Tear on roof of Torque 380 Need advice!!
- Thread starter Charlie263
- Start date
Charlie263
Member
Pizzaguy
Well-known member
Eternabond is very good stuff. If you clean the area good, round off the corners of the patch, it will last a long,long time. I had a tear in the roof on the radius edge on a SOB years ago that I patched with it and it never let loose anywhere. I ended up trading it for our first BH a few years later.
Jim.Allison
Well-known member
Eternabond is mostly the adhesive with a thin protective cover, so yes it will form to a curve easily. be sure not to stretch it, just place it. Then put pressure on it. There are many YouTube videos that will fill you in on the proper application. Ditto on rounding the corners, they will lift slightly, its not a thing, but rounding the corners will make it look nice and eliminate the corners that will lift and catch dirt.
dbbls59
Well-known member
I used Dicor tape on a trailer that had a tear like that. It was still performing good 9 years later when I traded the unit. However, to keep your warranty it is probably worth the $250 to have it replaced if you find a good repair shop. They will be breaking all of the seals to replace the roof.
jmgratz
Original Owners Club Member
For that small a tear I would not replace the roof, I would patch it. I used Eternabond on a tear on a previous RV and it was still good 5 years later when traded. I also used Eternabond on the seam on the front and rear cap to seal over the caulking. Four years later it was still good. Eternabond is good stuff made for rubber roof repairs. You can even find it at Wal-Mart in the RV parts sections. Call Dircor if you are unsure about the warranty if a small patch is used.
I'm not familiar with a forever warranty but I suspect that you may find, that for some reason, most common problems you encounter will somehow not be covered in the fine print. Regardless, I would be a little suspicious of a dealer telling me that if I dont get a complete replacement it would void my warranty. Your roof will never be covered by warranty for tears, and that is about the only problem that commonly occurs with a rubber roof. Surely the dealer is not indicating that it could void the warranty on your A/C, heating or refrigerator etc., that would be ludicrous. This dealer has about a $4000 plus gain if he gets to replace your roof. I've seen several new roof replacements that looked like they were very poorly done.
Just my 2 cents, but I do understand your concern being a new rig. Do what makes you feel most comfortable and dont look back, but dont let the dealer be the soul influence for a decision on something that simple. As others with years of experience have stated, Eternabond is good stuff.
Just my 2 cents, but I do understand your concern being a new rig. Do what makes you feel most comfortable and dont look back, but dont let the dealer be the soul influence for a decision on something that simple. As others with years of experience have stated, Eternabond is good stuff.
Jim.Allison
Well-known member
I just read your "RV Warranty Forever (TM)" and I see specifically where you are supposed to inspect and seal your roof annually. Now it does say that a dealer is supposed to do the maintenance for you but I don't think, it says that you have to have a roof that has not had an industry approved repair. I think your dealer is trying to get you to put on a new roof for no good reason.
This dilemma calls for a phone call to your "RV Warranty Forever" company and get the details about your specific problems. Because I read that you are supposed to inspect your roof annually and seal it as needed. Which does not say that they are going to put a new roof on it, nor does it say that the roof can't have been penetrated and repaired.
Honest to goodness I would read my contract and see if that is an extended warranty and if it is, I would get back the premium, tape up the roof and go on about my business.
The tendency is for RV owners to think there is a mystery in there RVs, they think there are ghost and goblins behind the basement walls, they think the fridge is going to break down and cost $37,000 dollars to fix. So its easy to sell us these policies. Its later that we understand that they are worthless.
In fact I bought one, and my contract says that it is refundable up to when it starts which is 2 years after the date of sale. I am in the process of cancelling the policy for a refund. Now that I know how simple Fifth Wheels are.
Any decent DIY can do a better job than a dealer. Inspect your rig on a regular basis and you will have a good rig for a long time to come. I promise there is no job on an RV to difficult for a DIY.
As far as extended warranties are concerned, if you think that they are going to send someone out to fix your axle while traveling the Al-Can, just do a search of this forum and you will find out that you will be waiting for a long time for someone to show up to make the repair.
This dilemma calls for a phone call to your "RV Warranty Forever" company and get the details about your specific problems. Because I read that you are supposed to inspect your roof annually and seal it as needed. Which does not say that they are going to put a new roof on it, nor does it say that the roof can't have been penetrated and repaired.
Honest to goodness I would read my contract and see if that is an extended warranty and if it is, I would get back the premium, tape up the roof and go on about my business.
The tendency is for RV owners to think there is a mystery in there RVs, they think there are ghost and goblins behind the basement walls, they think the fridge is going to break down and cost $37,000 dollars to fix. So its easy to sell us these policies. Its later that we understand that they are worthless.
In fact I bought one, and my contract says that it is refundable up to when it starts which is 2 years after the date of sale. I am in the process of cancelling the policy for a refund. Now that I know how simple Fifth Wheels are.
Any decent DIY can do a better job than a dealer. Inspect your rig on a regular basis and you will have a good rig for a long time to come. I promise there is no job on an RV to difficult for a DIY.
As far as extended warranties are concerned, if you think that they are going to send someone out to fix your axle while traveling the Al-Can, just do a search of this forum and you will find out that you will be waiting for a long time for someone to show up to make the repair.
pegmikef
Well-known member
Charlie, the total cost to replace the roof on my old North Trail was just over $4000 and that included replacing some of the underlayment that was damaged and some repair to the end. So I don't know where the 8500 is coming from.
Jim.Allison
Well-known member
Eternabond is very pliable, go to lowes and buy a small package and play with it. You will see what we are talking about, No rig should be without a roll of eternabond. AND a roll of Gorilla tape.
Charlie263
Member
Yeah, the dealership is 60 miles one way from my home. They've had my rig for almost 3 weeks and he's still not done completing a punch list of little things that needed fixing. They said all is done except my bedroom slide bottom gasket is torn to shreds and he said they still haven't fixed that because he says Heartland is still deciding on whether they can fix the floor. He said the rollers are broke. I said I've only had this camper 10 months I want it fixed. I told the service guy I won't be buying a camper from this far from home anymore. Bad experience. I told him I had a camping trip planned when I took it and he acted like he should be through in a week. Joke. His attitude was like well come and get it and just bring it back later. So inconsiderate.
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danemayer
Well-known member
Seems unlikely that there would be any uncertainty over whether the floor can be fixed.
You might want to call Heartland Customer Service at 877-262-8032 / 574-262-8030. Have your VIN # ready. There may be more to the story.
Let us know what you find out.
Charlie263
Member
Sure will.
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Charlie263
Member
They kept my camper for a long time and after I pressed them to hurry up , they fixed the rollers and put a slide out gasket on. When I picked it up I saw what they were talking about, the underside of the slide has some 1/8 inch deep scratches in the fiberglass where the motor was pushing the slide over e damaged rollers. You can only see them unless you look under the slide, and I hardly think it would warrant replacing the whole floor for some scratches that aren't a potential problem down the road. And aren't unsightly. I think they were trying to make a big repair out of a moderate repair. I surely hope the majority of rv dealerships don't try to stick the manufacturers with unnecessary repairs just to make money. All that does is raise the price of RV's for everyone, and keep some people out of RVing. My first trip in with my new RV left me having a bad taste in my mouth. First it was the roof replacement they wanted to do over a couple tears and then they were trying to make a mountain out of the slide floor. Jeez
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