Fiberglass roof?

I looked at a camper this weekend that had a one piece fiberglass roof. This is the roofing type used on some high end 5th wheels and class A motor homes. Fireglass roof.. at first glance .. seems to be a pretty good idea. I haven't done much research. What do you think?

I thought most TT rubber roofs

Gregg wrote:I thought most TT rubber roofs

Most are rubber.. but the new GULF STREAM "Visa" has a fiberglass roof.. just like the sides of the TT. Its one piece.. so no end seams. The VISA roof is also sloped on front and back.. to allow for water run off and a more aerodymanic design.

I looked at all the floor plans.. but kinda like the 19ERD and the 23RBK.

heres a link http://www.gulfstreamrvtrailers.com/visa/overview.php

chuck wrote:

Gregg wrote:I thought most TT rubber roofs

Most are rubber.. but the new GULF STREAM "Visa" has a fiberglass roof.. just like the sides of the TT. Its one piece.. so no end seams. The VISA roof is also sloped on front and back.. to allow for water run off and a more aerodymanic design.

I looked at all the floor plans.. but kinda like the 19ERD and the 23RBK.

heres a link http://www.gulfstreamrvtrailers.com/visa/overview.php

Chuck, I really like the 23RBK the best. What I like the most is that it has a slide out, but the stand up shower is the best feature in my opinion. In the spec's listing it only says that it is wired for a/c. I wonder how much extra that would be. The one piece roof is nice also. I would have love for it to have a 10 gal water heater, makes for a nice hot shower.

coolbreeze1 wrote:In the spec's listing it only says that it is wired for a/c. I wonder how much extra that would be. The one piece roof is nice also. I would have love for it to have a 10 gal water heater, makes for a nice hot shower.

I think the "pre-wired for AC" means that air conditioning is an option.. I saw all the floor plans in person this past weekend at a dealership in Ohio.. all of them had AC. As for the 6 gal. water heater.. I am used to that and it worked ok for me.. but I agree.. a 10 gal would be better.

I like the floor plan of the smaller unit (19ERD).. the door on the bathroom.. when open.. can actually be completely closed and latched in the other direction.. to make the bathroom area and bedroom area private from the back end (kitchen/dining) part of the camper.

The 23RBK has more floor space, with the slide and the extra 4 feet in length.. but it weighs about 750 lbs more. I can pull either.. but I kinda like staying conservative in weight.. and length. However, if they start giving them away.. I would take either.

Well what sold me on my 5'er was the stand up shower. With the 10 gal water heater I have never ran out of hot water while taking a shower. The slide outs really open up your floor space, and is usually a good point when you decide to sell. Everyone wants a slide out. The reason I mentioned the pre wired for ac, is that under options it didn't list the ac. I wonder what you could get one at RV wholesalers?

the dealership I visited this weekend had the 19ERD "sale priced" at $15,470. The salesmen strongly hinted that they would discount that price too. If I had been ready to pull the trigger.., I would have offered them $12,000 for it. Realistically.. they probably would have come back at about 14,500. I might have paid that.. if they included a WD hitch w/sway control.

Anyway.. its fun shopping.. just not sure I really want to buy.

I know Coleman experimented with those one-piece fiberglass roofs back in the 80's with terrible results. apparently the roof warped bad especially when a roof mounted air conditioner was installed. The problem was so bad that Coleman even developed a brace to keep the roof from sagging, but it only sorta worked. Eventually Coleman went back to the two-piece roof with the center seam. I understand that pop-ups are different and that anyone producing a one-piece fiber roof today has probebly studied the Coleman problem. I would definately want to see how they perform for a camping season or two before I purchased one.

Mr trimmer Winnie has one, best way to go. Mine has a rubber roof to much work work on them never will I ever have another one. He just washes and waxes, his looks like new, his is now 9 years new and never leaked and roof has a 10 year warranty on it.

If you did have a leak in fiberglass, it sure would be easy to fix. Fiberglass repair is so straightforward.

Crawford, does Trimmer have a roof mounted AC, and if so, was there special bracing for that?

He has a aluminum frame with plywood and fiberglass over it. Yes factory set in AC and suncovers and 14x14 covers with fans inside, you name it has just about everything up there. And best of all no leaks. This is a really big selling point. Winnebago put on fiberglass on all there units.