Rubber Roofs

Do you consider TPO rubber? Then yes.

I am not sure but I think if you were to list all the Class A's which do not have either EDPM or TPO or BrightTeck rubber roofs, you'd have a much shorter list than if you listed the ones that do.

Fleetwood Bounder

wa8yxm wrote:
I am not sure but I think if you were to list all the Class A's which do not have either EDPM or TPO or BrightTeck rubber roofs, you'd have a much shorter list than if you listed the ones that do.

I was talking about new ones and I think you'd be wrong. I checked out Winnebago, HR, Entegra, Tiffin and Newmar and they are all fiberglass now.

So is fiberglass better or cheaper? Perhaps both?

nemo45 wrote:

wa8yxm wrote:
I am not sure but I think if you were to list all the Class A's which do not have either EDPM or TPO or BrightTeck rubber roofs, you'd have a much shorter list than if you listed the ones that do.

I was talking about new ones and I think you'd be wrong. I checked out Winnebago, HR, Entegra, Tiffin and Newmar and they are all fiberglass now.

That's not entirely true. I know the Newmar bar star for example has TPO. I looked at one not too long ago. Each has it's merits. TPO is cheaper to repair and can last for decades, it's flexible which is a plus where it meets the caps. Fiberglass stands up better but once damaged is much more expensive to fix. Ask some of the folks ranting on here not too long ago about their Winnie fiberglass roofs coming off going down the road. And despite the material, all roofs have holes in them for the various components and seams where they meet the walls and caps. That is where leaks occur. Some on here (Bumpy) will tell you it has to be fiberglass, but thousands of RV's have been on the roads for decades with TPO and no issues. You'll rarely find that the material - TPO or fiberglass - simply failed. Comparing two RV's and the roof was a deciding factor I might lean toward Fiberglass, but many more things will fail before a TPO roof does.

Effy wrote:

nemo45 wrote:

wa8yxm wrote:
I am not sure but I think if you were to list all the Class A's which do not have either EDPM or TPO or BrightTeck rubber roofs, you'd have a much shorter list than if you listed the ones that do.

I was talking about new ones and I think you'd be wrong. I checked out Winnebago, HR, Entegra, Tiffin and Newmar and they are all fiberglass now.

That's not entirely true. I know the Newmar bar star for example has TPO. I looked at one not too long ago. Each has it's merits. TPO is cheaper to repair and can last for decades, it's flexible which is a plus where it meets the caps. Fiberglass stands up better but once damaged is much more expensive to fix. Ask some of the folks ranting on here not too long ago about their Winnie fiberglass roofs coming off going down the road. And despite the material, all roofs have holes in them for the various components and seams where they meet the walls and caps. That is where leaks occur. Some on here (Bumpy) will tell you it has to be fiberglass, but thousands of RV's have been on the roads for decades with TPO and no issues. You'll rarely find that the material - TPO or fiberglass - simply failed. Comparing two RV's and the roof was a deciding factor I might lean toward Fiberglass, but many more things will fail before a TPO roof does.

I've never heard of a bar star, but the king aire and mountain aire both have fiber glass roofs and I believe that you would be hard pressed to find a new mid range or high end motor home that doesn't. The Dutch star also has a fiber glass roof.

The lower priced Newmar MHs have BriteTEK roofs standard. Most of them have fiberglass optional.
Per the Newmar website atleast the BayStar is only available with BriteTEK.

Effy wrote:

nemo45 wrote:

wa8yxm wrote:
I am not sure but I think if you were to list all the Class A's which do not have either EDPM or TPO or BrightTeck rubber roofs, you'd have a much shorter list than if you listed the ones that do.

I was talking about new ones and I think you'd be wrong. I checked out Winnebago, HR, Entegra, Tiffin and Newmar and they are all fiberglass now.

That's not entirely true. I know the Newmar bar star for example has TPO. I looked at one not too long ago. Each has it's merits. TPO is cheaper to repair and can last for decades, it's flexible which is a plus where it meets the caps. Fiberglass stands up better but once damaged is much more expensive to fix. Ask some of the folks ranting on here not too long ago about their Winnie fiberglass roofs coming off going down the road. And despite the material, all roofs have holes in them for the various components and seams where they meet the walls and caps. That is where leaks occur. Some on here (Bumpy) will tell you it has to be fiberglass, but thousands of RV's have been on the roads for decades with TPO and no issues. You'll rarely find that the material - TPO or fiberglass - simply failed. Comparing two RV's and the roof was a deciding factor I might lean toward Fiberglass, but many more things will fail before a TPO roof does.

I have a fiberglass roof on my motorhome. Although I've never owned a rubber roof RV I know people who have and they do talk about doing repairs. But the reason they have had to do repairs is mostly because of low hanging tree branches tearing holes in it. I've hit quite a few low hanging tree branches and never once damaged the fiberglass. I did tear off the vent cover on my bathroom roof vent, but didn't even mark the fiberglass roof. So it may be more difficult to repair, but in my experience it's a lot more difficult to damage. And in the event I did damage it, it would be covered by insurance anyway.

I am curious, if you are looking to buy a motorhome why would you specifically want a rubber roof over a fiberglass roof?