RV Repair: roof and sidewall repair, pace arrow, steel framing

Question
my brother-in-law gave me his 85 pace arrow. the back leaks over the beds and the ceiling is soft and cracks like rotten wood.  the outside passenger sidewall (from the sink back)is rotten due to the canopy coming lose and pulling the side out allowing water to seep in.  do i take the top rail off to allow access to both the roof and side?
thanx, claude

Answer
Claude,
Taking the rail off might give you a little better look at the problem.I have worked on several motorhomes like yours with the very same problems. If the walls and roof are still somewhat structurally sound the best thing to do is locate the source of water get it sealed up and leave it alone.The walls of your coach are laminated,inside the wall there is very little steel framing it is mostly foam, which leaves you with nothing to attach to.Once delaminated the design of these sidewalls makes it very difficult to make effective repairs .I am assuming your coach has two piece sidewalls meaning you have a piece of molding running down the sidewall horizontally covering a joint in the filon. That molding is usually where most of these coaches start leaking and then delaminate. I have cut into a few of them from the inside to add blocking,giving me something to attach to. My advise would be to try drilling a couple of new holes between existing holes in the moldings and see if you can get screws to bite.Get the moldings tight and seal them up.

Thanks, chad
Truline RV