Clear film

[sunnybrooktoyha]

My wife and I are picking up our new tiffin phaeton next week. I read in the posts in the past about a clear film put on the front. 1 what is the manufacture. 2 is it worth it. Thanks in advance.

[Cloud_Dancer]

2gypsies wrote:
Cloud Dancer: You were building your MH at the same time we were. I followed your build on the Newmar owner's site. You were very detailed-oriented. You have complained about it for 13 years. Is there anything you like about it? 🙂

We had absolutely no problems with ours including the fiberglass roof or the Diamond Shield.

First of all, I am NOT offended by your questions. But, they do raise at least a few questions in my mind.
I started "building" my special-ordered Dutch Star in 2002, at the point in time which corresponded to Newmar's announcement of a new all-fiberglass roof for the 2003 Dutch Star, Plus a new design for the front cap, Plus a bedroom slide WIDE enough to accommodate a KING size bed, PLUS a new design for their all-paint exterior, PLUS other features. My timeline must have been different than yours, as it appears that the above major reasons were major in establishing the fact that mine was built in February/March of 2003, at which time I picked it up at the factory. THAT'S why mine is a 2003 year model. Whereas yours is a 2004 year model. When did you pick yours up?
Another thing, in order to answer your question about what I DO like about my Dutch Star. There's way too MANY things to list here. But, I will put it this way; Through the years, I have stated (on these forums) that my Dutch Star is a "keeper". I'll explain it this way: On the satisfaction scale, I would say that I rate my Dutch Star at approximately 90%. Keep in mind that MUCH of my Dutch Star, in this 90%, consists of materials and components which were NOT manufactured by Newmar. I'm specially happy with the Spartan chassis(except the grease seals on the front-suspension ball joints).
I might even sent you a list of many of the things that NEWMAR got RIGHT, in producing my Dutch Star.
On the roof question: I'm going to say that YOUR fiberglass roof is a different design than mine.
Did you not see the photos of how my Diamond Shield looked, and how difficult it was to remove? Perhaps, the Diamond Shield on yous is the updated version OR installed using a different procedure?
Thanks for the inquiry.

[2gypsies1]

Cloud Dancer: You were building your MH at the same time we were. I followed your build on the Newmar owner's site. You were very detailed-oriented. You have complained about it for 13 years. Is there anything you like about it? 🙂

We had absolutely no problems with ours including the fiberglass roof or the Diamond Shield.

[eheading]

We have liked Diamond Shield on two motorhomes enough that when we bought a new car for a toad, we actually had the DIamond Shield nano-fusion film put on the front of it.

Ed Headington

[Cloud_Dancer]

The old Diamond Shield was truly substandard, and they wouldn't do anything to satisfy me. Of course, they certainly knew about the error of their ways. Why else would they be saying they have a new improved version?
BTW it took me a long time, and hard working too, in order to remove it.

[Freightguy]

My phaeton came with the 3m mask, its is a good product but we only got about 6 years out of it. I took off a small section of it to do a paint repair and it came off fairly easy, then when it went bad and looked moldy it was incredibly hard to get off and would crack & tear into small pieces. Took forever to get it off. I dont miss it however, if I had it great, if not thats fine too.

[Snomas]

I have had a "clear bra" on my front for 12 years and never have any issues w/ it. I think it's a 3M product but not sure. I use the same on my Explorer toad.

[RayChez]

Some will swear by it and some hate it. I have seen some coaches where it looks terrible and I do not blame the owners for being upset. So again some are good and some are bad. LUCK goes a long ways on these motor homes.

I never wanted it on my coach, so when I bought my coach new I had the Acrylic shield by Summit Products custom made. We love it!

[Blaster_Man]

Older coach had Diamond Shield, newer coach has Dura Shield. Don't know if the newer is better...or cheaper.

http://durashieldppfs.com/

[FIRE_UP]

sunnybrooktoyhauler wrote:
My wife and I are picking up our new tiffin phaeton next week. I read in the posts in the past about a clear film put on the front. 1 what is the manufacture. 2 is it worth it. Thanks in advance.

Well, I cannot tell you if your coach will come with or without it from the factory. And, also, as you can read, there are some that have had good luck with it and, it still looks good on their coaches even after a few years. And, there are some that have had "not so" good luck and, issues have arisen.

There are a few issues with this protective coating. It's really rare that it's installed incorrectly. It's basically just like Vinyl stickers on cars/trucks/motor homes etc. Any installer that knows anything about the application technique will know how to prep a surface and apply the material without any bubbles, wrinkles, or debris "under" the coating.

Sometimes, you'll see botchy brown "mold" starting to occur in various spots. On others, we've seen serious cracking, as in it looked like chicken scratches in all directions. And it wasn't from bad maintenance. Many think too much direct sunlight can cause many of the issues with it.

Our coach, an '04 Itasca Horizon 36GD with the C-7 330HP CAT, is a full body painted coach and, it has the clear film on it. At present, and, 11 years old, that film is in flawless condition. I will ad, that we are the fourth owners and, this coach has been kept under a cover or, a garage, it's whole life.

Anyway, this was just to let you know and or, be aware of, "POTENTIAL" issues, that may, or may not appear at a later date in your new coach with this film. Todays film might be chemically better than yesteryears films.
Scott

[BobGed]

The new Diamond Shield Nano is a much improved product over what they had prior to 2011 or 2012. Tiffin had to replace the sidewalls on my coach so I elected to go with a different color arrangement, which of course meant repainting the front and rear caps. I had the Nano version installed and it's like another layer of clear coat.

I have friends that have removed their 3M or older Diamond Shield and now have a lot of chips and dings in their paint.

Like Don said, if you take care of it properly it will hold up fine.

[DSDP_Don]

"sunnybrooktoyhauler".....If you take care of it, it will last a long time. Use a soft microfiber cloth mitt to wash it, rather than an RV brush. Wax it like you would the rest of the RV.

Before very trip, I either wax it, use 303 or spray Pledge on it. It only takes a few minutes, but the bugs will come right off during or after the trip, depending on how long your gone. Never scrub the plastic to remove anything, soak it and wash it off. Scrubbing will cause hairline scratches that will look bad in a few years.

[Teacher_s_Pet]

Our Phaeton is 11 years old with 115,000 miles. The Diamond Shield is getting pretty bad with mold underneath. At present it looks like bugs smashed all over. Darker mold is showing up behind the mirror arms where the film is "shaded" most of the time. Saw a similar vintage Discovery this week that was tan with dark brown staining under the plastic film on front. Hopefully we can get it in for removal and replacement this summer while in Elkhart.

[2gypsies1]

We loved our Diamond Shield and after 8 years of full-timing in it, it still looked new. Bugs came off without effort.

I notice that folks in humid areas have the most problems with it and mold. We were in the West and didn't have that problem. Also, you have to keep it clean and that helps with small dust particles getting around the edges and mold starting.

We spent a summer in Alaska and got no dings on the front of the motorhome as others did. We'd definitely have it again.

[wildtoad]

Some people like others hate it after a while. My new Newmar has it and it looks like **** so I'm having the dealer remove it. Don't know if it was a bad install or what.