Front fiberglass cap and rear cap, how essential?

Based on my experience with an old Holiday with front and rear caps, the current Jayco with neither, and conversation with an RV repair shop:

Front Cap is an Essential (or on the flip side, Deal Breaker)

Rear Cap would be Nice to Have. As Ron Dittmer points out, a Five-Sided Cap (picture a shoe box lid and count the surfaces) provides better sealing AND moves stress away from the square corners. That said, the rear of the RV is more stable than a Class C overhang, and we don't drive backwards into a rainstorm.

j-d wrote:
Based on my experience with an old Holiday with front and rear caps, the current Jayco with neither, and conversation with an RV repair shop:

Front Cap is an Essential (or on the flip side, Deal Breaker)

Rear Cap would be Nice to Have. As Ron Dittmer points out, a Five-Sided Cap (picture a shoe box lid and count the surfaces) provides better sealing AND moves stress away from the square corners. That said, the rear of the RV is more stable than a Class C overhang, and we don't drive backwards into a rainstorm.

I agree with j-d.

For me, a seamless front cap is absolutely essential. But I do understand that not everyone can or is even willing to spend a lot extra to get such a unit. If buying a new unit with seam work up front, be very watchful throughout your ownership. If buying an older such used unit, beware, be paranoid, do a very thorough & detailed inspection, both with the eyes as well as the nose. If it looks great but smells moldy, be kind but walk away.

The older the unit, the more prone to seam breaching. I have read on this forum of a few people who have hit an extremely bad bump in the road to find the jolt separated the rear seamed wall from the base or sides. The 5 sided rear cap reduces that threat significantly.

It's all about long term shell integrity.

A front cap if installed properly should help reduce the problems with leaks in the cabover section, unless you come across a problem as in this thread which I imagine most on here have seen.

Mich F wrote:
A front cap if installed properly should help reduce the problems with leaks in the cabover section, unless you come across a problem as in this thread which I imagine most on here have seen.

That is a very sad story.

We selected a B+ for us which further reduces the threat of water, this assumes our RV manufacture did their job right. Seven years so far so good for us and just about everyone else I know with a Phoenix Cruiser.

A B+ is always the better choice unless you absolutely need the extra sleeping area only a C can offer. Then go seamless. The frontal overhang will still be hard on the rig with all the diving board movement, but if seamless you have less worries. Born Free and Winnebago View are two such seamless Cs. But there are others too. Unfortunately they come at a price.

I own and am currently rebuilding a 1975/76 Amerigo truck camper with a FULL front (fiberglass) cabover cap. Probably one of the first front caps in the RV industry. I ripped everything out for the remodel and I can tell you there was NOT one ounce of water damage in the entire cabover. Dry as when it was built 40 years ago. I would only hope that the front caps will be as beneficial in todays motorhome and truck camper cabovers. I wouldn't buy an RV taht didn't have the front cap and or the fiberglass roof.

Wagonqueen Truckster wrote:
I own and am currently rebuilding a 1975/76 Amerigo truck camper with a FULL front (fiberglass) cabover cap. Probably one of the first front caps in the RV industry. I ripped everything out for the remodel and I can tell you there was NOT one ounce of water damage in the entire cabover. Dry as when it was built 40 years ago. I would only hope that the front caps will be as beneficial in todays motorhome and truck camper cabovers. I wouldn't buy an RV taht didn't have the front cap and or the fiberglass roof.

Bravo! Good for you. A near 40 year old class-C without water damage. A first-hand testimony to the long term benefits of a seamless front cap and fiberglass roof.

yeah... but I am surprised that the RV industry wants to build RV's with quality?

Sad to say our front cap is not fiberglass. A hail storm that pelted our cars, house roof and vinyl siding left several dents in the aluminum skin of the front cap. The rubber roof and roof top fixtures held up fine but the wind blown hail peppered front cap. I took insurance money as decreased value and did not fix since dents are only cosmetic. I did not want shop tearing into cap to replace aluminum panels and it end up leaking. I'd bet a fiberglass cap would not have dented.

The repair on cars was amazing...shop "popped" them out from underside and you can't tell they were ever there! The had to drill 2 small hole in underside of trunk lid to get tool in but plugged it nicely.

I have a one piece fiberglass front cap on my 2013 Winnebago Access 31WP (also still available on 2014 model) I do not have a leak concern for the life of this MH.

As an added benefit, although no scientific evidence, this cap is possibly more aerodynamic than my 2008 Access 31J. Nearly identical weight for both, yet 2013 (E450 w/6000 miles) gets 8-11 mpg and 2008 (E450 w/11,000 miles) got 6-9 mpg, both towing dolly with Jetta TDI.

I believe mpg is variable due to many factors such as; load, speed, fuel/oil quality, temperature/wind, elevation, tire pressure and engine condition. Hard to tell but this unit definitely has higher mpg.

I'll let you know in a few years.

In a day or two we are trading in our leak-free B+ with full front shell, and getting a C with just the basic wraparound fiberglass cap on the front of the cabover. I would have loved to get a full front shell, but we compromised in favor of other good things.