Brand new Travel Lite needs new roof

[wileecoyote61]

Hi folks,

I have been lurking here for a while gathering info for the purchase of a new truck camper. My wife and I started out in 8 year old Sunline 30 years ago and had lots of fond memories. I spent time researching google and this forum on the Travel Lite brand and not finding much in the way of negative info I pulled the trigger on a 2013 new Travel Lite 890sbrx. I have a 2013 Silverado HD with Torklift tie downs and XL turnbuckles also Timbren's installed. I was amazed how well the truck handled going home. After I returned home I was tinkering with my new camper a noticed some water had leaked inside the closet area, when looking the camper over at the dealership it was dark inside and it wasn't easy to see. I didn't freak... campers leak, it happens. I climbed up on the ladder and found water had gotten into the roof deck causing it to swell and split the rubber roof along the edge above the side trim. I put some silicone over the crack because it was 20 degrees out and I wanted to stop any more water from getting in (I realize this is not a fix). I called the dealer who will remain nameless for now (still in negotiations to get my money back). They agreed it sounded like a manufacturing defect and made an appointment for the repair. Upon further scrutiny I found the entire roof deck, except over the bathroom, had bloated and split along the edge. I called the dealer back and spoke to the General Manager and demanded my money back. I am blown away by the amount of damage on a brand new camper. We have been camping for 30+ years and have never seen this much water damage. I have lots of photos and will post some as soon as I figure out how.

Wanted to share my story to warn others, so buyer beware and never assume that a new camper is new.


Regards,
Ron

[steve68steve]

This is terrifying to read since I own a 2013 Travel Lite - AND I'm total RV noob.

Having said that, I've read enough online to know that water damage is a leading cause of death to RV's, and re-caulking is really important.
The day we picked up our TC, I told the guy I was a noob and asked how often I'm supposed to caulk it. He said, "oh, once every year or so and you'll be fine." There was another worker within earshot who heard that and interrupted, "no, you should get up that roof at least four times a year! A small leak going for a few weeks or months could be a disaster!"

So, we walked thru a few acres of tightly-packed brand new RV's on their lot sitting out in the weather year round. Some of them have been sitting out for more than a year, some two or even three years. I wondered how they get on all those roofs to maintain them every few months. 😉

We were offered a discount on 'last year's model' and opted to pay the few extra bucks for exactly this reason.

[wileecoyote61]

Good news! the dealer called yesterday and has agreed to roll back the deal. I had notified the dealer 5 days after purchase about the water damage and 9 days later it was returned to the dealership.

Back to camper shopping with a new outlook (ladder and flashlight in hand).

Travel Lite really needs to look at their manufacturing process and material selection. I did send an email through the Travel Lite web site, they never responded.

Thanks for all the feedback and support.

Regards,
Ron

[TucsonJim]

TxTiger wrote:
Ron, how long ago did you buy the TC? If it's just been a few days, I would think the dealer could (if they wanted to) reverse this sale and put you in something different. I don't know what type of state paperwork is involved in a TC purchase there but if there is a registration the dealer may only take those to the Co Clerk once a week. But regardless, if you dealt with a reputable dealer, they will replace your camper.

But if they are not going to step up here, I understand the need for a buyer to inspect things, but the dealer also has a responsibility here. Where was their inspection prior to delivery to ensure a sound unit?

Anyway I know the situation is a bummer but there is so much wrong here that I can't see them doing anything other than replacing this or refunding your money.

Good luck.

I put the culpability on this fiasco directly on the manufacturer. If they build garbage like this, then they need to make it right with the purchaser and the seller.

[TxTiger]

Ron, how long ago did you buy the TC? If it's just been a few days, I would think the dealer could (if they wanted to) reverse this sale and put you in something different. I don't know what type of state paperwork is involved in a TC purchase there but if there is a registration the dealer may only take those to the Co Clerk once a week. But regardless, if you dealt with a reputable dealer, they will replace your camper.

But if they are not going to step up here, I understand the need for a buyer to inspect things, but the dealer also has a responsibility here. Where was their inspection prior to delivery to ensure a sound unit?

Anyway I know the situation is a bummer but there is so much wrong here that I can't see them doing anything other than replacing this or refunding your money.

Good luck.

[wileecoyote61]

jefe 4x4 wrote:
Ron,
I do feel your pain. You were just unlucky and needed to sniff a little harder upon inspection. I have never heard of too much research and inspection for any camper, new or used. jefe

Agreed... This is about our 7th new or used camper including 3 truck campers and 4 travel trailers and never having serious issues with a new camper I assumed too much. Now on I bring a flashlight and a ladder, open every cubby hole and access panel and climb all over the thing until I'm sure.

lesson learned..Ron

[polish676]

I just wanted to chime in on our Travel Lite experience since prior to buying ours, we didn't find much out there about people having bad experiences. We purchased a 2013 Travel Lite 770 Super Lite in May 2013. We were thrilled with the purchase for a while, but sometime in July, my husband accidentally found that the seam under the bed wasn't sealed. We brought it back to the dealer and he resealed it. He inspected the rest of the camper and found a few other places that there wasn't any caulk or it was in need of being re-caulked. About a month later, my 4 year old daughter and I were sleeping in the cab over and we ended up on the roof of our truck. Complete structural failure of the cab over bed. The two of us have a combined weight of almost 170 lbs, so we weren't overloading it by any means! The dealer took it in and contacted the manufacturer. Travel Lite told them to fix it, and they did. They had to take most of the sides of the camper skin off and found that the skin had adhesive on it but it wasn't where it would have touched anything. I began contacting Larry Johns at Travel Lite and he was very little if any help. Mr. Johns said that if the camper was to be bought back, the dealer would have to do it. Well, the dealer fixed it so he wasn't taking it back. The parts Travel Lite supplied the dealer with, were different than original and the dealer made sure we saw it and noted it. Having the camper fixed and back on the truck was frustrating but we had it back and made Labor Day weekend. The final straw for us was the fact that now that the repair had been done, we couldn't drive over 55 mph or the camper would move up and down in the truck so violently, that it would drive you into the ditch or oncoming traffic. We returned to the dealer a few more times but he couldn't find anything wrong with it. We had them verify our tie downs and tension and anything else that might be causing it. We even went to another truck camper dealer and had them inspect it and they found nothing wrong. We tried contacting Mr. Johns again and he wouldn't even return phone calls. I tried email and he had someone else reply to me and said they would be happy to take a look at it if we drove it to their facility. That’s great but it would have taken us a week to drive 900 miles at 50 mph! In the end, we could have gotten lawyers involved, but it would have left us with a camper we couldn't use while it was ongoing and for the amount of money we lost trading it in for a real camper, it was still less than a family vacation to Disney. An unfortunate lesson learned for us.

[jefe_4x4]

Ron,
I do feel your pain. You were just unlucky and needed to sniff a little harder upon inspection. I have never heard of too much research and inspection for any camper, new or used.
In retrospect for the people reading this:
Always take a TC owner or RV expert along with you when you are looking to buy a camper. I am reminded of my lifelong friend Phil, who was looking to buy a new car in the mid-1980's. He did all his research and came up with a brand and model (which shall go nameless) and asked me to go along for the inspection and haggling process: to see what I thought. A picky third party has nothing to loose (except maybe a good friend) Why me? At the time I was a writer for some off-road periodicals with a specialty in 4WD and drivetrains. It did not take long to find out the car had NO power it was so choked with smog add-ons: not from the ground up, but simply attached to the engine. The machine was simply awful. The problem was it looked pretty good. So, I was the skunk at the picknic, I'll admit. But, he did not buy that car and soon purchased a much better candidate that was much better engineered at a lower price. I can think of a couple dozen names on this very site that would be dynamite to take when TC shopping. End of sermon.
Ron, I still feel your pain. Take care of business.
special regards, as always, jefe

[TxTiger]

Anything other than a new camper or getting your money back would be unacceptable to me. Good luck, trust they will take care of you.

I looked at a new Travel Lite last year and noticed some of the caulking had pulled away from the bottom of the cabover seam. You could feel the water under the cabover and when I pushed up on it water came out from under the cabover at a large seam. That was another new ruined camper. Some on the forum have had great service out of their Travel Lites, though.

Keep us posted on what the dealer and manufacturer are going to do.

[wileecoyote61]

Here are some photos of the roof "http://www.flickr.com/photos/119743337@N08/"

[wileecoyote61]

Jfet wrote:
Man that sucks! I hope you get all of your money back. A 2013 with complete roof damage?

The damage runs along edge on both sides, the worst spot extends about 2 to 3 feet inward. I put a 4ft level on the roof and took a photo and you can clearly see a hump.

Inside the fridge access there was also evidence of water leaking down the walls. Now wondering if the the wood frame has rot as well.

[billyray50]

I was going to look at a couple of used ones last summer. I believe one was a 2008 and a 2006 travel lite. Both roofs were bad. The 2008 TC the owner on the phone before I went to look at it said it might need another rubber roof? I decided not to make the drive to look at it. The 2006 TC just did not look good, especially the roof. Could have been owner neglecting regular maintenance. 2013 should not have this damage. So sorry you have do deal with this. Get your money back and buy a different brand of TC. I Looked at new Travel lites and IMHO was not impressed. Best Regards.

[TucsonJim]

If you don't get total satisfaction, hire an attorney. A new unit that is in this bad of shape is wholly unacceptable, and can probably never be made right.

[azrving]

I can believe it and the reason being is that I have recently posted on here about damage that has happened to my sons 2008 Rockwood Ultra lite. During production the roof was damaged in two areas. Its always had the caulking maintained and has been under cover. As I understand there are basicaly 3 types of roof materials. 1. EPDM 2. TPO with no backing 3. TPO with a felt backer.
My sons TT has the TPO with felt backer. As I see it this is probably good for cushioning against the plywood and its seams but the flaw is that when its damaged the felt cushion is like a sponge and helps to channel the water. So, maybe your truck camper has a felt back and sucked water and helped spread it.
There is no way I would let them repair it, get a lawyer if necessary it get rid of that thing. If they want to repair and sell it to someone else, that's fine but make them give you another new one.

[Jfet]

Man that sucks! I hope you get all of your money back. A 2013 with complete roof damage?