Delamination

[Maris]

Hello from Ontario, Canada. We became 1st time travel trailer owners in 2010. We purchased a new 2010 23SS Shamrock Hybrid by Flagstaff. We love our hybrid. It has lots of space, is easy to tow with our 1/2 ton and easy to set up. We have lots of other campers stopping in for tours. We have recently noticed delamination occurring on the bed ends. We haven't contacted Flagstaff or the dealer yet. Looking for advice on how to approach this issue and if we have any recourse.
Advice or suggestions would be appreciated.
P.S. this trailer has been well taken care of.


Maris

[VinceU]

Originally Posted by Maris

Hello from Ontario, Canada. We became 1st time travel trailer owners in 2010. We purchased a new 2010 23SS Shamrock Hybrid by Flagstaff. We love our hybrid. It has lots of space, is easy to tow with our 1/2 ton and easy to set up. We have lots of other campers stopping in for tours. We have recently noticed delamination occurring on the bed ends. We haven't contacted Flagstaff or the dealer yet. Looking for advice on how to approach this issue and if we have any recourse.
Advice or suggestions would be appreciated.
P.S. this trailer has been well taken care of.


Maris

There are lots of threads here about the doors of hybrids failing. Delam in general is often the result of excess humidity on the inside of the RV which will track through the non watertight panels to the exterior panel and ruin the glue bonds on the way. On hybrids its also caused by exposed edges of the doors absorbing water with the same result. Most folks put in a claim with FR as soon as its discovered. If allowed to continue the side and end walls will follow. Put in the search "Delamination" above in the green field and you'll find plenty of history. I wouldn't let it continue.

[Maris]

Thanks for the info. We will contact our dealer & if they can't help us, contact Forest River. We bought this trailer to enjoy our retirement. Hope it can be repaired.

[bikendan]

bunk door delam can be caused by a number of factors.
the main one is water getting and pooling in the hinge area. the water will wick into the sandwich construction of the door.
now, water in the hinge area can come from many ways. canvas caught in seals, marker lights leaking, bad/compressed seals, bowed bunk door to name a few.
a rarer issue is water penetrating along the bunk door frame, due to cracking or poor seals/welds at the corners.

you'll probably not be able to get this done under warranty, unless you can prove previous issues with the bunk doors.

[Maris]

Thanks Dan. I think I remember you from before. I joined this forum when we were planning to buy, but couldn't remember my log in.no problems with your 2007 Rockwood Roo SS? Would be basically the same trailer as our 2010. There was mention in some posts of glue issues for 2010 trailers. We will contact our dealer & Forest River & then if they can't help, try to fix it ourselves.

[bikendan]

no delam or leak issues on my '07 23SS.

i frequently check the hinge area after any rain or after towing in rain. so far, minimal amounts that i wipe up before it gets a chance to be wicked up.

now, decals are another story!

[gbpacker]

Notice some slight delamination on my 2009 23SS last year. Had the factory confirm the condition during the Rally on IN, and they agreed that the bunk end was delaminating. Forest River offered to replace both the front and rear bunk ends provided that I bring the trailer to the factory. This worked out for us as were returning from the SW and going to the factory was not out of our way.

Forest River replaced both bunk end and made a number of additional repair including repairing a separation of the slide floor and wall, a new electric tongue jack, hood vent door, fender and numerous minor items. This was done at no charge. We are great supporter of Forest River and the back up offered by them.

[Maris]

I checked the Forest River site & it was suggested we contact our dealer. They haven't been very helpful in the past. Would it be best to contact Forest River directly?

[itat]

I had the same problem with both front and rear doors on my 2010 Roo 23SS. I had bought mine used locally and had no warranty, so I contacted Greg Rollins at Forest River grollins@forestriverinc.com. He was very helpful and sent 2 new "bed cores" and seal kits to a local Roo dealer at FR's cost. I paid for the installation. Try your dealer first and then call or email Forest River directly. I'm in Bowmanville. Who is your dealer?

[Maris]

Thank you for your advice. We have contacted our dealer & haven't heard back yet. We are heading to Toronto today - we live north of Peterborough. I think we will stop in at Holiday World (our dealer)!on our way home. We do love the trailer. This problem is so disappointing. We were tent campers until we bought it. Now we're retired we can't really afford to upgrade.

[itat]

Hopefully, Holiday World will be willing to help you out on this by working with Forest River. We've used Holiday World for service 2 or 3 times in the past (on our previous Coleman popup). They were nice enough but not in a hurry for our business and quite expensive, but they did do good work.

If not, go directly to Greg Rollins and see if he can do anything for you. Delamination is not uncommon on hybrid Shamrocks and Roos. In my case I think it was water getting past the seals, sitting in the hinge area and wicking up into the bed core.

The prices they gave me in Aug 2012 were:
New bed cores (no framing), Part #10-633 $210 plus $25 crating
New complete bed doors (with framing and hinge), Part #10-D-2003T $330 plus $25 crating
Bed seal replacement kit, Part 10-03685A $103
The prices above were in US dollars and didn't include shipping charges.

Installation for 2 doors was around $900 which included taking the framing and hinges off the old doors and putting them on the new cores.

Good luck.

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by Maris

I checked the Forest River site & it was suggested we contact our dealer. They haven't been very helpful in the past. Would it be best to contact Forest River directly?

IMO, ONLY FR factory should deal with delamination.

Contact the service department at the Roo plant and schedule a repair.
You will not be disappointed.

[KMP44]

Originally Posted by herk7769

IMO, ONLY FR factory should deal with delamination.

Agreed - but in this case the OP had delamination on the bunk end doors. If the solution is to replace the doors and seals, I would trust the dealer to do this. Delamination of the camper walls would be a different story...

[Maris]

Thanks for your suggestions. Itat, where did you have your 23SS repaired. We went to Holiday World in Orono, which is where we bought our unit. Spoke to 3 employees who had "never heard of or seen a case of delamination on the hybrid fold down bed ends." They were quite adamant that this is an isolated incident. Told us to call or e-mail Forest River. Which we will do. We have seen delamination on other trailers and it has been reported on this site, so I am sceptical.

Thanks
Maris

[bikendan]

Agree that if the delam is just in the doors, any decent RV shop should be able to repair it.
Not much different than replacing a toyhauler's ramp door.

[itat]

Originally Posted by Maris

Thanks for your suggestions. Itat, where did you have your 23SS repaired. We went to Holiday World in Orono, which is where we bought our unit. Spoke to 3 employees who had "never heard of or seen a case of delamination on the hybrid fold down bed ends." They were quite adamant that this is an isolated incident. Told us to call or e-mail Forest River. Which we will do. We have seen delamination on other trailers and it has been reported on this site, so I am sceptical.

Thanks
Maris

We dealt with McKenzie RV Trailers in Gormley, ON. They are a Rockwood dealer. I think Holiday World only recently began to sell Flagstaff products and maybe they don't have much experience with hybrids. McKenzie has replaced a lot of bed doors on Roos which are exactly the same as your Shamrock except for fabrics and other cosmetic items.

An alternative might be Campkins RV Centre in Myrtle Station (on Hwy. 12 north of Whitby). They sell FR's Prime Time products. I've been happy with their service and they are closer for us.

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by KMP44

Agreed - but in this case the OP had delamination on the bunk end doors. If the solution is to replace the doors and seals, I would trust the dealer to do this. Delamination of the camper walls would be a different story...

Ah! Missed that. Doors I would do myself. Very easy and they should be taken off, resealed, and reinstalled every few years anyway.

[itat]

Herk, when FR offered to pay for the replacement parts, they insisted that they be installed by the dealer. They refused to ship directly to me. I agree that for anyone that's handy, it could be a DIY repair. But I still maintain that they should be able to come up with a better design and or manufacturing process so that it doesn't delam in the first place. Other than the bed doors, I've been very happy with my Roo hybrid.

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by itat

Herk, when FR offered to pay for the replacement parts, they insisted that they be installed by the dealer. They refused to ship directly to me. I agree that for anyone that's handy, it could be a DIY repair. But I still maintain that they should be able to come up with a better design and or manufacturing process so that it doesn't delam in the first place. Other than the bed doors, I've been very happy with my Roo hybrid.

Yes, by agreement with their "dealers" they will only sell parts directly to a "dealer" or certified repair shop.

That is why, if you can't stand your local dealer (like mine), it is critical to find a "repair shop" that will be acceptable to the FR warranty and parts folks.
Believe it or not, they understand and can be very accommodating.

BUT, they can NOT violate their agreement with their dealers. Shipping directly to you would break their contract. Shipping to a local repair facility would not.

Find a local shop who repairs trucks and/or tractor trailers who will be willing to order the parts for you. The slight handling charge is well worth it (IMO) if you just can't stand even walking into your local dealer's place of business.

[itat]

Fortunately, I don't hate the dealer I had them ship the parts to. They're just further away. I only recently found out that my preferred dealer is now a FR dealer, too (they now sell Prime Time).

The way I understood it, I was obligated to have the dealer install those free parts, too. Is that the way it works?