Atlee wrote:
By the way, an aluminum roof is not perfect either. If the aluminum roof stays in contact with an exposed screw or staple, a tiny pin hole will develop.
When Hi-Lo trailers were still being manufactured, they had this problem. Hi-Lo didn't cover the screws/staples used to hold the wood roof down from the aluminum roof they used. A lot of their trailers developed a line of pin holes the entire length of the trailer.
Also, a 12 year warranty for a roof also doesn't mean it will self destruct the day after the 12 warranty expires.
Camper G wrote:
Thanks for your thoughts. Lots of good information. I'll have to give it some thought. I sent an email to jayco last night to see if they'd build me one with an aluminum roof. I'm not holding my breath, but figured it wouldn't hurt to ask. The original roof on my 27 yr old Layton is in great shape yet (not coated either ) that says a lot. No leaks either. I just check the calk joints up there 2 times per year and fix any that are questionable with dicor.
I'd gladly pay extra for the aluminum too. I think a lot of others would too. At least any who want to keep their rigs more than 10yrs.
I understand and agree there is no perfect roofing material, that's for sure. I have all the fasteners on the roof of the Layton well coated with di-cor lap sealant and i inspect and repair those calk joints twice per year as necessary. I also understand that the tpo roof may not fail at 12yrs and 1 day, but we know it will eventually fail. I guess that's my concern. Buying a trailer new that has a roof with a finite life bothers me because i like to keep things for awhile. I've been a member of this fourm for severalv years now and I've read thread after thread about rubber roof issues. Lifting, getting punctured or torn by tree branches , etc, then you have to repair or replace and it's very costly.
The Layton has some issues and that's why we're thinking about going a little bigger.
Agree 100% with the post about towing with half ton trucks. That's exact why i want to stay at or under 7,000 lbs GVWR on any we look at. I won't consider any heavier than that, or longer than the Jayco 26bh.
I had a 1987 wilderness yukon 26' basement model back in the day. It was 6800 GVWR and i pulled it with a 1989 Chevrolet Silverado 4x4 sclb. It pulled it ok but up in the mountains she got hot on the long grades and it was flat to the floor pulling some of them to the top. I said back then i will have more margin than that on anything i own in the future. That Yukon was a nice rig though, for sure.
