Popup Roof Skin Replacement?

[D Porter]

Hey all,
We have a 2006 Rockwood Freedom 1640, 8ft box popup. It appears that the roof skin has started to come up from whatever it is adhered too underneath. These waves in the skin have caused the roof to start forming hairline cracks in several places. Thankfully it hasn't started leaking yet but I am keeping it covered and am keeping a close eye on it. My question is, can you buy replacement roof material? If I can't get it, I plan to use a bedliner type material to cover it but I'd like to replace if possible to retain the resale value.
It's a single piece for the whole roof and appears to be 1/8 or so thick aluminum or something similar.

While we're talking about it, does anyone know how the skin is attached and what it is attached to?

Thanks in advance,

Dan

[f5moab]

My 2012 is a fiberglass vacuum bonded roof. They are garbage and tend to delaminate and FR refuses to warranty the product for the five years as specified in their documentation.

Some ideas for a repair...
Pop-up Camper Roof Repair Suggestions by Roberts Sales. Denver Colorado

Personally, if I still have mine in the spring, I will cover the delaminated areas with Eternabond tape, and then probably coat with Gorilla Grip. It it lasts, it lasts if not...sell it as the piece of junk it is.

[D Porter]

Forest River will sell you a whole new top for about $2k including shipping and crating. They don't sell just the skin.

[f5moab]

Two thousand for another roof like I have now that has only lasted 4-years, and they refuse to fix and they state five year warranty. (And dealer told me more than 2K, but I have a 12-foot box so that might explain the different in price.)

Not for me. I'll do the eternabond; Gorilla grip and if it works, it works. If not, time to move on to another trailer NOT made by FR.

Bad enough I have spent 4-years replacing the cheap screws into the cheap wood, the billion staples, POS power winch, etc.

[SidecarFlip]

Wow, another happy owner... Sounds like a Rhino-Liner job might be the ticket...and yes, FR uses cheap screws.

[f5moab]

Rhino liner is not an option. Very few of their shops will do a roof with their roof product on a trailer; and that was from Rhino lining after the local shop would not answer the emails. Needless to say; not one in the area I live in. And the truck bed product is terrible for retaining the color white, so they don't recommend white.

Line X will do it in white, in fact the dealer in Denver has used line X at times, but talking with people on other forums and on occasion in person; Gorilla Grip is as good if not better than Line X.

And no, I am far from a happy owner. And why should I be if a company denies the warranty they issue. In fact, I have considered possible legal action, but considering what it would cost vs. the lawsuit and the years to win is not my thing.
However, when I paint something "truthful" about FR on the side of my camper and go camping, I can only hope it turns heads and changes decisions.

[SidecarFlip]

How about the self applied 'Herculiner' sold at Tractor Supply and online? I used it on my truck bed. It's a pulverized rubber based coating (just like the commercially applied coatings) but you do the application yourself so you can apply more than one coat?

I have no idea what 'Gorilla Grip' is. Never heard of it.

Glad my roof is a single sheet of pre-paint aluminum.

[wheatbread]

can kool seal be used to coat a popup roof for something like this?

[f5moab]

Sorry, had tape in mind, meant to say Grizzly Grip....

Truck Bed Liner Bedliner Color Camper Top Repair Non Slip

Grizzly Grip is very popular and has some great reviews on another "popup" website I visit.

Kool seal is not as highly recommended.

Other truck bedliners might work. One secret is to not add too much more weight to the roof.

[hillsdaletc]

If your top has the moldings down both sides, you can install a sheet of TPO or EPDM .
Kits are available through most RV supply company's.

[t5834lp]

Please see the attached photos of the roof edge on my 2015 Palomino. The back doesn't look like that at all. Is this the kind of rippling you are referring to? Thanks!

[f5moab]

Not sure what others are talking about, but this is what my roof is doing and it was confirmed by the dealer it was delaminating but no one cares and it is still under the five year roof warranty. And it is all in the front about three inches from the start of where the roof goes vertical.

I have added dicor over the cracks, it looks like crap but helps to seal the cracks, and as stated, next spring I'll use eternabond tape and a truck liner product called Grizzly grip.

[SidecarFlip]

So the 'warranty' isn't worth the paper it's written on (no surprise there) and your roof looks like shitte and probably leaks too.

Just some more high quality FR stuff.

If that was me, knowing what I know and being able to get it..I'd order a sheared to size sheet of mill finish aluminum (in the appropriate gauge, probably 24 or 30 gauge, pull the side moldings, lay on the aluminum (with epoxy adhesive in the underside) and be done with it... basically forever or until the rest of the unit falls apart.

Alro sells it, Schupan Aluminum, Contractors and Ryerson and they all sell to the public and they all shear to size.

When my roof poops on my Palomino, I'm gonna do just that. Aluminum is real easy to work with.

[f5moab]

So far it has not leaked, or any evidence of leakage, and I applied Dicor to the delaminated areas, which makes it look worse. But yea, FR says it is normal; my reply is yes, after ten years maybe. I can say I will NEVER purchase another trailer made by FR, and have been telling all others to avoid the company and look for something else.

Aluminum would be a good repair; however, where I live in very eastern Idaho, no place to get it and I believe it would take at least two people to handle it while installing, and it's only me and two dogs.

Line-X in Idaho Falls will cover it, but from what I have read on another site, the Grizzly Grip seems to work quite well, and one person can do it.

[Asrabbit]

That looks something like electrolysis, (I am judging that based on the rust stains). If that is the case, I would wonder if you can cover it and have it last long term as the electrolysis would just continue to eat the aluminium. Again, I could be way off as I am just looking at the picture.

[SidecarFlip]

Originally Posted by f5moab

So far it has not leaked, or any evidence of leakage, and I applied Dicor to the delaminated areas, which makes it look worse. But yea, FR says it is normal; my reply is yes, after ten years maybe. I can say I will NEVER purchase another trailer made by FR, and have been telling all others to avoid the company and look for something else.

Aluminum would be a good repair; however, where I live in very eastern Idaho, no place to get it and I believe it would take at least two people to handle it while installing, and it's only me and two dogs.

Line-X in Idaho Falls will cover it, but from what I have read on another site, the Grizzly Grip seems to work quite well, and one person can do it.

Sheared to size aluminum sheet would probably weigh less than 5 pounds total and be relatively easy for one person to handle (after removing the side moldings and cleaning off the caulking that was left and you can order and have a sheared to size sheet shipped, no big deal, done everyday.

My old TC (a Lance) had an aluminium skinned roof and barring the sidewall delam (lance isn't too good at getting their corners sealed properly so the Filon delams), the roof was in excellent shape (to bad the sides weren't).

Plus, you can order aluminum sheet in pre-paint in about any color besides mill finish.

Exactly what I'm going to do with mine, if and when it does what yours is doing. No issue yet, but my unit stays indoors unless I'm using it.

[Amartin453]

So after reading this thread I quickly realized that I had a roof delamination issue going on with my 2016 Rockwood Premier 2516G. So I shot an email to FR directly and received a quick response back asking for some pictures. Upon sending the pics, I received another email within minutes saying to take it to a FR dealer for replacement. This will be my next hurdle! Anyone know of a trustworthy dealer on the east coast of Florida in the Palm Beach/ Treasure coast area? I purchased my camper at Lazy Days in Tampa and don't want to travel 4 hours unless absolutely necessary.

Thanks

[Amartin453]