11 or 12 year old camper

Wagonqueen Truckster wrote:
. And what is your reference about a unit that fell apart 12 years ago?

we were told by a fiberglass hater that they won't last for over 30 years. that one hit that mark 12 years ago.
bumpy

Original fiberglass. Havent done anything to the fiberglass except polish it every 3 years with floor wax. I have owned it since 2013. Yes, I had to rebuilt the frame and interior from the typical leakage around the fridge vent and the snap n nap, in the back. But my point is, there is zero leaks through the fiberglass itself. And what is your reference about a unit that fell apart 12 years ago?

Bumpyroad wrote:

nice looking unit for one that "fell apart" 12 years ago. :)
bumpy

Oh my...still laughing

Wagonqueen Truckster wrote:


42 year old fiberglass roof and cabover. Zero leaks.

nice looking unit for one that "fell apart" 12 years ago. :)
bumpy

Is that original 42 years old gellcote?
Any chalking? Picture does not show much how the fiberglass is holding.

42 year old fiberglass roof and cabover. Zero leaks.

IIRC years back when I was interested in an Airstream B van I went to their factory in Ohio to check them out. as I recall, they were made out of that horrible material, fiberglass.
also looked at their class As at the factory and the sales rep was not too enthusiastic about their quality.
:s
bumpy

Kayteg1 wrote:
Why do you think Airstream never changed their builds into much cheaper fiberglass?
Regardless high prices they survived when lot of fiberglass builders went bankrupt.

Actually, they didn't survive. At least, not all of their models did. They were reincarnated, right? I'm like most people that think Airstream stayed with aluminum because that is their niche. An equivalent rhetorical question is why doesn't everyone build RVs with aluminum?

Different isn't always better.

I guess the fiberglass TCs and boats you have seen/owned are different from those I have seen and owned. I am referring to molded fiberglass, not felon or fiberglass sheet.

Bumpyroad wrote:

jimh425 wrote:
Kayteg1, why do you think fiberglass doesn't last 30 years and aluminum would with the same level of care? You can easily see trashed aluminum campers all over the internet. Aluminum is susceptible to galvanic corrosion which fiberglass isn't.

.

also fiberglass boats last a long time, and they get 2 x the sun exposure as a fiberglass RV , direct and reflective, so a 15 year old boat would equal a 30 year old RV. My 20 year old fiberglass boat looks just fine when washed up.
bumpy

"Boat is a hole in water where you put your money in" ;)
Boats don't seat on 120F yards very often and comparing boat fiberglass to RV fiberglass is like comparing Caterpillar engine to Hyundai 4-banger.
Totally different build strength.
Why do you think Airstream never changed their builds into much cheaper fiberglass?
Regardless high prices they survived when lot of fiberglass builders went bankrupt.