Part of roof lost in wind

[John Hilley]

Another member of our WIT club in North Dakota has lost part of his roof in the wind. on Kansas on his way back from Arizona. That makes four members in a small club of 20 some. It was due to not keeping up the caulking on the edge of the roof. He wasn't aware of the need to check about every six months. Those that I know that know to check don't know exactly what to check for. I have been to seminars that touched briefly on it at GNR, but there weren't any pictures and even when asked there wasn't much additional explanation. I wish Winnebago would do a seminar on caulking with some real examples of what to look for, how to test, what caulk to use and how to apply it.

[vbugles]

I would be interested in some information regarding your friends roof. What year and model is the coach? When you say "lost part of the roof" what part? how much (percentage) of the roof fell off? or do you mean some of the cauking fell out. I just checked my roof as I do periodically, 2002 Adventurer 35 U, I've never found anything on the roof falling off, some branch scratches and dirt maybe, I clean it regularly and put a coat of wax on it two times a year.

[John Hilley]

His motor home is a 2003 Adventurer. He lost a piece one foot wide by 12' long from the passenger side rear corner forward. The fiberglass peeled off where it goes in behind the rain gutter. To check you push in on top of the gutter and if it gives and there is space between the gutter and the roof fiberglass it needs caulking.

[RJay]

I had about 30 feet of my roof come up from the channel twice. The first time was in British Columbia and the last time was coming across Kansas in an ice storm. I pulled off the highway in a convenience store lot and tied it down. I didn't loose any part of the roof, it just came out of the channel. When I reached Oklahoma I was able to put the roof in back in the channel and I duct tape the roof to the side of the coach. When I reached my final destination I called Winnebago. Now unless I got bad info this is what I was told. The sides of the roof normally just rests in the channels but since I was having trouble I should put in some calking to hold it in place. I did not notice any evidence of calking in the left or right side channels. If you look under the channel there are weep holes every so many feet to allow the water to escape. The only evidence of calking was at the front and rear cap. So instead of calking I used adhesive to hold the roof in place. My motorhome was a 2000 Itasca Suncruiser 37G.

By the way, each time the roof came out of the channel I was driving in a strong crosswind. I believe the way the roof is rounded on the sides acts as a wing and causes a low pressure on the roof which sucks the roof out of the channel.

[mking]

2001 Journey - inspected as new owner of unit, found loose edging. Call W and got specific sealant. Four days of removing the hardened existing sealant. Tried to encapulsate the roof edge in the channel, now tight fit.

[John Hilley]

Here is another thread on this subject with diagrams

[bruceh]

I get a broken link.

[dirko]

Hi Ho: Link works fine for me. I have other things to think about and applied eternabond about 6 years ago. It looks to me to be a permanent fix.

Dirk

[azloafer]

We will not drive during strong winds or rain. When those conditions exist we remain parked. Maybe that's just us, but it is dangerous to drive that big box when it is windy or raining. Joe

[John Hilley]

Here are articles from the WIT Magazine Service Tips section

January 2006 Exterior Sealant Care

April 2000 Exterior Sealants