Winnebago Adventurer Roof issues

[fenwickfam]

Hi there! I'm hoping somebody out there has some insight for us on this topic:
We have a 2005 Winnebago Adventurer 38J
Over this past weekend (a very windy weekend, I might add!), we were traveling south on I-29. As a semi went by us (we were only traveling around 50 mph due to wind and visibility), we heard a noise. I told my husband that I thought he had blew a tire, as it was a sound I hadn't heard before. When he went to pull off at the exit, we heard an awful sound from above (like somebody wobbling a piece of sheet metal). When we got out of the MH to look, the tires were all fine, however, the roof wasn't. The roof had came out of the seam from above the driver door to behind the front slide out. I called our insurance company, who told us to secure it as much as we possibly could, and continue to drive it.
We used tape (all we had available) and drove it to the nearest campground. I spoke with the insurance company again on Saturday. Of course, no adjuster available, so was told to try to drive it home, and yes, they would still cover the damage if we drove it home. As we headed north on a back highway, the wind was once again terrible from the west, once again hitting us on the driver side. This time, it got under the tape, picked up the roof and tore it. Once again, I climbed up and taped it down as best I could... we turned around and went south and dropped the MH at our sons place, because there was no way we could get it home without even more damage.
Now, our insurance company today tells me that this is a common issue with Winnebago Adventurer roofs, and that they may not cover it.
Has anybody else run in to this problem? Is this a common Winnebago Adventurer problem? I did call one Winnebago dealer service shop that said that they are unaware of this being a common problem.
I would like any information anyone could help me with to argue with the insurance company about coverage on this.
Unfortunate timing, as I am changing insurance companies to the Good Sam Insurance as of October 4th. However, that doesn't change the fact that this occurred while under this insurance company.
Thanks for any information!!

[DryCreek]

Bruce Brown wrote:
But the fact of the matter is if the sealant goes bad and wind enters , it has been proven in some cases to peel the roof off, as was the original issue in this thread and confirmed again with the pictures Mike posted.

If as an RV buyer you're OK with this design then great - it's your money. I would not be OK with this design, and I can't think too many people who know about this PRIOR to buying one would look at that and say "Yes, that's a great design and what I want on my next MH". Unfortunately too many consumers are unaware.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the roof didn't "peel off". Only the edges popped out of a channel that runs the length of the coach. You simply tuck it back into the channel and reseal with the recommended urethane. It should be a pretty simple task to lean over and lift up slightly with one hand and re-insert the flap and run it down until it comes to the front or rear cap. Then you seal it up. Didn't you watch the Winnebago factory tour on You Tube and see that part? Of course you'll have to endure their sales pitch on who they are better than "the other coach assemblers", but it was very informative to see how they assembled the roof. I bet it would be much easier of you have one of their specially modified float trowels to zip the flap in like they did in the video.

[Bruce_Brown]

Mile High wrote:

Bruce Brown wrote:
But the fact of the matter is if the sealant goes bad and wind enters , it has been proven in some cases to peel the roof off, as was the original issue in this thread and confirmed again with the pictures Mike posted.

As is the case with many, many RV roofs - I'm not sure why this is such a big deal with some. If you inspect it and keep it in good shape it is a great roof, and leaps and bounds over rubber which is standard on a lot of MHs - but some folks never let us poor Winnie owners forget that you Newmar Gods are headed for a higher heaven than the rest of us are headed. I'm pretty sure your sewer hoses don't smell either.

Can you please find me another example of a MOTORHOME loosing its roof - especially a fiberglass roof? Or another example of a company issuing a TSB to add Eternabond to fix their roof?

As has been shown, it's pretty easy to find the Winnie examples.

[Mile_High]

Bruce Brown wrote:
But the fact of the matter is if the sealant goes bad and wind enters , it has been proven in some cases to peel the roof off, as was the original issue in this thread and confirmed again with the pictures Mike posted.

As is the case with many, many RV roofs - I'm not sure why this is such a big deal with some. If you inspect it and keep it in good shape it is a great roof, and leaps and bounds over rubber which is standard on a lot of MHs - but some folks never let us poor Winnie owners forget that you Newmar Gods are headed for a higher heaven than the rest of us are headed. I'm pretty sure your sewer hoses don't smell either.

[Jim]

Back in '16, Winnie sent out recall notices to certain '15 model year owners about the roof. Winnebago put Eternabond on the roof edges as the fix. The thread is on iRV2 from back in '16 but I forgot to copy the link and lost it.

But that kind of suggests Winnie does know that there's a problem, and the shade tree fix we're all using, Eternabond, is appropriate.

[Bruce_Brown]

But the fact of the matter is if the sealant goes bad and wind enters , it has been proven in some cases to peel the roof off, as was the original issue in this thread and confirmed again with the pictures Mike posted.

If as an RV buyer you're OK with this design then great - it's your money. I would not be OK with this design, and I can't think too many people who know about this PRIOR to buying one would look at that and say "Yes, that's a great design and what I want on my next MH". Unfortunately too many consumers are unaware.

[Mile_High]

Gjac wrote:

Mile High wrote:

Gjac wrote:
I think what some are missing in this thread is even though there are no structural loads going through that lap joint there is probably 1-2 psi air loads at 60 mph. That does not seem like a lot until you look at the surface of the roof which is a huge area. Adhesives are strong in tension compression and shear but very weak in peel. Once an edge begins to peel your see what Mike posted above. I don't know the caulking/adhesive that Winnebago recommends but even with good structural adhesives "chicken fasteners" (rivets) are used to eliminate the peel forces in composite airframes. Once an owner fully understands this issue things like extra eternabond or a compression strip with screws can be added or just check it every 6 mos and recaulk. I would feel safer with the first two options.

Well we aren't talking airplanes here - so lets not try to use fasteners for something never intended to be fastened that way. Using rivets on this edge is the first step in tearing the fiberglass, and that would be an expensive repair. There isn't enough edge. The best option is to maintain the existing design and don't ignore it. Last I checked, thats how those aircraft mechanics find those cracks and tears in their own riveted systems.

This all really just a regurgitation of what is already discussed in the beginning of this thread.

Fasteners are used all the time on fiber glass parts. My F/G roof on my Class B van was was secured with screws just like my current rubber roof is now, without tearing the FG. This tread is not about which is better a FG roof or rubber/TPO roof it is about Winnebago roofs coming loose and and what a owner can do to fix it. My intent is not to argue with you about this roof design.

Well I certainly would disagree with you - This is not an application where screws would improve the design, and this is a very expensive roof to destroy with bad advise.

[Gjac]

Mile High wrote:

Gjac wrote:
I think what some are missing in this thread is even though there are no structural loads going through that lap joint there is probably 1-2 psi air loads at 60 mph. That does not seem like a lot until you look at the surface of the roof which is a huge area. Adhesives are strong in tension compression and shear but very weak in peel. Once an edge begins to peel your see what Mike posted above. I don't know the caulking/adhesive that Winnebago recommends but even with good structural adhesives "chicken fasteners" (rivets) are used to eliminate the peel forces in composite airframes. Once an owner fully understands this issue things like extra eternabond or a compression strip with screws can be added or just check it every 6 mos and recaulk. I would feel safer with the first two options.

Well we aren't talking airplanes here - so lets not try to use fasteners for something never intended to be fastened that way. Using rivets on this edge is the first step in tearing the fiberglass, and that would be an expensive repair. There isn't enough edge. The best option is to maintain the existing design and don't ignore it. Last I checked, thats how those aircraft mechanics find those cracks and tears in their own riveted systems.

This all really just a regurgitation of what is already discussed in the beginning of this thread.

Fasteners are used all the time on fiber glass parts. My F/G roof on my Class B van was was secured with screws just like my current rubber roof is now, without tearing the FG. This tread is not about which is better a FG roof or rubber/TPO roof it is about Winnebago roofs coming loose and and what a owner can do to fix it. My intent is not to argue with you about this roof design.

[Effy]

mike brez wrote:

Mile High wrote:

mike brez wrote:
IMHO it is a sh!t design.

Ya, it's almost as bad as a rubber roof design.

Yep had one of those never again.

'

Never has an issue with the tpo roofs on either of our MH's.

[mike_brez]

Mile High wrote:

mike brez wrote:
IMHO it is a sh!t design.

Ya, it's almost as bad as a rubber roof design.

Yep had one of those never again.

[Mile_High]

mike brez wrote:
IMHO it is a sh!t design.

Ya, it's almost as bad as a rubber roof design.

[mike_brez]

IMHO it is a sh!t design.

[Mile_High]

Gjac wrote:
I think what some are missing in this thread is even though there are no structural loads going through that lap joint there is probably 1-2 psi air loads at 60 mph. That does not seem like a lot until you look at the surface of the roof which is a huge area. Adhesives are strong in tension compression and shear but very weak in peel. Once an edge begins to peel your see what Mike posted above. I don't know the caulking/adhesive that Winnebago recommends but even with good structural adhesives "chicken fasteners" (rivets) are used to eliminate the peel forces in composite airframes. Once an owner fully understands this issue things like extra eternabond or a compression strip with screws can be added or just check it every 6 mos and recaulk. I would feel safer with the first two options.

Well we aren't talking airplanes here - so lets not try to use fasteners for something never intended to be fastened that way. Using rivets on this edge is the first step in tearing the fiberglass, and that would be an expensive repair. There isn't enough edge. The best option is to maintain the existing design and don't ignore it. Last I checked, thats how those aircraft mechanics find those cracks and tears in their own riveted systems.

This all really just a regurgitation of what is already discussed in the beginning of this thread.

[Jim]

Here's my blog post of what I did with my '02 Winnie Journey's roof...

Roof maintenance...before a disaster.

There's some pictures. Hopefully, I did the right thing in the right places.

[Gjac]

I think what some are missing in this thread is even though there are no structural loads going through that lap joint there is probably 1-2 psi air loads at 60 mph. That does not seem like a lot until you look at the surface of the roof which is a huge area. Adhesives are strong in tension compression and shear but very weak in peel. Once an edge begins to peel your see what Mike posted above. I don't know the caulking/adhesive that Winnebago recommends but even with good structural adhesives "chicken fasteners" (rivets) are used to eliminate the peel forces in composite airframes. Once an owner fully understands this issue things like extra eternabond or a compression strip with screws can be added or just check it every 6 mos and recaulk. I would feel safer with the first two options.

[mike_brez]