Azdel wall construction

SoundGuy wrote:
You're right. ;) Clearly I'm totally mistaken in believing it not unreasonable that when one pays as much as a new car for a brand new trailer one should expect the **** thing to not leak, at least not in the first few weeks of ownership. Of course it's MY responsibility to take whatever proactive measures are necessary, at my own cost, to make up for a poorly assembled and tested product. Good grief, what was I thinking?!! :S Guess we're just not all as smart as you. :R

It isn't unreasonable... its just highly unlikely. The reality is that unless you are buying a $150K+ unit, you are going to have to deal with sloppy construction and quarterly maintenance.

SoundGuy wrote:

Presumably you'e referring to my post in which I indicated that just the sidewalls in Freedom Express and Apex trailers are Azdel but nowhere am I "scoffing" at this but merely pointing out (since no salesman will ever tell you this) that only the sidewalls are Azdel, the front and rear panels are conventional pinch rolled luan walls.

I see where you were going now.

Atlee wrote:
And if you look closely, only the outside layer against the fiberglass is Azdel. The inside of the panel is still luan.

The old, no longer produced, Koala's by Skyline had sidewalls, and the front and real panels made of Azdel, and both inside and outside where luan is normally used, was Azdel.

Skyline did cut some corners in the build quality, but definitely did not with their wall construction.

That's true that the wallboard side is still made of traditional materials. It's not often that you hear about delamination happening on the wall board side, but when it does the fix is relatively easy. You just stop the leak and replace the wall board.

SoundGuy wrote:
Guess we're just not all as smart as you. :R

BillyW wrote:
You should see how smart I am after a few beers! :B

Great response! :B I haven't got anything better than that! ;)

SoundGuy wrote:
You're right. ;) Clearly I'm totally mistaken in believing it not unreasonable that when one pays as much as a new car for a brand new trailer one should expect the **** thing to not leak, at least not in the first few weeks of ownership. Of course it's MY responsibility to take whatever proactive measures are necessary, at my own cost, to make up for a poorly assembled and tested product. Good grief, what was I thinking?!! :S Guess we're just not all as smart as you. :R

You should see how smart I am after a few beers! :B

BillyW wrote:
I'm also intrigued with the Azdel product for the walls, but I won't sacrifice the floor plan or other features I want just for that. Good preventive maintenance will render it mostly meaningless too.

SoundGuy wrote:
Easy to pontificate and say it won't happen to you but the reality is leaks can happen to anyone, regardless of how they may think they're carefully maintaining their trailer.

BillyW wrote:
Indeed leaks can happen. I was proactive with my trailer when it was new, and used Eternabond along the entire roof edges and other square roof fittings, verified that the Dicor was good on the others, then used a quality caulk on every vertical surface cutout, from the lights, to the doors, windows and corner moldings. My brand had a terrible reputation for leaks, yet mine has remained dry inside for many years of living outside. OK, I'm off my stump. No more pontificating... :)

You're right. ;) Clearly I'm totally mistaken in believing it not unreasonable that when one pays as much as a new car for a brand new trailer one should expect the **** thing to not leak, at least not in the first few weeks of ownership. Of course it's MY responsibility to take whatever proactive measures are necessary, at my own cost, to make up for a poorly assembled and tested product. Good grief, what was I thinking?!! :S Guess we're just not all as smart as you. :R

I guess I don't see much benefit of having azdel in the sidewalls only. I would be more concerned about the roof and floor, the sidewalls would be the least of my worries.

SoundGuy wrote:

BillyW wrote:
I'm also intrigued with the Azdel product for the walls, but I won't sacrifice the floor plan or other features I want just for that. Good preventive maintenance will render it mostly meaningless too.

Easy to pontificate and say it won't happen to you but the reality is leaks can happen to anyone, regardless of how they may think they're carefully maintaining their trailer. Our brand new Freedom Express sprung a fairly significant leak that showed up during a torrential downpour on it's second trip out. For the life of me I couldn't see how any way water could be getting inside the trailer, but it did. The problem was later solved at the dealership by a reapplication of all the side wall seams with clear ProFlex ... but at no time could any one of us actually see where this water may have gotten in.

Indeed leaks can happen. I was proactive with my trailer when it was new, and used Eternabond along the entire roof edges and other square roof fittings, verified that the Dicor was good on the others, then used a quality caulk on every vertical surface cutout, from the lights, to the doors, windows and corner moldings. My brand had a terrible reputation for leaks, yet mine has remained dry inside for many years of living outside. OK, I'm off my stump. No more pontificating... :)

826storm wrote:
An I wrong in thinking the azdel wall/aluminum frame construction is also considerably lighter?

As an individual piece I suppose a side wall with Azdel could be described as "lighter" but factored into the total weight of the trailer a couple of side walls with Azdel isn't going to make that much difference overall, certainly not as much as the manufacturer would have you believe. My 19' Freedom Express 192RBS has a stickered dry weight of 3815 lbs, which isn't all that much different from similar models from other manufacturers. Friends of ours have a Starcraft 21FBS which as I recall is a bit heavier than our FE but it's also a foot longer and has an 8 cu ft fridge so IMO it's a real stretch to claim that using Azdel side walls results in a "considerably" lighter trailer.

An I wrong in thinking the azdel wall/aluminum frame construction is also considerably lighter?