I did a quick search and couldn’t find anything so here goes. Today we drove through some gnarly wind with snow, of course, and we had a significant amount of snow inside the V2 on the panels from the front of the vehicle. Has anyone experienced this? I was pretty surprised when my wife mentioned it to me until I went and looked. Is there a better seal option to prevent this?
There’s a few spots this could happen. I’ve experienced the cam screws that hold the panels on come loose. Ended up with snow inside as you described.
Another spot I could foresee is the corner of the box. Any chance you got a picture of where the snow came in and how much?
Here are some pics. There was more but I cleaned it out some. Again, this occurred on both sides pretty equally.
Hotel internet and OS update, really working great for me this morning.
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Reupload the photos and make sure they are complete before hitting “post”
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Can’t say I’ve seen these issues on mine but in looking at the pictures a couple questions come to mind. I see you have some Velcro on there and the caps for the openings on the lower extrusion, any chance those caps stick out just enough to mess with the seal around the panel?
I don’t have the caps on my frame, but I know others do. Guessing they may have seen similar issues too (or not).
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Perhaps, the caps could be a source, I doubt it’s the velcro. we have more road time today so I will pull the caps out and see if that makes a difference.
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Holy smokes man. That is TERRIBLE. I am in Montana and have never seen that. If you close the camper door, can you see daylight from inside when it’s all closed? Almost looks like something had to be pushing the door slightly open.
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I would almost think that as an issue but it was on both sides. Yeah, this was on 25 through Wyoming yesterday, it was super windy, but that shouldn’t make it that bad. I do have the caps on both sides so I’ll try a little experiment and see if that works. I
Nothing like the crosswind on 25 in Wyoming!
Haha, I’ve had some terrifying cross winds on that drive. Truck just moving side-ways.
I agree with GainzGFC, close it up and get inside and look for light leaks. I also live in a snowy area and haven’t noticed or seen that.
Pros for “blower powder”?
Ive driven thru pretty heavy crosswinds in a blizzard here in California during he atmospheric rivers we had last year and the 2 previous winters, ive never had that happen to mine. Id suggest looking into seeing if you can see gaps from the inside out as others have mentioned.
Unlikely, but were the front latches not closed? I can’t see this being caused by the frame plugs.
Holy!
For both sides to have a similar result sounds to me like you should put in a Service Request. My first thought would be the Velcro, then the plugs. I have the same velcro and such, the only time I’ve experienced something similar has been when I’ve had a wire passing through the door edge and it wasn’t closed all the way. Or as I saw suggested, I forgot to actually latch those latches.
Another possibility is that your doors aren’t square and true. I’ve had to enforce my back door straight a few times for various reasons to improve the seal.
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So I am not sold it’s the plugs even. They seem to be below that seal. Looking more it has significant intrusions at the top where the panel is “cut” and folded. Latches were closed and locked nothing leaning against the panel just to make sure. Of course today is sunny but it’s all highway driving so we will see. I am rey surprised by this.
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I would definitely bring this to the Service Request
Check your pocket screws for the doors, make sure they’re locked in place. And for shits and giggles, I’d do the same on that front panel. Just confirm that all the pocket screws are tight. It might be a thing that the spaceframe is out of tolerance, but the only way to know for sure is to submit that Service Request.
Anything you’ll get from here will be experience, opinions, and suggestions. Real answers gotta come from the horses mouth. The gang at GFC will get you sorted. This is not something I have seen on the forum as a common issue. And I’m on here a bit.
I think they have a Ranger, which I am unsure if the bed requires the same sealing as the Tacomas.
This is such a weird thing. Like on the panel you can see where the seals were touching door but there is snow on both sides of it. But no snow below the seal at the bottom (towards the truck bed)
@Dogandagladiator it is a Ranger you are correct.
It seems to be wrapping around the front panel and in. I wonder if there is a weird wind turbulence pulling the panel out a bit. Took more pictures today after another 350 miles in the snow but less wind. You can see where the snow is getting in.
@the_philxx it was definitely an amount of snow that was not acceptable. Definitely not a little.
@Dignon I’ll definitely fill out a request and see what GFC says.
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Something definitely isn’t right there. What I would do is get two hands on the panel, one in the middle on the side and one on the corner and give it a tweak inwards.
I bet the panel is a bit tweaked outward from being in cabana mode when it was windy. Or the panel just has never been straight. One hand by the edge by the strut and the other on the latch end. Gentle tweaks and checks.
When the door is latched shut can you push the panel in at all in the corners or edge?
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Did some checks and it seems to shut pretty well, no looseness. Met up with @Buhlockaye to buy some covers (thanks man) and was able to compare and panels seem to close as expected. Who knows we will see what GFC thinks.
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Safe travels the rest of the way! Blake’s covers are a life saver.