AZ Experts slams Winnebago roof

[cruizerEd]

Hard to hear but ignoring a problem won't make it go away.

I think he has a sampling bias problem resulting from getting a reputation as a roof repair expert. People with roof problems are going to bring him coaches. If his reputation is big in the Winnebago population he going to see more Winnebago roof problems but that isn't clear. It also isn't clear how significant this problem is. That is to say is it 1/100, 1/1000, 1/100000 roofs go bad from manufacturing defects.

What is clear is that Winnebago roofs can and do go bad and not all of the issues are poor maintenance by owners.

You really need stay on top of your roof inspections and sealants and even if you do you might have problems.

I hope we get some follow up on this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiUpjhBp7TA

[Dunrollin]

Trampoline!

[2cyber71]

Still has a 10 yr warranty.
I would worry about. It.
Not many do have a problem and it all depends on how you care for it.
My 13 yr old Ellipse had a perfect roof when traded

[stuh10111]

2004 Winebago Vectra had a metal roof put on.

[RightUR]

Winnebago has 14% of the market. That's a lot of RV's over the yrs. Sure there will be some bad apples. For 13 yrs that's all he did...repair Winnies. So that's all he saw.
My rig is 9 yrs old, I wash the roof 3x a yr. it still looks Stellar for it's age and yesterday I waxed and buffed it (and today I'm paying the price, lol), now it looks practically new. But based on my results I'm not going to go around claiming Winnebago has the Best, Best, Best Roofs in the world.
I see a lot of his Videos, but I never see him on a roof of a Newell or Marathon, or featherlite, or Millenium or Foretravel or Liberty...Hmm I wonder why?
They keep their problems in house and tell their customers to bring them back to THEIR establishment or their authorized dealer, so HE wouldn't know.

[Americanrascal]

I come down on this with what AZ Expert has been revealing. Its real world stuff for me. I had channel separation on about 3 feet on my 2014 31 KE and the filon started to pop up and out of the side sealing channel. I had only owned it a year. I caught it in time but didn't understand the magnitude and risk of the issue. I sold it after 24 months.

Now I get it, and have understood the ongoing challenge and problem for several years on my 2016 Adventurer 38Q. There is no other item on this motorhome that requires more in-depth constant attention and repair than the sealant in the roof connection channel. Its difficult and worrisome to deal with but I am on the roof every 2 months now inspecting and repairing sealant/ adhesive. And I can attest it ain't fun.

Now- with AZ Experts latest revelation- I have to really pay attention to the filon and underlayment itself. I am wondering if Winnebago's are worth it.

[Ray,IN]

Originally Posted by 2cyber71

Still has a 10 yr warranty.
I would worry about. It.
Not many do have a problem and it all depends on how you care for it.
My 13 yr old Ellipse had a perfect roof when traded

Only the roof covering material has a 10 yr. warranty from the mfgr, the supporting structure and sheeting are covered by the MH mfgr. warranty.

[tortoise]

I was aware of the importance of the need for inspection and maintenance to maintain the integrity of the cove joint seal. Inspected myself and found it in need of new sealant, not wanting to do the job myself took the coach to LaMesa in Davis CA where I bought it to fix that along with propane leak and a few other items. After ten weeks the coach was returned with a $2500 bill, roof joint had not been touched the tech merely walked around and squirted caulking on some easy to reach screw heads in a sloppy mess. Propane leak was still evident so I took it back for them to try again (silly me). After another eight weeks the coach was returned, this time not only did they not do an acceptable caulking job (sent pictures to Winnebago customer service and he said it was totally unacceptable and not to go back to them). The propane leak was still evident as well (I later located and repaired the leak by replacing the regulator as it was leaking from the crimp joint used in manufacture of the unit). Even worse however was now the roof was damaged with cracks running down both sides of the coach about a foot from the critical joint which is about where a tech would have been kneeling to attempt the joint repair from topside and if he were overweight and wearing plastic knee pads it would explain the damage to my roof. Winnebago basically no help saying the damage was obviously due to external forces rather than any roof defect and said it was between me and the dealer likely in court. Thankfully State Farm insurance stepped up to the plate and paid $12,000 for a new roof under my comprehensive coverage and is going after La Mesa in a Subrogation lawsuit to recover the $12,000 loss they paid out. Thankfully I had full pictures of every step of the way and all documentation so there is little question of what happened. Frankly my experience with Winnebago and especially LaMesa in Davis CA has been a total nightmare and I am seriously considering selling the damned coach given the poor quality and lack of qualified repair facilities. Be very careful with those roofs they really do work well but only if you maintain that sealant and best to do it yourself as it seems the dealers are so shorthanded they are hiring almost anyone off the street with little training or knowledge of how to do the job.

[medarwin]

I'm neither a MH designer nor an engineer (although I could play one on TV). I did have to deal with a roof issue on my 2002 Journey when a windstorm pulled it out of the channel and my fiberglass whipped up scattering my foam radius panels.


Now if I designed that roof I would realize that the fiberglass needs to expand and contract BUT I would not simply use sealant in a channel. A better way would be to have a "floating" outer rail and the fiberglass be in between that and a rigid inner channel with mechanical fasteners to grip the fiberglass between them Sealant would be used on EACH side of the fiberglass, essentially using the same method of attachment that the factory uses. The difference would be that if the sealant let go, the mechanical fasteners would prevent the roof from completely separating. The repair would be to reseal the inner and outer rails and re-tighten the mechanical fasteners.
Instead of ripping off, the roof would simply be loose until repairs could be made.


Just a thought that I came up with while cursing Winnie engineers/designers while repairing my roof. YMMV. Cheers.

[ladagobago]

My 99 Chieftain also had the roof lifting. I cleaned it and used small 3mm SS cotterpins to help hold it in place. First I drilled holes every 8 to 10 inches through the channel and roof cover. The cleaned it completely and used a vibrator type tool with a carbide grit. I ground off one side of the grit that ran along the aluminum. Cleaned with a variety of de-greasers and hose, then solvent for a good clean surface. Then made plastic tool to open the space between the channel and rooftop while installing a sealant. While the sealant was still wet , installed the cotter pins in the holes for a mechanical hold down. the sealant will keep them in place.

[bpu699]

I replaced the sealant in the channel on my 2000 Winnebago. It was a HUGE effort. Took 2 weekends to scrape, clean, degrease, and reseal. Probably took 20- 30 hours for me to do...

Looks great, I know its done right...

[youracman]

Originally Posted by medarwin

I'm neither a MH designer nor an engineer (although I could play one on TV). I did have to deal with a roof issue on my 2002 Journey when a windstorm pulled it out of the channel and my fiberglass whipped up scattering my foam radius panels.


Now if I designed that roof I would realize that the fiberglass needs to expand and contract BUT I would not simply use sealant in a channel. A better way would be to have a "floating" outer rail and the fiberglass be in between that and a rigid inner channel with mechanical fasteners to grip the fiberglass between them Sealant would be used on EACH side of the fiberglass, essentially using the same method of attachment that the factory uses. The difference would be that if the sealant let go, the mechanical fasteners would prevent the roof from completely separating. The repair would be to reseal the inner and outer rails and re-tighten the mechanical fasteners.
Instead of ripping off, the roof would simply be loose until repairs could be made.


Just a thought that I came up with while cursing Winnie engineers/designers while repairing my roof. YMMV. Cheers.

John Canfield over on rvforum.net sums it up very well IMHO:

........ "As I've mentioned several times here, it's terrible engineering for long term integrity unless you are faithfully checking that joint. Brilliant design for production - they had a trolley like device that ran along the sidewall-roof joint that manipulated the Filon edge into the extrusion."


I replaced mine several years ago with Geocell ProFlex (in the nick of time.....about 15 percent of the original dried up sealant was just "gone") and yes, it was a lot of work. I also covered the channel with a continuous run of 2" EB tape. After 4 years the tape looks like new; BUT, I can no longer see the sealant. I am assuming (hate that word) that the sealant is fine since there is no UV exposure. May regret my decision, but so far so good. Just my 'sperience, FWIW.

Safe travels.

[RightUR]

Originally Posted by Americanrascal

I come down on this with what AZ Expert has been revealing. Its real world stuff for me. I had channel separation on about 3 feet on my 2014 31 KE and the filon started to pop up and out of the side sealing channel. I had only owned it a year. I caught it in time but didn't understand the magnitude and risk of the issue. I sold it after 24 months.

Now I get it, and have understood the ongoing challenge and problem for several years on my 2016 Adventurer 38Q. There is no other item on this motorhome that requires more in-depth constant attention and repair than the sealant in the roof connection channel. Its difficult and worrisome to deal with but I am on the roof every 2 months now inspecting and repairing sealant/ adhesive. And I can attest it ain't fun.

Now- with AZ Experts latest revelation- I have to really pay attention to the filon and underlayment itself. I am wondering if Winnebago's are worth it.

Well I think that since he brought this to light, Many People have seen this and heard about this, so it would behoove Winnie to do some damage control and hopefully think about Improving their roofs.

[RightUR]

Originally Posted by ladagobago

My 99 Chieftain also had the roof lifting. I cleaned it and used small 3mm SS cotterpins to help hold it in place. First I drilled holes every 8 to 10 inches through the channel and roof cover. The cleaned it completely and used a vibrator type tool with a carbide grit. I ground off one side of the grit that ran along the aluminum. Cleaned with a variety of de-greasers and hose, then solvent for a good clean surface. Then made plastic tool to open the space between the channel and rooftop while installing a sealant. While the sealant was still wet , installed the cotter pins in the holes for a mechanical hold down. the sealant will keep them in place.

I wonder how many visualized what you explained, step by step.
C'mon man put up some pics. LOL