trailer siding??Is one better than the other?

Bumpyroad wrote:

jfkmk wrote:
The pros is they don't delaminate and they are easier to fix. Dents can be repaired easily where the fiberglass requires a more extensive repair.

just exactly how do you repair about a billion pock marks in the side of a RV, easily?
bumpy

Don't know. I don't think I've ever seen a billion pock marks on the side of an rv.

My low cost entry level aluminum is doing just fine. No delamination, no real dents, have not washed it much. The stickers OTOH... wish I had peeled those off by the second year.

If I had a choice today it would be aluminum sides and aluminum framing.

jfkmk wrote:
The pros is they don't delaminate and they are easier to fix. Dents can be repaired easily where the fiberglass requires a more extensive repair.

just exactly how do you repair about a billion pock marks in the side of a RV, easily?
bumpy

I have a question between the two differences. With the kid that was killed due "hot skin" was his rv aluminum sided or fiberglass sided? And would it make a difference either way?

DrTanTodd wrote:
You will get a better rate on your insurance with Fiberglass siding due aluminum denting in hail. The downside of fiberglass is it is heavier.

As the owner of a vehicle that suffered $4000 worth of hail damage, I can assure you that the hail damage is typically on the horizontal surfaces rather than the vertical surfaces where fiberglass or aluminum would make a difference. I've never heard of corvettes getting an insurance break because they have fiberglass bodies!
The aluminum sided rv's seem to be at the lower end or entry level. I have one and have no issues with it. The cons is they can dent. The pros is they don't delaminate and they are easier to fix. Dents can be repaired easily where the fiberglass requires a more extensive repair.

The differences are more than skin deep.

In many, but not all cases, the different siding materials reflect totally different methods of construction. Many aluminum sided Travel trailers are stick-built like a house, framing in either wood or aluminum. Most plastic covered travel trailers are assembled from pre-built laminated panels, with skin on foam core providing basic strength, reinforced by metal perimeter frames and some internal framing, but not as much framing as a stick built trailer.

Some stick-built or framed TTs offer fiberglass skin as an upgrade option, and many premium or custom built RVs of all types use composite skins of some type over framing, but laminated panel costruction is common on most mass production RVs from just above entry priced to the top of the price scale.

Generally, laminated panels can be shown to have an order of magnitude more stiffness than a stand-alone framed wall, but the strengths of a complete RV structures depend more on how walls, floors, roofs and ends are fastened together, and the best framed RVs are possibly more solild than the most rigid models assembled from panels. These forums contain a number of posts about laminated walls separating from there attachment to the edge of the floor frame, or the ceiling to wall joints opening under the stress of travel or loads carried.

Stll, my choice, If I can't get what I want with fully-molded hulls, will be the box assembled from laminated panels. But I pay attention to assembly detail, and want interlocking frame parts, rather than reliance solely on a few handfuls of metal screws.

You will get a better rate on your insurance with Fiberglass siding due aluminum denting in hail. The downside of fiberglass is it is heavier.