B vs C---leaks, maintenance, quality
One thing that has put me way way off buying a used class C is their propensity for bigtime leaks, and frequent mediocre build quality. Are class B's generally less prone to leaks? Where are the w...
Forum Discussion
mlts22 pretty much covered the differences.
Leaks occur because materials fail over time mainly where materials join and have to be sealed. In that regard any hole penetration will be the cause of a potential leak. Many of the small Class Cs are made with mostly seamless fiber glass bodies and roofs thus only have the hole penetrations. Some Class Cs and most larger Class Cs are stick built, then covered with materials to waterproof them such as applied membrane roofs. As I said, materials wear out. A moving RV accelerates that wear.
You should seal roof penetration joints with high quality polyurethane or silicone sealants, not acrylics, rubber or hybrids of acrylics and rubbers with polyurethanes or silicones. Going cheap with sealants is inviting failure.
Windows, panels and doors fit better in precisely cut out openings in uni-surfaces of steel and fiber glass rather than in stick built pieces that frame an opening. The quality of the windows and the sealants used also make a difference. That's another difference between most Class B vans, fiber glass bodies vs. stick built.
If you are going to build your own minimal Classl B your concern should not who makes a quality one but what are your choices of vans. The euro vans of Sprinter, Promaster and Transit would probably be the best choices now.
But if you want to know who makes a quality Class B, this day and age most all do. I would put Advanced RV at the top of the list and Winnebago at the bottom if you wanted to rank them. But mostly you pick them for what you like in layout, features, availability and cost.
There are a lot of Roadtreks on RV Trader because there are simply more Roadtreks than other Bs.
Leaks occur because materials fail over time mainly where materials join and have to be sealed. In that regard any hole penetration will be the cause of a potential leak. Many of the small Class Cs are made with mostly seamless fiber glass bodies and roofs thus only have the hole penetrations. Some Class Cs and most larger Class Cs are stick built, then covered with materials to waterproof them such as applied membrane roofs. As I said, materials wear out. A moving RV accelerates that wear.
You should seal roof penetration joints with high quality polyurethane or silicone sealants, not acrylics, rubber or hybrids of acrylics and rubbers with polyurethanes or silicones. Going cheap with sealants is inviting failure.
Windows, panels and doors fit better in precisely cut out openings in uni-surfaces of steel and fiber glass rather than in stick built pieces that frame an opening. The quality of the windows and the sealants used also make a difference. That's another difference between most Class B vans, fiber glass bodies vs. stick built.
If you are going to build your own minimal Classl B your concern should not who makes a quality one but what are your choices of vans. The euro vans of Sprinter, Promaster and Transit would probably be the best choices now.
But if you want to know who makes a quality Class B, this day and age most all do. I would put Advanced RV at the top of the list and Winnebago at the bottom if you wanted to rank them. But mostly you pick them for what you like in layout, features, availability and cost.
There are a lot of Roadtreks on RV Trader because there are simply more Roadtreks than other Bs.
