Aluminum or wood frame?

[Camper76]

Look to purchase a new tt. We camp 3 to 4 times a year. We travel anywhere from 1-6 hrs away. We also looking to go cross country in the next few years. Wondering what's better aluminum or wood frame.
Thank you
Happy Camping

[FrankShore]

Lance uses aluminum framing with the aluminum coated with Alodine which helps to prevent corrosion:

Alodine Products

Lance also uses Azdel in the walls, which means a lot of things:

Azdel

And on the fiberglass, they use Lamimux 4000

Lamilux 4000

Lance's are light but built as strong as possible!

[Airstreamer67]

I bought a new 27-foot aluminum-framed Jayco featherweight in 2006 because I liked the smooth fiberglass construction and the light weight of the aluminum framed chassis.

This trailer has been great. The light weight makes a big difference when towing in the mountains, and the fiberglass looks as good as when it was on the dealer's lot.

I was going to buy a new Airstream, but the $17K the Jayco cost me was about what the depreciation loss would have been on the Airstream after five years or so. Besides, the Airstream was much heavier, which turned me off too.

[Bumpyroad]

what is the comparable timing between wood rotting out of control and aluminum disintegrating beyond repair?
bumpy

[rbpru]

Aluminum vs. wood makes for an interesting discussion but pales in comparison to proper floor plan.

If the floor plan is right. If the cost is right. If the TT weight is not an excess burden to the tow vehicle; then the choice of wood vs. aluminum might come into consideration.

Wood rots, aluminum corrodes, both of which are signs of water leaks which may ruin everything around them, regardless of what they are made of.

The manufacturer chooses wood or aluminum base on the manufacturing methods needed to meet their target design and market price.

[Atlee]

I went in the opposite direction recently. Went from an aluminum framed, azdel/fiberglass sided trailer w/ slide [Skyline Koala 21CS] to a wood framed, aluminum sided trailer w/o slide [Jayco 23RB].

I did it with eyes wide open. But every thing I've read/seen indicates if I'm pro-active with preventive maintenance, this new trailer should last a long time. At the end of the 2 year factory warranty, I should have an indication if I made a mistake or not.

[TurnThePage]

Bumpyroad wrote:

ScottG wrote:

SidecarFlip wrote:

Bumpyroad wrote:
aluminum can't rot. and RV walls are horrible cold sinks regardless of construction. my first Class A had twin beds and when you rolled over at night and touched the wall, BRRRRRR
bumpy

That is not correct either. Aluminum can rot, it's called white rust and in the presence of moisture (from poor seal maintenance) it will rot and eventually fail.

True! I had a couple of spots like that on our old TT. Never could figure out why but they were just like "white rust". Had to slather them in white caulk to keep bugs and water from getting in.

If you note, all of those horror stories with pictures of rVs falling apart have one thing in common, wooden construction.

dang, I guess all of those boat owners with aluminum boats better get their life jackets on cause they are about to sink, NOT
bumpy

I can't let this go. If what you say is correct, then I think they have TWO things in common. The second is shoddy construction and/or preventive maintenance. And I tried really hard to make that politically correct.

Delamination is not a problem for the typical wood framed trailer, but it's sure brought up about around here an awful lot. Just sayin'.

LOL, aside from Caveman Charlie's brother. :B

[Vintage465]

I think the wood framed units with vacuum bonded,laminated walls like Nash Trailers would be my choice if I was going with wood. Otherwise if you're just going with a corrugated aluminum over wood, long term strength isn't as good as a vacuum bonded aluminum.

[CavemanCharlie]

My brother has a 5th wheel. It is advertised as a aluminum framed camper. (Says it right in the side of the camper) He had a delaminzation problem on his back wall. When they removed the paneling on the inside to take a look at it they discovered that his so called aluminum camper had wooden framing studs on the back wall. Only the side walls were aluminum framing studs.

[BadgerMcAdams]

SidecarFlip wrote:

NWnative wrote:
I'm im the Aluminum camp.

I see that...lol

I've always been fascinated by the silver pickles on wheels...;)

I was too...until I looked at the price of one :E
Not so much after that.

[Bumpyroad]

ScottG wrote:

SidecarFlip wrote:

Bumpyroad wrote:
aluminum can't rot. and RV walls are horrible cold sinks regardless of construction. my first Class A had twin beds and when you rolled over at night and touched the wall, BRRRRRR
bumpy

That is not correct either. Aluminum can rot, it's called white rust and in the presence of moisture (from poor seal maintenance) it will rot and eventually fail.

True! I had a couple of spots like that on our old TT. Never could figure out why but they were just like "white rust". Had to slather them in white caulk to keep bugs and water from getting in.

If you note, all of those horror stories with pictures of rVs falling apart have one thing in common, wooden construction.

dang, I guess all of those boat owners with aluminum boats better get their life jackets on cause they are about to sink, NOT
bumpy

[scbwr]

I had a 2002 Sunline trailer (wood frame) that was just an excellent trailer and held up to many miles of towing. I think it was better insulated than our 2014 Winnebago Minnie (aluminum). But I appreciate the ease of cleaning the smooth sides of the Minnie vs. the aluminum siding that was on the Sunline. It really boils down to the quality of materials and construction and you have to decide how much insulation you want, so compare the R factors of the sidewalls and roof.
It seems to me that many of the better 4 season trailers still use wood frames...but I'm not really up to speed on what's available.

You can get a lot of years out of most trailers if you maintain the seals and prevent any water leaks.

[SidecarFlip]

NWnative wrote:
I'm im the Aluminum camp.

I see that...lol

I've always been fascinated by the silver pickles on wheels...;)

[NWnative]

I'm in the Aluminum camp.

[ScottG]

SidecarFlip wrote:

Bumpyroad wrote:
aluminum can't rot. and RV walls are horrible cold sinks regardless of construction. my first Class A had twin beds and when you rolled over at night and touched the wall, BRRRRRR
bumpy

That is not correct either. Aluminum can rot, it's called white rust and in the presence of moisture (from poor seal maintenance) it will rot and eventually fail.

True! I had a couple of spots like that on our old TT. Never could figure out why but they were just like "white rust". Had to slather them in white caulk to keep bugs and water from getting in.