Bigfoot builds a very nice camper shell, then severely compromises it by how they install the roof penetrations. The skylight in the shower on mine leaked just once (wind? tilted the right direction?), I wanted to fix it permanently. There were two basic design issues: the skylight flange is flat and the roof curved, and they attempted to overlap the flanges of the skylight and plumbing vent cover. This resulted in gaps of more than half an inch, which were expected to stay sealed (at least until the warrantee expired) with a huge pile of butyl caulking tape. It did not last long.

First step was to fix the plumbing vent. I cut a short piece of G10 fiberglass tube, slightly enlarged the hole in the roof to fit, and sanded the gel coat back for a good bond. Then bonded the tube into the hole with a fillet of thickened epoxy. Even with no caulking at all, this creates a 1.5" wall that water will have to climb to get into the roof.

Of course the cheap RV caulking that was used on top of the skylight flange had long since failed. While this is secondary to the butyl, it does no good at all at sealing, and only makes cleaning it off a messy chore.

I removed the skylight and cleaned up the mess. The gelcoat was sanded back in preparation for the fix. Note that they somewhat missed the hole required of the shower.

My fix involved cutting a frame from some 1/2" G10 fiberglass sheet, then cutting and grinding the curve of the roof into the bottom of it, leaving the top flat. Grinding fiberglass is an unpleasant chore, obviously they could have molded this shape into the fiberglass shell with no effort at all at the factory.

Fiberglass sheet like this is very strong, but can be cleaved between layers easily. To limit the grinding, I plowed slots at the appropriate depth every 3" or so, then chiseled out the waste and cleaned it up by grinding. It doesn't need to be perfect as it will be set in a bed of thickened epoxy which will fill in the gaps.

Fixing the skylight on BF10.4 - picture heavy | Good Sam Community

HMS_Beagle
Explorer
Oct 17, 2020
I know what you mean. I've got a fair amount of work into fixing the issues with this one and making it more useable for me. A new camper would be starting all over again. That's why I've thought about building one from scratch, that is also a very large effort. But it would be designed not to leak and be maintainable, both are qualities lacking in the commercially available offerings.
notsobigjoe
Nomad III
Oct 17, 2020
I thought that's what you were talking about and yes they were a bit off! I've gotten very close and personal to my Lance 1181 and have seen many goofs like the one you pictured, especially in the basement. It seems when they ran out of ideas they simply covered it up. Love the camper but I've put so much into it that I'm Leary of ever starting over. I know every square inch of it. It's almost become a crutch instead of an enjoyment.
TxGearhead
Explorer II
Oct 16, 2020
Yes, it's the best quality of about any type RV.
I doubt they're very motivated to do anything different with people standing in line for the campers.
I've thought about selling mine and buying a 10.4 a little further down the road.
HMS_Beagle
Explorer
Oct 16, 2020
notsobigjoe wrote:
OP,
Very nice work and pro finish! The 5th picture down you said "Note that they somewhat missed the hole required of the shower." What were you referring to?
Thanks, Joe

I suspect that this camper, built in 2008 but purchased new by me in 2013, was very early in the 10.4 production. Maybe the first. If you look at the picture there is a 5 inch gap between the opening in the shower (covered by plywood in the picture) and the roof, and the skylight flange only overlapped that side by 3/4". On the other side, 3". Basically, they missed. When I did the living room remodel on the other thread there were some similar boo-boos hidden under the carpet. They had cut a piece of floor away, realized they went too far, then stuck it back together bridging the cut with a million staples. By the time you've built the 5th one or so, you probably don't make these mistakes.

I'm not ragging on Bigfoot, still the best camper made in my opinion (at least for less than 100K). It's just that the bar in the RV industry is so very low, you don't have to do much to be above the bar.
HMS_Beagle
Explorer
Oct 16, 2020
TxGearhead wrote:

There is no reason, none, that they can't fab a curved base for the skylight.
I've thought if I ever ordered a new Bigfoot I would delete the skylight.

The only excuse I can think of is that they use the same mold (I think) for the 10.4 and 10.6, with the shower in different places. This is easily handled with a mold insert. Honestly with a weeks work on the mold they could improve their product significantly. It would cost them very little extra for each camper. I did order a new one years ago, a 9.6 and told them I wanted no roof penetrations: no rack, no antenna, no ladder, etc. It came with the ladder, required for fire egress I was told. This one, purchased new-old-stock, has a bunch of extra potential leaks.
notsobigjoe
Nomad III
Oct 16, 2020
OP,
Very nice work and pro finish! The 5th picture down you said "Note that they somewhat missed the hole required of the shower." What were you referring to?
Thanks, Joe
Vw_triker
Explorer
Oct 16, 2020
Good job, excellent write up!
TxGearhead
Explorer II
Oct 16, 2020
I thought my vent looked bad.
That Heng's doesn't last very long. I've redone mine 3 times in the short time I've owned it, 5 years?
There is no reason, none, that they can't fab a curved base for the skylight.
I've thought if I ever ordered a new Bigfoot I would delete the skylight.
HMS_Beagle
Explorer
Oct 16, 2020
I eliminated over 30 screw holes - many of which were stripped at the factory anyway - and I think any leaks associated with these penetrations. It could have been done so much easier at the factory with minor mods to their mold. If they simply put a molded plinth of about 1/2" tall under each penetration, they would eliminate probably 99% of the leaks, even with the cheap caulk and all the screws, because water runs downhill.
HMS_Beagle
Explorer
Oct 16, 2020
The flanges where trimmed so they no longer overlap. This left almost no flange on part of the plumbing vent cap, but I am confident it will never leak, until gravity fails and the water can climb over the tube bonded inside.