Community Forums

Les Stallings · 11-23-2007, 03:34 PM

I've seen nothing on our 2002 Dynasty.

Gedney · 12-24-2007, 12:37 PM

Mtroamer,
I have the exact same problem you pictured showing up on my 01 Scepter.

MonacoMama · 12-24-2007, 03:21 PM

Gedney..
I am sorry your first post is for the reason it is.. but I am glad you have joined iRV2. As you can see..you will be able to find all sorts of information here. The members here are the best on the net, and more than willing to help!

I hope you are able to get the paint problems worked out ...but in the meantime.. I hope you visit and post here often!

Also.. you will find I am the silly one here...so if you feel like officially joining the Monaco Owners Forum...just let me know... I will sprinkle some "Pixie Dust" over your name ... or one of the moderators will just change it!

Gedney · 12-25-2007, 04:47 AM

Thanks for the welcome Monacomama. I'd be happy to join this group so please sign me up.

Looks like lots of good info here, thanks to both volunteers and group members for contributing their time/efforts.

Merry Christmas.

MonacoMama · 12-25-2007, 07:29 AM

Congrats on your "Member" staus, Gedney!

I am sure you will find a great group of friends and information here! ...by the way...whenever you make it up the I-5 corridor through Eugene... you must pay the toll Troll ... but then we didn't forewarn you of the crazy lady that hangs out here...did we!?

MM

KenBurg · 02-11-2009, 10:41 AM

I would be interested in a class action lawsuit against Monaco. The paint problems I am having
are the same as you have taked about. Did not
get any satisfaction from Monaco when I presented the problem to them.

H. Miller · 02-11-2009, 11:18 AM

Our '04 Santiam has exactly the same problem with the dark colors.
Harold Miller

Matt Cassels · 02-11-2009, 01:42 PM

The problem is not the paint but rather the fiberglass and is refered to as fiberglass checking. The two main suppliers to the RV industries Dow Corning and Crane Composites have both had their share of this problem.
The only connection that paint color has is the darker the color the faster it will show up, however if it is showing on the dark color now it's just a matter of time until you will see it appear on the light colors also.
The problem is the result of a problem in the manufacturing process.
RV manufacturers have tried to repair customers coaches by grinding down the surface and repainting only to have it show up again very quickly. The only fix is to have the whole coach re sided, a very expensive fix.
I was a victim with a previous coach and was unsuccessful in having the coach manufacturer stand behind my warranty since the fiberglass manufacturer only provided them with a 2 year warranty.
Coachmen were recently able to obtain a judgment against Crane Composites.
Coachmen wins liability portion of lawsuit against Crane Composites
Greg Gerber posted on February 02, 2009 08:55
ELKHART, Ind. -- Coachmen Industries today announced that it and four of its RV operating subsidiaries (Coachmen) received a favorable verdict against Crane Composites, Inc. (formerly known as Kemlite) for breach of contract and multiple warranty claims arising from the sale of defective sidewall material to Coachmen.

All of the counts alleged in the original complaint were found in favor of Coachmen. The remaining phase of the trial will determine the amount of damages payable on this liability judgment. In its complaint, Coachmen has asserted claims for warranty-related expenses in excess of $19 million and total potential claims of over $85 million.

"We are very pleased with the overwhelming victory in the liability phase and are cautiously optimistic about the final outcome of this matter," states Todd Woelfer, general counsel of Coachmen.

It is anticipated that the final phase of the trial will be conducted in the Fall of 2009. There can be no assurance about the amount or timing of any damages that Coachmen may realize from the final phase of the trial.

SOURCE: Coachmen press release

Pusherpilot · 02-12-2009, 08:34 AM

The story I heard recently is that Monaco settled with Dow-Corning but failed to pass on the settlement to those who bought their coaches. The other story is that Monaco is offering a one time discount on a new coach (Monaco of course) when you trade the old lower valued rig in. I doubt that an issue can be made of either now that Monaco is on the brink of chapter 11.

cb5300 · 02-13-2009, 04:13 PM

As it has already been pointed out, it is not the paint, it is the fiberglass. In order to save money the manufacturers used the cheapest material that they could find and this is the problem.

The problem also is not confined to just '01-'04 either, as it was also pointed out, it will show up in all of the coaches (dark color) sooner or later. Is there a fix? Yes, and Monaco (and the other coach builders) knew that if they only used a better grade of "glass" then there wouldn't be this problem, and it would've only cost them about an extra grand or so per coach to do it.

If your coach has not started checkering yet, you may want to see about getting it re-clear coated. There is suppose to be a clear coat from Germany that has very high UV and UVa filtering, and is suppose to cut down on the checkering.

All of this info is what I've been told by an ex-employee that had to deal with this problem at Monaco, so I do have the up most faith in it.

Do you have enough grounds for a class action??? I don't know, it could be argued that the manufacturers built and sold you a product that was defective right from the start, that you should have told about the possible checkering problem...Or better yet, manufacturers should not have painted any dark coaches.

cb5300 · 02-13-2009, 04:14 PM

Of course there is another way of looking at this. You now have a reason to trade coaches every 4 to 5 years.

beaverjim · 02-14-2009, 01:11 AM

cb5300, i think you may be refering to sikkens clearcoat. jim

Pusherpilot · 02-14-2009, 04:31 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by beaverjim:
cb5300, i think you may be refering to sikkens clearcoat. jim

When our "log" cabin in Mo needed refinishing after only one year we used sikkens. That was 4 yrs ago and still no sign of mold etc. Sikkens is a great product, if their automotive stuff is as good it might work.

observer · 02-14-2009, 09:10 AM

The problem is not with the paint. The problem is the fiberglass itself. This issue affected numerous manufacturers. Our beloved government required the producers of the fiberglass to modify some production aspect. Consequently gases were trapped in the fiberglass and when the fiberglass gets warm from the sun, especially in areas of dark color paint, the gases try to escape and cause the fine cracking that you see. If you search other RV forums for "fiberglass" issues you will find lots of info.

Dennis Codella
'07 Endeavor 40PDQ