Roof Destruction

Has anyone ever lost a rubber roof on a trailer less than two years old? I lost mine this weekend on vacation and was looking to see how common this is.

I saw a Bighorn a couple of years ago in Kentucky with the roof billowing. Pulled into a rest area alonside him and asked him if he knew this was happening. He did not, nor could he have seen it when going down the road. I've seen plenty of RVs going down the road and this was the only one I ever saw with this condition.

Did you lose it entirely or just have it partly come up?

My last unit developed "Goodyear Blimp Syndrome" as the seam at the front cap had a gap smaller than my little finger that allowed air to enter. That combined with the air flowing over the top created additional lift, I guess.

We were coming back from Sturgis and had an RV Transport driver radio us to tell us of our problem. Smart aleck also wanted to know where we would have it repaired so he could get a return haul to the factory if need be!!!

My roof stretched pretty good but never tore so the dealership was able to roll it back and glue the front and stretch the front down to get it under the front cap. I did have them check the Luan "underlayment" for water damage since we had traveled down the road in a monsoon. Never had another issue with it.

Had that driver not made fun us, we never would have known there was a problem.

Mike;

Contact your dealer if you are close to them, and if not, contact Heartland Customer Service at 877-262-8032. What year and model do you have and what are the last 6 numbers of your vin? Have this information available when you contact Heartland.

John

Two days before the Socal rally last week I cleaned and treated the rubber roof on my 06 3600RL. At the rally I checked the roof for any damage due to low hanging oak tree branchs in the rv park, no tree damage. The drivers side nose cone had broken off 4 screw head in the metal/rubber molding attaching the cone to the rubber roof and plywood underlayment. The gap was 14" long and 1/2" high. Fortunately, I caught it when I did, the rubber roof could have pulled back and peeled off in the wind, or flooded the front closet area in rain. I added a additional screws to secure the cone and resealed with caulking.
Might be a good idea to add a roof check to your check list.

Forrest

Forrest, have another shot of tequila and check my roof out willya please? It needs your expert birds eye view. LOL

Last year I passed a 5th wheel going the opposite direction and his roof was billowing in the wind. It was a divided highway, no way to warn him.../Doug

Has anyone removed and replaced the roof caulking where the nose and tail cone connect to the rubber roof, if so, what product did you use?

Forrest

Forrest,
I had to replace mine on the rear cap. In one area on the ladder side there was a gap of about 1/2" between the roof and the cap. I used a roof flashing caulk from Lowes that stays flexible. This has been in place for about 8 months and the caulk filling the gap is still flexible without any cracking at all. I believe the caulking for this area must be the kind that does not harden as it would get brittle and crack under the vibration and stress of the road.

I just got my rig back from the dealer and mentioned that we had caulked the front cap 3 times since december and it kept popping the caulk. they checked it and said that it had broken screws holding it on as well. I wonder if the size of the camper has anything to do with it?

I suspect the cause for the nose cone separation is due to flexing and lack of screws securing the nose cone to roof sheathing. If you use larger coarse thread screws spaced 4 inches, the problem may go away.

Forrest