Wet compartment in rear cargo area

[Gordinho80]

Anyone ever get water in the rear compartment of the cargo area? I've noticed water back there more and more. I'm wondering if its coming in from the air flaps on the driver side quarter. I left the flaps intact when I did my bumper, but it is a pretty easy spot to gather some water.

[Cable810]

I've got some water where the rear liftgate latches around the metal hook...

[bdp1978]

I've got some water where the rear liftgate latches around the metal hook...

^^^^Thats from the seal around the license plate housing on the tailgate being shot.

Not sure on the cargo compartment issue.

[MrDJ]

After a hard rain, sometimes I go out and find the back compartment carpet damp and I cannot figure out why.

[v7guy]

I just try to avoid leaving leaking bottles of water back there.

I would imagine it being hard for water to get up past the pressure relief piece. Maybe it would happen if you got standing water up past the flaps, but they seem to stay down pretty well during day to day activities.

Is your rear side window leaking?
Could also be the liftgate/liftgate window seal.

[Gordinho80]

I'm not exactly sure where its coming from... but its getting annoying. It is making me want to cut out the carpet back there and lining the floor.

[v7guy]

I'd suggest taking out the rear interior plastic and then hose down/pressure wash the outside and see where the trickle of water comes from. Although I have seen water travel from the front windshield to the back seats on some vehicles, it's most likely coming from right there in the rear somewhere. Most of the panels are just held in with little clips and pull out with some wiggling and tugging.

[Troutfisherman]

I have had leaks in the past on previous vehicles and know well enough that leaks can come from all over. Sometimes just a worn out door seal can allow enough moisture to build up an cause dampness. I had a seal go bad on a moon roof and when it rained water leaked in pooled up under the roof, on acceleration the water moved to the rear drained into the rear body panels on both sides of the rear window. Systematically I started replacing door seals and caulking seams on the roof to try and cure the problem. Sealing off the moon roof from the exterior eventually solved the problem. Depending on your climate and if you garage your vehicle on a regular basis, condensation may be part of the issue. I've never had any dampness inside my vehicle until I recently began parking outside regularly. Every morning I warm up my TB before driving to work, which removes the condensation from my windshield. I've noticed I get dampness in the rear cargo area inside the latched floor compartment. The dampness is only on the right side on the bottom. So now I remove the contents and air it out periodically.

[Gordinho80]

Last I checked was before the hurricane. It had been some time since I had checked it before. It was squishy wet almost... so it was quite a bit that came in. I'll been taking the carpet out in the spring, I'll also drop the headliner... I have some ideas of where it may be coming from now that I read that part about the sun roof leaking pooling on the headliner. I had forgotten that I had an issue with one of my roof rack riv-nuts... it actually pulled out of the sheet metal and I needed to put a larger bolt in place. Not sure if the water tightness I had put then was sufficient.

[Gordinho80]

Well, I had been getting water in my cargo area for some time now. It all pools in the cubby, anything left in there will get SOAKED!

Today I cut the rear section of the carpet out. I cut it in such a way that I can still put it back if I want and it won't be noticeable that it is cut.

I think I found the water's source of entry...



Now, I'm debating on lining the cargo area and being done with the carpet. My concern is, I want to keep the plastic panels on the sides... and ripping out the carpet and pads, I'd lose about an inch of height or so, leaving a large seem along the sides open to things falling back there. What else can be done in this area? Should I plywood the cargo area and line it? That could get my up to the line of the panels. I'd probably run some sort of weather stripping along the bottom line of the panels to act as a seal between the panel and plywood.

If I do put plywood, should I add a layer of padding between the wood and sheet metal of the truck to insulate from noise?

[Gordinho80]

I will add... I also hate the carpet because I use the truck to load lots of different things at times... and cleaning up the carpet is a bitch!

[fishsticks]

One of these?

http://www.weathertech.com/chevrolet/20 ... rgo-liner/

[JorDaneeKey]

I gave up trying to keep the cargo area carpet clean.

[navigator]

I have one of those $15 rubber mats from WalMart. It does pretty well for most things. My problem is I waited too late to get one.I would likely clean/seal up the hole and throw the carpet back down there. From there I would get a rubber mat of some sort.

[Gordinho80]

As it stands... I have the seats back in place. I've put the tie down bolts back with a little towel taped around the one I think is the culprit, just to see if t gets wet. I have that cut section still off, it is drying out. I'm going to see if the water is in fact coming from that one bolt first... then I'm going to look into the plywood floor. I dont know if I want to deal with the carpet anymore. It has been a total mess since carrying food for my wife's bridal shower years ago. Some sauce spilled and got the carpet all nasty. That was the first time I took out the carpet, did the whole thing back then.

[mikekey]

Truck bed liner! I'm thinking of going that way myself.

[Trail X]

Topics merged...

Did you note any water ingress around the rusty hole?

[Gordinho80]

Wife took the truck yesterday, haven't been out to inspect yet. Going to go look in a few.