How did this water get in?

[yroyerr]

OK, so I have noticed after a decent rain -- which has been a scarce article in West Central Texas these past several months -- that the truck cab smelled a little musty. This afternoon, I got ready to run an errand and the smell was really strong, coming from the back seat of my 2018 4X2 crew cab work truck. We have had more than 4 1/2 inches orf rain in the past 48 hours, so if I had a leak somewhere, this would be a test. Sure enough, I pulled up the lower seat bench and there was a half-inch of water in each of the wells. It had been there long enough -- or the moisture had been consistent enough that some of the stuff I kept under seat -- a Tony Hillerman novel, ball caps, etc. were mildewed. The cork handle on my collapsible hiking staff had green mold on it. I was shocked. Trying to figure how it got in, I noticed the liner was damp going up the back of the seat. When I looked at the joint between cab and bed, I noticed some leaves had collected there so I swept them out -- and found five of these little rubber coverings among the debris. Can someone tell me what is going on here?. I have 78,000 mostly highway miles on my Ram and the sweet little Pentastar Six.
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[yroyerr]

On my truck, there were 3 areas where the water was coming in during heavy rain (out of 5 possible as far as I could tell).

One was the moonroof, another were the cab vents, and the last one was the rear sliding window. There can also be an incomplete weld under the trims over the rain gutters on either side.

The rear sliding window problem is a shrunk rubber/plastic lower trim on the outside where you will see cracks on each side. This can allow the water to get in and overwhelm the drip channel inside if it rains hard enough.

Good luck.

Y. Royer
2012 RAM 3500 Laramie

 

[BillinNM]

OK, I have the replacement vents at hand and will do the rear seat modification. Is there anything to know about pulling back the insulation to get at the vents?

 

[BillinNM]

Never mind, guys, I got her done. Just had to remove those black strap brackets to get the insulation panels to pull forward (13mm socket), then just followed the directions and Youtubes. For some reason the new passenger side vent was tougher to get in than the driver side, but they both eventually behaved. Also did the rear-seat mod while I had it out. I have been thrilled with my Ram and Pentastar, but must confess disappointment in Mopar's engineering of the original factory vents. Took me just over an hour, a small blood blister and relatively limited swearing.

 

[David Roark]

Are the new vents behind the rear seats on the 2020 model or do I need to replace them. My truck is getting soaked inside now that we are finally getting rain in Central Texas. The dealership is replacing under warranty the back light and the back window next week. Do I need to have them replace the vents as well?

 

[danielmid]

Are the new vents behind the rear seats on the 2020 model or do I need to replace them. My truck is getting soaked inside now that we are finally getting rain in Central Texas. The dealership is replacing under warranty the back light and the back window next week. Do I need to have them replace the vents as well?

3rd brake light is the place to start, are they doing the replacements under warranty? If they're willing to change the vents under warranty also then do that, if you're paying the vents are the cheapest repair on the truck probably. Also the 3rd brake light OEM gasket is the source of the leak usually, so most of us upgrade the gasket and it stops the leak.

 

[David Roark]

They are replacing the whole brake light; not just the gasket. And they are replacing the rear back window as well. All under warranty.
They just extended the warranty in September to pickup built after Oct. 2017 and before December 31, 2020. extension is for 10years or 150,000 miles from in-service date.

 

[David Roark]

The above extension applies only to the brake light. One more extension on the Rear Power Sliding Window or rear sliding window is for 8 years /150,000miles on all pickups built on or before Sept. 30, 2020.

 

[David Roark]

Vents are not covered under any sort of extended warranty, so if the 2020 model was still equipped with the same vents as in earlier model 18 of 19, I need to purchase them and replace myself.

 

[danielmid]

Vents are not covered under any sort of extended warranty, so if the 2020 model was still equipped with the same vents as in earlier model 18 of 19, I need to purchase them and replace myself.

I think you should be able to see them down between the bedside and the cab rear.

Here's the old design (inside view) I took out of my 2015, little damaged from the removal, and the flaps are completely rotten and gone:


Here's the updated design, I ordered from here: