Rubber Roofs

msmith1199 wrote:

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.

Hence why I said Fiberglass stands up better.

msmith1199 wrote:
I am curious, if you are looking to buy a motorhome why would you specifically want a rubber roof over a fiberglass roof?

I don't. I have a friend that has had trouble with his fiberglass roof and I was trying to point out to him that the industry has gone to fiberglass. He is thinking about putting a rubber on his unit that now has fiberglass. Mine has fiberglass and I love it. My searchers have discovered that the ones that do have rubber or top are entry level units.

Oh, that makes sense then. I don't know what trouble he has been having, but my fiberglass roof has been pretty much trouble free for ten years. I've had leaks that I have had to fix and I've replaced the calking a few times, but that's the holes cut in the fiberglass that have caused that and not any failure of the fiberglass itself.

My RV is considered a entry level type diesel pusher. At the time I bought it I had narrowed my selection down to a Fleetwood Bounder DP and the National Tropical DP. The only significant difference between the two was the National had a fiberglass roof and a steel frame. The Bounder had a rubber roof and an aluminum frame. Those two reasons (mostly the roof) are the reason I went with the National.