Water leak…. Pretty sure I know where it’s coming from.

[corneileous]

Well until I can get the rear seat out I won’t know for sure but being that the headliner is dry and after I watched a video about leaky cab vents, I’m thinking that might be my issue.

I highly doubt it’s my third brake light because I’ve already bought the good rubberized weatherstripping from Lowes and resealed it and as far as the sliding rear window I’ve heard about, I guess that’s a possibility also but I do know that water has been running down the inside of the back of the cab because sure enough, the storage pocket directly under the right rear of the seat is once again soaked and after further investigation, I noticed the carpet next to the back of the cab in the center is soaked. That’s when I saw a drip on the back wall. It did rain pretty good today and just this last weekend, I pulled my Stealthbox out and shampooed that right side pocket and even put a fan back there for almost an hour to dry everything.

Has anybody had this problem with leaky vents? I watched a YouTube video where a guy just took some silicone and ran a bead all the way around the outside perimeter of each vent from the inside of the cab but I’m not sure if that totally cured his leak.

 

[NJMOPAR]

The vents are about midway down the cab wall. If you see water just below the window it's not the vents.

 

[corneileous]

I haven't seen much behind the seats so I'm not totally sure where its coming from but I could tell as I was looking under the rear seat that there was water running down the back of the cab.

 

[NJMOPAR]

There's 17mm bolts holding the rear seat bottom to the floor. Once you remove the seat bottom you'll see bolts on each side holding the back. Remove them, lift up & out to get the back off.

 

[corneileous]

There's 17mm bolts holding the rear seat bottom to the floor. Once you remove the seat bottom you'll see bolts on each side holding the back. Remove them, lift up & out to get the back off.

Yep. Probably gonna do that this weekend. While I’m at it, I’d like to do that backseat mod that allows you to tilt the seat-backs forward.

 

[NJMOPAR]

Just saw off about 3/4" off the plastic hooks on the seat back and you're done. I used a coping saw.

 

[GTyankee]

The sliding window leak usually happens when your cab leans toward the drivers side during a rain.

On some Rams They only put one drain in the window track, it really needs another one on the drivers side of the sliding window

The drain on the passenger side of the slider can be plugged
a stiff wire might be used to open it back up
the drain goes from the bottom of the track, through the rubber seal around the window, the low side of the drain passes under the glass & comes out of the rubber seal outside

Dodge Ram sliding rear window leak fix

My window was leaking very bad. And I read and read online but no videos that I could find. Hope this helps for guidance.

www.youtube.com

 

[bigdodge]

You really just need to get the seats out and watch. I would just order new vents for piece of mind. They are really cheap, if you can get them. I had been fighting water back there for a while coming in the sliding window. Cleaned the drains several times. Finally I just ordered new seals for the sliding window and I've had rain all week and no water running down the sides. If the drains work ok, they can't handle the volume of water being let in. Mine looked fine too but it made a huge difference. It would fill the track and spill over into the corner of the window.

Speaking of, I still need to check under my stealth box for water too

 

[corneileous]

You really just need to get the seats out and watch. I would just order new vents for piece of mind. They are really cheap, if you can get them. I had been fighting water back there for a while coming in the sliding window. Cleaned the drains several times. Finally I just ordered new seals for the sliding window and I've had rain all week and no water running down the sides. If the drains work ok, they can't handle the volume of water being let in. Mine looked fine too but it made a huge difference. It would fill the track and spill over into the corner of the window.

Speaking of, I still need to check under my stealth box for water too

Where are the drains for the sliding window? Have you messed with those vents before? How do you get them out and how exactly do they seal against the cab?

It’s supposed to be nice this weekend so after getting the seats out, I’ll run the water hose on the back of the cab to pinpoint where the water’s coming in.

 

[NJMOPAR]

Definitely take out the subwoofer, mine had an inch of standing water under it when it leaked.

 

[corneileous]

Definitely take out the subwoofer, mine had an inch of standing water under it when it leaked.

So far mines not leaking that bad, it’s just always been damp.

 

[NJMOPAR]

I wound up trading my Ram because of the roof leak. Mine was at the right rear corner of the headliner.
Did every fix I could, even sealing the satellite pod, rear window frame, new vents, new brake light, clearing drain tubes, sealing the channel strips on the roof.
Nothing worked.
Traded it away during a dry spell for a Charger R/T.

 

[GTyankee]

I have wondered about the back exterior of our Ram cabs

The replacement Vents are designed a bit better than many of the older 4th Gen
I don't know when that change was made

Most of you have seen what the older vents look like

My 2016 Ram







on the bed, there are 3 rubber strips
there is a horizontal strip along the bottom of the bed
there are 2 vertical strips, that i think keep water on the road from getting between the cab & the bed









I wonder why Ram did not put another rubber strip along the upper part of the bed
It would keep a good portion of the rain water from dropping down onto the vents
There would still be air swirling between the cab & the bed, but i believe that there would be less water near the vents.

I believe the 5th Gen Rams have the vents closer together on the cab & they are larger in size

 

[corneileous]

Thank you for those photos, @GTyankee.

In that third pic from the top that shows the extreme closeup of one of the vents from the outside of the cab; is that entire outer perimeter one big rubber gasket?

If there was ever a design change in them things, you’d think my truck’d have it being that it’s a 2018 model.

 

[GTyankee]

I have not had a vent in my hands, but i would think it would have to be plastic with a soft rubber seal

several members have upgraded their vents, maybe someone has noticed how they are constructed

 

[CamperMike]

I have replaced the cab vents on mine. My 2018 had the older style vents and the rubber flaps were getting stuck open. If you pull the seats you should be able to tell if yours has the same issue.

 

[Atcer2018]

Just saw off about 3/4" off the plastic hooks on the seat back and you're done. I used a coping saw.

Not to be argumentative or hijack the thread but in my experience with a 2018 BigHorn if you’re cutting the catch hook as far up as the plastic/nylon retainer you’ve gone too far. The seat back catch hook has a white plastic/nylon retainer that stops the seat back from rattling when hooked. Another inch or so of metal extends past the white plastic retainer. Cutting the metal only portion of the hook off flush with the plastic retainer was the method that worked for me. Lift seat bottom, seat back raises and a slight tug releases the seat back, seat bottom lowered and the seat back hook catches perfectly. YMMV

 

[corneileous]

I have replaced the cab vents on mine. My 2018 had the older style vents and the rubber flaps were getting stuck open. If you pull the seats you should be able to tell if yours has the same issue.

Yeah, I guess I didn’t really think about the fact that even when the new 2018 model year started, they probably had a whole bunch of the older style vents that they wanted to use up before they started using the newer updated ones… Lol.

 

[corneileous]

Not to be argumentative or hijack the thread but in my experience with a 2018 BigHorn if you’re cutting the catch hook as far up as the plastic/nylon retainer you’ve gone too far. The seat back catch hook has a white plastic/nylon retainer that stops the seat back from rattling when hooked. Another inch or so of metal extends past the white plastic retainer. Cutting the metal only portion of the hook off flush with the plastic retainer was the method that worked for me. Lift seat bottom, seat back raises and a slight tug releases the seat back, seat bottom lowered and the seat back hook catches perfectly. YMMV

I could be mistaken but I’m pretty sure what you said is what NJ meant to say because yeah, after the several videos I’ve watched, they all did the same thing and after where that little plastic piece stops is the part of the hook that you want to trim off.

 

[PoMansRam]

Yep. Probably gonna do that this weekend. While I’m at it, I’d like to do that backseat mod that allows you to tilt the seat-backs forward.

The rear seat mod is a must.

Sorry about your leak. I went through this with my 2017 and 2019. It was the 3rd brake light on my 2019 classic, but on the 2017 after re-doing the 3rd BL 2-3x, checking the roof rails and vents, it wound up being a shoddy aftermarket rear glass install.