Fiberglass Side Panel Crackling

[jstauffer]

Looking at a 2008 Tiffin Phaeton 36QSH with 53000 miles and everything looks to be in good shape and well taken care of. However the unit has quite a bit of fiberglass cracking or crackling going on with the right side panels. Mostly in the center but also along most of the upper section and mostly where the paint is the darkest. Was told the unit set in the Nevada sun quite a bit with the this side facing south. What I have read this is pretty common in the 2000 to 2008 era due to some problems with the fiberglass chemical make up they were using at that time and has caused the fiberglass to crack due to age and heat. Most of what I read is that the paint is not cracked but the cracked fiberglass is just showing thru the paint. However, if you run your fingernail across the crack it does seem to me that the paint has actually cracked. Don't think there is anything that can be done about it but would you still buy this unit knowing that it is probably going to get worse and what will happen to the resale value. I suspect in a few years there will be a lot of this era coaches that may be still good functionally but look like crap. I will try to post a couple of pictures but please ignore the street lamp post that is in the reflection. Thoughts please.

[Ludmilla]

This called paint checking. You can search for this in the forums. Bottom line - the checking is a defect in the sidewalls. It will get worse with time even if you keep it under cover. Painting it will not guarantee that the problem will not come back. If you paint, the best bet you have is to have the walls stripped and sanded down but no guarantee. The only permanent solution is to have the sidewalls replaced.

Over time, as the checking gets worse, the clear coat will crack through.

We purchased a coach with paint checking that was not as bad as you show there. We were told it would not get worse if we kept it garaged. They lied - we garaged it and it got worse. We were "lucky". Newmar will replace the sidewalls and repaint during their slower winter months (at a cost but less than elsewhere) and so we had that done a few years ago. I called a number of RV painters before I took it to Newmar and they said they could sand it before painting, but the checking can still come back.

Personally, I would stay away from a coach with paint checking that bad.

[Dav L]

Yup, that's not going to get better on it's own.
Filon replacement and repaint is right way to fix.
Sand, fill and paint is a temp fix (years, not months).
RV should be at significant discount if it looks like that all over.
Major work to fix.

[Gary RVRoamer]

If it's the defective fiberglass from Crane Composites, you should not be able to feel it on the surface. If you can feel the cracks at the surface, I'm thinking you are looking at a different problem.

[Ludmilla]

Originally Posted by Gary RVRoamer

If it's the defective fiberglass from Crane Composites, you should not be able to feel it on the surface. If you can feel the cracks at the surface, I'm thinking you are looking at a different problem.

Sorry - not true. I could not feel it in the areas that were lighter and the checking was not too bad, but the checking got worse (even though it was under cover) and in the dark areas, pieces of the clear coat popped up from the checking that occurred underneath it. That is when I knew I had to do something about it.

[jstauffer]

Thanks for your responses guys. Think it's best left alone and let someone else dial with it. There are other coaches out there, but they all seem to have some kind of issues.

[stuey93]

Going to be hard to find perfection when dealing with a pre owned coach. I am/was very ocd about every defect, but in talking to others in the community as well as changing my mindset a bit I have learned to accept less than perfect. That doesn’t mean a coach won’t benefit greatly from a high level of care and maintenance or that you should buy something that will progress to a point where it will either empty your wallet or yield nothing in the way of resale. Just my .02 but a buddy gave me great advice when he told me that these things are to be enjoyed by not only how they look but where they go and more importantly how many memories they help create[emoji846]

[jstauffer]

Good point.

[CountryB]

Originally Posted by Gary RVRoamer

If it's the defective fiberglass from Crane Composites, you should not be able to feel it on the surface. If you can feel the cracks at the surface, I'm thinking you are looking at a different problem.

Did SMC's fiberglass company (CTI) back in 2000-2005 get their fiberglass from Crane Composites too?