RV manufacturers, I am calling you out

DrewE wrote:

toedtoes wrote:

pnichols wrote:
There is a great point buried in what you say above.

One SHOULDN'T HAVE TO do all that maintenance to properly take care of and own a "typical U.S. built RV". I read a lot of comments continuously in these forums on what owners do to take care of their rigs ... sometimes almost sounding proud with respect to how they religiously do this and that on their RVs maintenance-wise and improvement-wise. I scratch my head in wonder at this kind of talk. A case in point ... when is the last time you had to pull maintenance on your pickup truck's or SUV's roof or windows to make sure they didn't develop a leak???? (Please don't deflect by excusing RV manufacturers with statements like "but a big box full of stuff bouncing down the highway is different than your pickup truck or SUV or stick house").

I think there is truth in this. However, I also think a big difference is in how they are used. A car/truck/SUV is driven much more regularly over its life, whether it's a lot of driving or a little, it is pretty well spread out (the old lady who only drives it to church on Sundays vs. the commuter car that gets driven everyday). An RV in contrast is used in batches. The first year you may use it for 3 weeks straight, then every other weekend for 3 months and then it sits for 4 months, then it goes out for 6 weeks straight, then sits for 2 months, and so on. And if life gets in the way, it can sit for a year or more - whereas your car will continue to be used.

A car sitting unused would not develop roof leaks any more than one being used weekly would. The main difference between car (and van and pickup) roofs and RV roofs is the construction methods used to build them. Cars, etc. are metal sheets, stamped and welded together into a single structure, rather than having individual parts that are pieced together with seams that are caulked to be waterproof. I suspect that stamped metal body components for RVs are impractical because the production volumes are far, far too low to cover the tool and die costs, doubly so given the large sizes that would be required.

Many decades ago car bodies were built up more like RV bodies, and they did suffer from the same basic problems of leaky seams. A few RVs are built with seamless roof structures (including having no seams at the edges), and they generally don't have these sorts of leakage problems...except where there have to be holes in the roof for vent pipes and vents and the like. Car sunroofs, for that matter, can also be somewhat leak-prone, at least comparatively speaking.

I would love to own a motorhome with a solid, welded up unibody structure similar to a car. I doubt I could afford to buy such a machine.

As you mention, cars with sunroofs, convertibles, etc., are more likely to have leak issues, especially if sitting out unused for long periods of time.

My point was simply that a level of maintenance and regular "checking in" is required for anything if it's left to sit for long periods of time or you can expect to see damage (whether it's leaks, rodents, mold, deterioration, etc.).

Again, that's not saying that the manufacturers aren't building junk - they are. But, that junk continues to sell because size and price outweighs quality for the majority of folks.

My clipper is 5 pieces of molded fiberglass with no edge seams. It is so much easier to maintain than my old TT with the edge seams that needed recaulking every year. If I were to buy something else, it would be a molded fiberglass TT like the Escape.