Which Exterior Sealant?

[johnbrowder]

I am in the process of upgrading my rear camera. My bus is a 2003 Liberty that originally had a fairly large housing for the camera. I am replacing it with a Totalvision tilt/pan model. I am having the housing modified so it is basically a flat plate on which I will mount the new camera.

It appears the housing was most recently installed with a gray rope caulk, the type I have seen at home improvement stores. It seems to have sealed well, and there were no leaks. This housing was clearly made in-house, and the gap is not done to real close tolerances, so whatever is used need to be somewhat gap-filling. I liked the fact it was fairly easy to remove and clean up. However, I never thought of this as an automotive product.

What does the brain trust recommend? Rope caulk, silicone, something else?

Thanks!

[gmcbuffalo]

Sound like the rope chauk worked well I would stick with it.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Whatever sealant you choose John, keep in mind you may need to remove it so a rope caulk or something along those lines in lieu of an adhesive type sealant may prove a better choice.

Brain trust............I don't think so.

[johnbrowder]

Brain trust............I don't think so.

Jon, whatever it is, it is absolutely the best source of information for the involved Prevost owner!
Thanks again!

[pwf252]

John,
There are many metal roofs that are sealed with the rope caulk and it seems to work well in those applications. I would think that as long as your fastening process is sufficient to compress the caulk evenly and adequately you would be good with it. And as Jon states it is certainly easier to remove and clean-up then silicon's if the need arose.

[stevet903]

Napa carries the strip caulk. It comes in a box with a lifetime's worth for about $20.

[johnbrowder]

So, rope caulk it will be. I will feel better about getting it a NAPA than Home depot... it seems more"automotive".

Thanks for the replies.