Fiberglass or aluminum?

[davehultin]

It's time. We're ready to upgrade to our next travel trailer.

We've had only fiberglass exteriors up to this point, and now are considering a trailer with aluminum siding. Maybe I'm getting hung up on the difference in the appearance, but why would someone choose fiberglass over aluminum or vice versa?

[time2roll]

Do you mean the polished aluminum with rivets or the corrugated and painted aluminum?
Mine is corrugated and painted. No issues in 11 years. Virtually no maintenance.

[LOFAT36]

I agree on the hail thing. I used to live in Calgary, Alberta and saw what hail can do alum. trailers & vehicles. No thanks.

[nickthehunter]

dodge guy wrote:
Both have thier pluses and minuses. Maintain either one and should last a long time.

This!

[Chuck_thehammer]

remember the Jeep 4x4,,, in the 60's there body was aluminum... almost none are around anymore.. oxidation. is like rust. you end up with nothing.

the above ROT,, is the wood under the metal. "Wood Rot" and no way to dry it .. but disassembly.

and aluminum sided in a hail storm... fiberglass is better at this one.
fiberglass is heavier.

Dealers at maintenance, to protect your investment.. Really??? my opinion.
my 12 year old fiberglass. no issues. that is 11 Winters next to Lake Erie.

[dodge_guy]

Both have thier pluses and minuses. Maintain either one and should last a long time.

[Calicajun]

Aluminum Sided units are wood framed and fiberglass units are aluminum framed. We prefer fiberglass sides with aluminum framing over a wood frame unit. I can fix fiberglass but I'm not good fixing wood frames.

[coolbreeze01]

Had good luck with 2 aluminum and 1 glass. Current fiberglass has front cap starting to delam.
Probably won't buy fiberglass again.

[trail-explorer]

goducks10 wrote:
and aluminum will dry rot from a leak.

I've never seen aluminum "dry rot". How can metal "rot"?

[goducks10]

Aluminum trailers will leak just as easy as fiberglass. Maintain either and neither should leak. Fiberglass can delam from a leak, and aluminum will dry rot from a leak.

[Bill57]

Our previous trailer was a fiberglass "flat" sided trailer. Our current trailer is aluminum sided. I'll never buy a fiberglass flat sided trailer again. Delamination will happen and is difficult to fix. The fiberglass is going to leak at the joints. We had ours maintained by the dealer and it still leaked. As always YMMV.

[WyoTraveler]

My previous RV was a Jayco TT. All aluminum. When driving in bad weather water would be forced between the aluminum seams in front. Never leaked in heavy rain when parked..Just when moving. Interesting, because now I see RVs that have aluminum sides and fiber glass fronts. Guess I wasn't the only one having the problem.

[Draggo]

I like the looks of the fiberglass sides and it's easier to wax because it's a flat surface but after the delamination problems I've had on my current trailer my next one will be aluminum. To be fair though, some of the delamination is because of a water leak.

[JIMNLIN]

personnel preference.