How to Protect Rubber Roof Edges From Cover Chafe

[PR Wildcat]

This summer we purchased our 2015 28' Wildcat Travel Trailer. It came with a good quality unused cover which I planned to use for our outdoor winter storage. After researching covers in this and other forums I found some that some people had problems with wear or damage on their rubber roof edges when using a cover.

We live in an area that has some very strong winter winds so it may be impossible to totally eliminate any rubbing on the edges. I would like to put some kind of proection, ie bubble wrap, foam or other but it needs to be somehow secured to stay in place. Our rubber roof rolls over the edge. The only thing I can think of is taping it on but don't know of any tape that wont leave a residue that could be a big problem to remove.

Short of not using the cover does anyone have suggestions for us?

Thanks very much,
Rod

[Oakstone]

Could you put pool noodles around the edges? Not sure if you could cut them in half (or some sort of slot) and have them grip the edges or just put them under the cover, but it might work. Trick would be securing them in some way if the weight of the cover itself isn't enough to hold them.

[ChrisParise]

Had to think about this one for a awhile considering your rv has EPDM roofing which extends down the sides, not an uncommon feature, and your concern about high winds causing chafing/ damage to your rubber roof.

The Adco Designer series cover which I have for my Class C has a Tyvek top on it which extends over the sides and even more so down the front and back. Tyvek is a pretty slick material and I dont think you would any damage from the wind friction between thr Tyvek and your rubber roof.

There is no chafing/damage between the Tyvek and the standard roof protrusions like the ac cover, maxair vent covers either.

If your cover has a woven cloth top then that might be an issue.

I live in the upper midwest and we get blizzard and sustained high winds, and gusty winds, not to mention heavy snow and ice formations, November through February and into March. I typically take my cover off in early to mid March.

[PR Wildcat]

Originally Posted by Oakstone

Could you put pool noodles around the edges? Not sure if you could cut them in half (or some sort of slot) and have them grip the edges or just put them under the cover, but it might work. Trick would be securing them in some way if the weight of the cover itself isn't enough to hold them.

HI Oakstone - Thanks for your reply and the suggestion to use pool noodles. I'm having difficulting getting them in our small town. Instead I have purchased a bunch of foam pipe insulation in different sizes. It comes sliced lengthwise on one side. I tested one piece and was able to partially open it fairly easily. This will facillitate putting it on the roof edge.

At Amazon I purchased some 3m 'No Residue Duct Tape' It has excellent reviews for not leaving a residue. Sure hope I have similar success come spring! Anyway my plan is to tape the opened pipe insulation all along the roof edges. I will also put the foam insulation at many other places as needed.

[PR Wildcat]

Originally Posted by ChrisParise

Had to think about this one for a awhile considering your rv has EPDM roofing which extends down the sides, not an uncommon feature, and your concern about high winds causing chafing/ damage to your rubber roof.

The Adco Designer series cover which I have for my Class C has a Tyvek top on it which extends over the sides and even more so down the front and back. Tyvek is a pretty slick material and I dont think you would any damage from the wind friction between thr Tyvek and your rubber roof.

There is no chafing/damage between the Tyvek and the standard roof protrusions like the ac cover, maxair vent covers either.

If your cover has a woven cloth top then that might be an issue.

I live in the upper midwest and we get blizzard and sustained high winds, and gusty winds, not to mention heavy snow and ice formations, November through February and into March. I typically take my cover off in early to mid March.

Hi ChrisParise - Thanks very much for all your thoughts on covers and chafe.

The unused cover that came with our used trailer is made by Classic Accesories. A tag that came with it says it's 100% woven polyester and is a 'Ripstock Fabric'. It is also fairly slick and not real thick.

Glad to hear that you have had such good success with your Tyvek material! Hope I will be as fortunate.

Because I'm very conservative I'm afraid to take any risk with damage to the roof edges. Thus I plan to protect them with foam pipe insulation as I explained in my post above. But I'm glad to know that the slick material may cause little chafe damage to other unprotectd areas.

[horn4life]

I do not have a cover for my trailer but this caught my eye as I am considering getting one for some Texas sun protection, but I worry about messing up the edges. Of course I worry about the UV destroying the rubber roof membrane as well.

I would need to use noodles or protective caps to cover the sharp drain corners for a cover to survive at all. Seems like holding in place whatever your protective is will be crucial to success. For example I was going to cut some holes in tennis ball to the drain ends by drilling small holes in the drain spout itself to tie the balls in place.

Since you are likely using some sort of pipe insulator instead of the larger noodles I might use some pvc to make a frame to hold all the foam in place.
Then just use some tie downs to wrap around that frame to secure it in place on top No matter what you might spend on pvc, foam insulators and tie downs, it would be cheaper than having the edges chafe. I sort of envision a frame where you have crossbars across the top of the RV what rest on the roof. These will support the outer frame of foam that will protect the edges. I would use the foam on these pvc cross members to protect these contacts with the roof. To prevent movement at these contact points and to hold the edges in place for max protections I snug these down with two tie downs on each side.

The removable duct tape might well work. But I would be concerned about how it might lose grip in the winter. Check the temps on the adhesive for sure. For me taking the time to build a pvc frame I can reuse and that will actually stay in place (my assumption) will actually save me time and money. Simply as I am a LOT more likely to use the cover, with a system I can set up and break down again and again fairly easily.

[Oakstone]

Just anecdotal, but I got a cover for my new trailer, looked at the gutter protrusions and figured "ah they're rounded plastic, it'll be fine". Wasn't fine. Got a rip after an hour of wind. I did end up tearing up a pool noodle and putting a 4-5" piece over each gutter and also on the rear lower corners where the metal was pretty pointy. The cover came with a patch kit and it was under the top overhang of material, so it's not visible, but lesson learned for sure.

[ChrisParise]

Unfortunately rips and tears will happen if sharp edges or even rounded square ends of rear bumpers are not padded.

The directions on my Adco designer cover stated as much.

Check potential purchases to ensure the cover has a Tyvek roof which extends down the sides of your TT, 5er, or motorhome.

Seems highly unlikely Tyvek material rubbing on roofing material of any type would chaff.

On my Adco designer series cover the woven material on the side did chaff against the under and leading edge of the cabover on my Class C however the chaff was removed with soap and water with light rubbing using a Mr Clean magic eraser.