim piece slaps agains the metal of the door at the edges. Mostly at the front, bottom and back. The top is not much of a problem, probably because the structure for the door is closer to the window at the top.
3. The grey interior trim piece slaps against the frame for the window interior screen, mostly at the top.

The window is mounted to the skin of the door, not the frame. There are two stiffeners supporting this part of the skin that must be removed to install the window. After the window is installed the mass to be supported is increased because the window is heavier than the piece of skin that is cut out. At the same time, stiffeners are removed making the panel less stiff. This is made worse by the grey interior trim. It is attached only to the window and not to the door directly. Thus, even more mass is supported by the skin.

To stiffen the mounting of the window, I made four brackets, one for each corner of the window. These brackets connect the window to the the structure of the door. They are made from some scraps of softwood that I had. Each piece is approximately 1” x 3/4” x 7 1/2”. (This size is not necessarily the best—it is what I had lying around). I cut a thin groove in the end of the brackets with a hack saw. The structural metal of the door fits into the groove. The brackets are shaped to clear the grey plastic trim and are attached to the wooden frame around the window with screws and silicone adhesive. The brackets do not touch the skin.

There are flat metal corner brackets that attach to the wooden frame around the window. These did not have every screw hole populated. I added a screw in every hole I felt I could safely add a screw. I pre-drilled the wood because it is brittle and I did not want to risk cracking it. I hope that by adding more screws I made things l little stiffer and stronger.

To stop the gray plastic trim from slapping the metal I decided that it had to be screwed to the frame of the door. I could not find a way to do this across the top, but I could on the three other edges. I glued small pieces of 1/4” plywood to the metal frame with epoxy gel. Then I transferred the locations of the wood to the gray plastic trim using reference marks on tape attached to the door. I pre-drilled the grey plastic trim. Then I mounted the grey plastic trim and used #6 x 3/8” pan head screws to screw through the grey plastic trim and into the plywood pieces. I predrilled the plywood to reduce the risk of splitting it.

Screwing the grey plastic trim in this way does two things:

1. It makes it impossible for the trim to slap against the metal.
2. It attaches the trim to the frame of the door helping it stiffen the window. Thus, the trim is part of the solution instead of being part of the problem.

Across the top, where I could not screw the grey plastic trim to anything, I placed a strip of 3/16” thick grey foam weather stripping against the structural metal. The grey plastic trim might be able to slap against this foam, but that will not make much noise. (This weather stripping can be seen in both the second and third photo).

I added 3/8” grey foam weather stripping to the back of the grey plastic trim across the top and bottom of the window opening, and 3/16” thick grey foam weather stripping on the sides. This is to try to press the trim out against the frame for the window covering. This was not quite enough, on the top I had to add a small piece of 3/16” on top of the 3/8” in the middle. Finally, I put a small piece of anti-rattle felt on the grey plastic trim piece where it touches the top middle of the frame for the window covering. 

Overall, the structure is much stiffer. When you slam the door closed the window does not flop around. It hardly moves. I have to do a serious test on some crappy gravel roads. Once that test is passed, I will add some insulation (probably Thinsulate) between the grey plastic trim and the door skin.

Heater Exhaust Repositioning

Ralph Hill, a member of the Revel Facebook group, has repositioned the the exhaust from the diesel (Espar) heater. He wrote up all the details, and I'm posting it here with his kind permission.

The exhaust from the Espar ends in front of one of the brackets supporting the running board on the driver’s side. It is very vulnerable there. It looks like a stiff bush could do serious damage to it. I have repositioned mine based on a picture I saw of a modification done by Agile Off-Road.

The final result is shown in these pictures.

The beauty of this modification is that no holes need to be drilled and no new hardware is needed. It leaves the Espar exhaust well protected. There is a possible downside. I think there may be some rule that the exhaust from the heater cannot be immediately below an operable window. This modification places the exhaust outlet below the dinette window. The original position is very slightly ahead of the dinette window. I think this makes no difference, but the rules might not see it that way.

To move the exhaust you have to drill out the rivet holding the clamp to the bracket for the running board. I drilled from the rear. Then twist off the cap on the end of the flexible exhaust pipe and slide the clamp off. At this point, part of the rivet is likely to be stuck in the clamp. I pried the clamp open a bit, cut the rivet with a hack saw, and pushed out the remains of the rivet. There might be better ways to get the rivet out. Perhaps drilling from the front might work better.

Next, you have to remove the rear bolt holding the bracket for the running board to the bottom seam of the body.  I needed a 3/8" socket on the bolt and an 11mm 12 pt box wrench on the nut. (“Huh?” you say. Well that is what I had that fit). Run the bolt through the clamp (it will fit if you press while turning). Slide the clamp back on the flexible pipe. Straighten the pipe and adjust the position of the clamp so the bolt lines up with its hole. I tried to position the clamp so that it was tilted very slightly with the bottom further forward than the top. I did this to try to help keep the flexible pipe from rattling against the bracket for the running board. When you have things in position, tighten the nut on the bolt. Turn the nut, not the bolt. If you turn the bolt you will probably twist the clamp. I did that on the first try. Adjust the pipe trying to keep it straight and away from things it might rattle against. Aim the end of the flexible pipe down and out a bit. Thread the end cap back on the pipe.

I finished by spraying all the bolts and the hole for the rivet in the bracket for the running board with a waxy corrosion inhibitor. That is the shiny yellow you see on and around the bolts.

Disassembling the Garage

One member of the Revel Facebook group, Marcus Hammitt, has disassembled the garage in his Revel, and he's documented the outcome, along with providing measurements. The photos are reproduced here with his kind permission.