Thread: Roof Repair
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Old 03-20-2012, 09:37 PM   #10
Bob86ZZ4
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Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: St. Paul, MN
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Hay, one other thing. When I brought my United Specialties back to the factory for a visit (since we were driving nearby I wanted to go check it out) the guy came out to look at it and told me the clearance lights they used are bad. They found out after building many units they shouldn't have done it that way. They used regular truck type 2" round clearance lights that fit into a rubber grommet placed into a hole in the siding. Here's the type of lights they used:



He said the problem is they allow water into the wall. The side walls it isn't a big deal because any water getting in there will drain down and eventually probably dry out. But it'll get the fiberglas insulation wet. The bigger problem is with the ones on the front of the cab overhang. If you're driving in the rain it's going to push that water in there in much higher amounts. And, the water then goes and pools above the bottom panel. Mine had that problem. There was some pitting in the aluminum sheeting and the paint was coming off. He said the paint was being pushed out by the water sitting on top of that panel. There isn't any drainage there. He told me to figure out some other type of light that seals up. He showed me how they had switched to a surface mounted light with only a small hole in the aluminum sheeting for the wires to come through and they seal it with silicone. So, I found some lights from truck lite that are a l.e.d. type with a gray plastic housing around it. These lights are sealed units so there is no way for water to get from the front to the back, I checked several of them to be sure. They needed a slightly larger hole to fit into my siding so I used a air die grinder to open it up a bit. They don't use the rubber grommet. Once I got the hole the right size I ran a small bead of silicon sealant around the new light housing flange and put the light into the hole (of course I hooked up the wiring first and tested to make sure the light lit). I just used the silicone to hold the lights in, no need to screw or rivit them in. Good silicone, they're not coming out. And they're all now waterproof. And the l.e.d. looks way better.

Here's how I had to get up there to do the fronts:



And here's doing the backs, showing the grinder I used:


And here's the new light in place, they actually have two l.e.d.'s in each housing. And you can see the silicone coming out the holes that you would use to screw them in if you were screwing them in:

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'03 Freightliner FL112, 295" wheel base, with '03 United Specialties 26' living quarters, single screw, Cat C12 430 h/p 1650 torque, Eaton 10speed , 3.42 rear axle ratio
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