Aluminum versus Fiberglass

[parkersdad]

My wife and I are starting to look at possibly. We have always had the fiberglass campers but I got to thinking is the aluminum a little easier to work on and what are the benefits? We have only looked at Fiberglas campers as we preferred that look. As I was thinking about it is it possible if you had a leak in the wall or something in the wall will be aluminum back to work on it? I know I can Google it but I would like to hear from members on here. Give me the positives and negatives of both please.

[Lantley]

Quality construction is more important than the type of siding. As mention there are pros and cons to both. I would focus on the interior,weight and other features.
Aluminum vs Fiberglass would not be a deal breaker for me either way.

[GrandpaKip]

We did go round and round about the siding and construction method. We ended up buying the camper we liked best overall, floorplan and price being the major factors. In the final analysis, it's all in the maintenance.
Good luck in your search.

[Lowsuv]

regarding insulation :
my 2002 komfort has foam board insulation within the walls .
this is with the corrugated painted aluminum siding exterior .
the foam board insulation was rated a few points higher R-Value over the conventional fiberglass insulation of that vintage .
I believe that the smooth sided trailers also had the foam board insulation .
The siding itself offers little insulation value .

[jaycocreek]

For those that say tin is harder to wash and wax, use a telescoping wash brush and a good wash and wax... Kenworth of Boise Idaho uses the same combination to get a shaving shine on there big rigs. Used to do it for them.

[JBarca]

parkersdad wrote:
Thanks for all of the replies but I still can't make up my mind.

LOL....:) As Westend said, there is no perfect choice.

You have a good set of well rounded answers. This one by tatest is a good one. States the differences and pros/cons from the RV manufacture end.

Some of us are passionate about our campers, and the passion generally stems from an RV event (misfortune) along the way.

Wood framing is a proven material in camper building when and done correctly is a sound method. And yes the industry now offers aluminum studding however that does not mean wood is bad. Then there is the insulation, wood walls often use fiberglass batt type insulation, and if done incorrectly it can create a problem. But it is not the wood that is the problem. Why not use wood studs with foam board insulation sealed to the studs?? Why $$$$

Aluminum studding has insulation issues in some cases when camping in cold weather, the wall studs sweat as aluminum conducts heat and wood insulates. A large gap in the foam board insulation to the stud is no good here either.

And then there is the wood rots argument. Actually there is no argument, wood does rot. It is not the woods fault. Water is the enemy, not the wood.

Aluminum siding has zero issues with water, it is proven if made/assembled correct. Fiberglass also works well until the water gets in the equation.

What has not yet been said on your post is the water entry problem and that is the problem. Not the aluminum siding, not the wood, not the insulation type, not the fiberglass but the water entry. There lies the problem.

The roof seams, the corner seams, the windows, doors cargo holes, DOT lights, any penetration of bonding to the aluminum siding or the fiberglass is the problem. OK so make the wall out of Adzel or a complete composite, the problem still remains, you get water in that wall or ceiling and you have a problem.

The "hope" is the RV industry will create a better sealing system. An aluminum sided camper with wood studs or a fiberglass walled camper on aluminum studs can last for 50 plus year in the great outdoors if the sealing system does not break down first.

Good luck which ever way you chose.

[mrwalleyeman]

my wife and i looked for several months for our first travel trailer and we had the same question That you had. The one we purchased was a Coleman Expedition with the aluminum siding. What made our decision basically came down to cost of ownership. I looked at all the pros and cons of both.

[shenandoahvalle]

We've had both; the pros and cons have all been laid out in this thread. It really comes down to what you like the best. Flip a coin...if you are happy with the outcome you'll know what you want.

[westend]

parkersdad wrote:
Thanks for all of the replies but I still can't make up my mind.

Probably because there is no "best", all things considered.

[parkersdad]

Thanks for all of the replies but I still can't make up my mind.

[myredracer]

I think you'll find that fiberglass has better overall insulation - uniform block foam vs. fiberglass batts and from what I've seen, they don't particularly do a great job of installing the batts.

Having had both types, I sure like being able to clean and wax fiberglass easier, especially when it comes to those nasty black streaks. Getting older, being physically able to do maintenance on the RV easier and faster sure helps...

[tatest]

It goes more than skin deep. Almost all aluminum skinned TTs are framed construction. Wall framing built up from floor, skin applied to outside, wall filled with insulation, paneling applied to inside. Wall strength derives from the framing. Construction is labor intensive, material and captal costs low.

Many fiberglass skinned trailers are made with laminated wall panels, using a metal (usually aluminum) stiffening frame. Plastic outer panel, plastic or luan underpanel, foam core, and (usually luan) inner panel laminated as one piece. Wall strength derives from bond of inner and outer skins to the core material. Not a bad thing, some aircraft parts are now made this way, but delamination can be an issue. Construction uses much less labor, more expensive materials, and either more time (for vacuum bonding) or more capital (for high speed presses). Winnebago has been building tjis way for more than 40 years.

Third possibility is fiberglass skin applied to a fully framed wall. This is premium construction, used by Newmar, New Horizons, Carriage, Northwood (in the case of their fiberglass skinned models). It has high labor costs and high materials costs, so if you are asking the aluminum vs question ypu are not likely looking into that price range. Then there all aluminum models like Airstream, ans molded fiberglass models like Bigfoot, in yet another price/cost category.

Framed wall trailers, aluminum or fiberglass skin, can be easier to fix. Laminated wall trailers, it depends on the scale of damage. Little things, you might patch over. Major damage, you don't repair the wall, you replace it. For low cost, mass production TTs, that means, for insurance purposes, major damage to a wall panel is a total loss.

[doxiluvr]

We have aluminum and it looks brand new and is really quite easy to keep clean and shiny. We actually have never had to wax it and it is still shiny. No dents and has never leaked. And for over 6 years it spent its winters in upper Wisconsin under pine trees. This year we put it in indoor storage up in Creede, CO just because it was available at a reasonable price. But some like aluminum and some prefer FG. We have seen more problems with delamination with the FG, thus for now we will stick with aluminum.

[JBarca]

Lowsuv wrote:
In that vintage Nash and Komfort offered a choice of upgrading to the Fibreglass siding .
The floorplan was identical .
The 400 pound difference was the manufacturer's scale weight different and included all of the weight factors .

Sunline offered the same thing. Fiberglass was an option. Did not change the quality of the camper or the 3 year warranty.

Sunline, Nash and Komfort in those days where all very good and high quality campers.

We lost Sunline in Nov 2006. 😞

Nash is still a great camper by the same family.

Komfort, while still good just not like before they sold out to others.

[Lowsuv]

In that vintage Nash and Komfort offered a choice of upgrading to the Fibreglass siding .
The floorplan was identical .
The 400 pound difference was the manufacturer's scale weight different and included all of the weight factors .
An advantage was the payload rating was huge .
Axle weight GVW was 7280 # .
Empty Curb AXLE weight was 4800#
Normal AXLE weight is 53- 5400 # loaded and 987 # on the tongue .
Half ton tow vehicles can really take advantage of the 400 # difference .

[CKNSLS]

Lowsuv wrote:

fla-gypsy wrote:
Pros and cons to both. FG will also be heavier per sq ft and cost more.

The aluminum corrugated siding is about 400 pounds lighter in a 22 foot length .
The paint finish on the aluminum siding is very good and equal to the best painted fibreglass siding .
The painted aluminum siding will look good for a very long time as long as it is washed frequently .
I have a 2002 purchased new Komfort with the aluminum siding that looks 6 months old .
My previous RV was a painted fibreglass motorhome that required waxing .
I wanted the lower weight mostly and found out the bonus of the good paint job of the corrugated aluminum siding .

I didn't go with aluminum siding because they all had wood framing.