Delamination

[camperdave]

Here's a pic of a motorhome I'm looking at for purchase.



Is there any chance that this in NOT caused by a water leak? No signs of water staining or damage inside, but I know full well that a little damage on the outside can lead to bad things when digging deeper.

If it's 100% for sure water damage, I'm out. If there's a chance it's from heat or failed glue or something else, I'll look closer and see what I can tell before walking away.

[dougrainer]

The most common cause of delam on c body's is the front overhead Cab window. They ALL leak eventually. One of the reasons many C Body makers, quit installing windows in the cab over when Filon was used. Now, they have better designed Cab over windows and usually they are installed on Fiberglass Caps and not laminated Filon, like in the Pic. Doug

[camperdave]

Sold before I got there. Wasn't meant to be!

[camperdave]

Chum lee wrote:
What does the opposite side look like? Any other evidence of delam on the outer shell?

Chum lee

I'm going to see it in person tomorrow. My hopes are low, but I'll be in the area anyway so may as well check it out.

[Chum_lee]

What does the opposite side look like? Any other evidence of delam on the outer shell?

Chum lee

[fourthclassC]

Bought one with about that much delam. Perhaps some more. Repaired it successfully, but it was a great deal of work. I can share my methods if interested. But I want to mention the aluminium molding is terribly in in adaquate to maintain watertight joint (intersection of vertical and horizontal surfaces) I have recently seen custom made aluminium molding to resolve this issue. It is what needs to be done to permenently fix it. In my case I caulked the daylights out of that area and put Eternabond under the molding, because I could not get wider stuff.

[Jayco-noslide]

Regardless of the cause, If it looks like the outer layer is pulling loose I would pass. Our 2003 Class C developed some serious delam and my son did repair it very well with an on-line kit. But it was by an edge so some places would be much more difficult. I would be afraid any delam would be just a warning of things to come.

[Gjac]

It looks to me that there is about a 2 in uniform delamination around the 90 degree corner joint. Glue failure usually does not bubble like that so it looks to me like water intrusion. 90 degree corners do not transition the load as well as radius corners that is why you see molded front and rear caps on better built RV's. Having said that I would not hesitate to buy that MH for the right price and fix it. That corner molding is easy to remove the any loose or expanded luan can be removed with a putty knife and the exterior skin re bonded with either epoxy or polyurethane adhesive. It is probably less than a days job.

[MudChucker]

It doesn't matter what the cause is, it's delam. If you get a great deal and you're handy, buy it and fix it.

However... Keep in mind that your insurance company may view that as existing damage, and any claim may result in a total loss if the are of previous damage is part of the claim. Your insurance pay out may also be affected, for example why pay to fix a dent on a fender that's already dented?... Food for thought.

[stew47]

I bought a used Winnebago with Delam. I’ll never do that again. The project cost way more and took way longer than I thought it would. However if you have the time and they are giving away..... I don’t meqn a few bucks off I mean thousands off then at least you know what it’s gonna take.

[ScottG]

It may not be water related as they had some glue issues back then but it's still delam. I would pass her up.

[T18skyguy]

Somebody forgot to caulk the seams.

[camperdave]

garyemunson wrote:
Do you want to go RVing or do you like to work on them?

Well, to be honest I enjoy both :B

But my current trailer has provided plenty of water damage repair, I'd rather not tackle it again. I'll go look at this one but unless i'm able to get it real low I'll pass.

On the other hand, it does sort of feel inevitable. And if I can get a few $$ off for the damage, that's better than buying another motorhome then finding the water damage later, lol.

Buying used is always so interesting!

[Joe417]

On the other hand, I bought our camper with identical issues on the front left cab over. De-lamination a bit larger than the size of my hand plus a couple of other smaller issues. Intended to repair it as I've done a couple of jobs like that.

Ended up sealing the leak temporarily(clearance lights). 5 years later no other issues and still haven't reworked the corner.

It's a great camper for us. We're just using it. Saved a lot of money compared to the market prices for the same camper at that time.

As others have said, you don't know what's underneath the skin so you would need to make a judgement call. If you were to need it repaired, it's a cheap fix only if you do it yourself. If you hire someone else to do it your talking about a lot of money.

[garyemunson]

Do you want to go RVing or do you like to work on them?