Aluminum or fiberglass trailer
I currently have an aluminum side camper and have no issues with it. I am looking into trading and I am wondering what you see as the pros and cons of either aluminum sideline or fiberglass. My concer...
Forum Discussion
not to chase down the change of subject...
but years ago I read that aluminum frame trailers were warrantied for 3 years, and wood for 5 years. Why? Wood can bend and sway and is easy to repair. Aluminum will eventually crack if it is flexed enough times, and is not cheap and is not easy to repair.
The 3 and 5 years is specific to one brand, so no need to challenge that, lol.
As long as the water is kept out then wood is fine, and keeping water out is the #1 priority of any RV owner.
Water damage is almost always why delam happens. Water damage is almost always from degraded sealant at the seams.
You have to do maintenance on the caulked seams. We cannot over-stress this enough.
Aluminum frames are great conductors of heat. The sun hits the wall, the aluminum conducts the heat to the interior wall and heats up the inside. Wood does not do this.
Someone mentioned "gel-coat" No, that is boat construction like Bigfoot campers or the Burrito-style campers. That is fiberglass, but is not fiberglass sheets. Those are two different things. I have not seen issues on a fibegalss panel as the gel coat boat campers have. I would much rather have a boat-like build than a frame and panel build though.
I have flipped a bunch of Rvs, and spend time in junk yards scaviging things off old campers. I have kicked, hammered and torn up my share of wood build campers. It is amazing how strong the wood is. They build it with cheap furring strips and use cheap brad nails, no glue, to hold it together and I have to muscle it a lot to break it apart. Wood is plenty strong until it gets wet.
but years ago I read that aluminum frame trailers were warrantied for 3 years, and wood for 5 years. Why? Wood can bend and sway and is easy to repair. Aluminum will eventually crack if it is flexed enough times, and is not cheap and is not easy to repair.
The 3 and 5 years is specific to one brand, so no need to challenge that, lol.
As long as the water is kept out then wood is fine, and keeping water out is the #1 priority of any RV owner.
Water damage is almost always why delam happens. Water damage is almost always from degraded sealant at the seams.
You have to do maintenance on the caulked seams. We cannot over-stress this enough.
Aluminum frames are great conductors of heat. The sun hits the wall, the aluminum conducts the heat to the interior wall and heats up the inside. Wood does not do this.
Someone mentioned "gel-coat" No, that is boat construction like Bigfoot campers or the Burrito-style campers. That is fiberglass, but is not fiberglass sheets. Those are two different things. I have not seen issues on a fibegalss panel as the gel coat boat campers have. I would much rather have a boat-like build than a frame and panel build though.
I have flipped a bunch of Rvs, and spend time in junk yards scaviging things off old campers. I have kicked, hammered and torn up my share of wood build campers. It is amazing how strong the wood is. They build it with cheap furring strips and use cheap brad nails, no glue, to hold it together and I have to muscle it a lot to break it apart. Wood is plenty strong until it gets wet.
