Roof seperation from side wall fix?

Long story short (or maybe not); Pointed out the roof seperation from sidewall to our guy at the body shop where it's at now, thought we'd see while it was there if it was something they could take care of. He looked at it, eyes got REAL WIDE  and he said I don't mean to scare you, but you better call Winnebago, that is a structural issue -pause- that's bad - pause - that's really bad -pause- and I presume it will be covered under the 10yr roof warranty. (Now, you have to envision a guy that gets excited about absolutely nothing! Always monotone, everything is great kinda of guy, so now I'm scared. I have this vision of us going down the highway and having an instant convertable LOL.

Got home, called Winnebago to acquire input, he indicated that the sealant has to be inspected every 6 months and considering the age of our coach if we failed to inspect it then obviously we neglected to take care of it so it will have to be cleared and resealed (first crabby person I ever talked to there  ). So I'm thinking WOW so Winnie owners have roofs fly off if they don't inspect the sealant that holds them on LOL? That doesn't sound right and it's at that point I realized that we had to have had a failure to communicate on exactly what the problem was.

I checked their site and found what I believe he was referring to. There is a service tip on the website called "Roof to Sidewall Joint Sealing" in which upon further inspection of the diagram, that is not our problem (I check that when clearing the slide drains, wheww), I fear ours is much worse. I used their diagram below to indicate exactly where the separation is to give a visual.

Now just rambling so only read on if you really have nothing better to do 
Ok now, keep laughing (I still am so far so I have to share). We are preparing it for our trip next month so paying out for labor that we would normally do ourselfs but trip is early and it's cold so....The MH spent 3 weeks at the Workhorse service center getting the brake recall done, MagnaFlow mufflers installed , tire rotation, oil change, weighing, list goes on. While there it gets two pieces of body damage (don't ask cause we didn't win that one), oh well, already had body shop scheduled for the rust so we'll have them do that to. Finally get MH back yesterday then take it to scheduled body shop appt. today, research on roof begins, call local RV dealer to inspect roof and determine if warranty item and if known fix which is scheduled for the day we pick it up from the body shop. We are shop hopping here  ;D, had I known, I would have started this sooner in prep for next month LOL.

Ok, so, what kind of glue would you use to attach the roof back onto your motorhome? LOL Is super glue really that super  ;D

Sorry to hear your tale of woes, Dar. Sounds like it is going to be an expensive spring tune-up!

As for the wall separation, it could be due to leakage from a roof seam (which would likely be your expense), or it could have started as a structural failure that pulled the seam apart (Winnebago's problem, if within the structural warranty.)  But I have to caution you - the 10 year warranty is only on the fiberglass skin of the roof. The structural warranty is only 3 years from data of purchase.

What you describe sounds more like delamination of the sidewall, i.e. the skin coming away from the wall internal structure. That is typically due to water intrusion and not structural failure.

Thanks Gary but didn't mean for it to sound like woeing, thought that unfolding, escalating drama was kind of funny. You know better than to say that word....delamination! LOL But actually the skin isn't pulling away from the wall, the roof is pulling away from the side wall so I don't think it's delamination but what do I know. You also have a valid point on the warranty but actually I was looking at that as a bonus when he said it...whoohoo...one less $ but in reality, just like the body damage we paid for and did not create, it will be out of our pocket, I am just anxious to know what it is and for it to be fixed. I will share when we find out next week. I am determined to have this thing road worthy in 3 weeks, whoohoo, I am so excited to hit the road that none of this will woe me unless it stops me! ;D

Dar said:

But actually the skin isn't pulling away from the wall, the roof is pulling away from the side wall so I don't think it's delamination but what do I know.

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How long is the separation? It looks to me that some screws long enough to go through the top of the awning rail into the square tubing at the corner might pull everything back together. If you can get through the awning rail and into the square tubing, you would not have to worry about pulling the screw head through the fiberglass or cracking it. It might be worth discussing with the body shop technician.

Richard

I wasn't sniping about your "tale of woe" - I was commiserating!

As for the d-word, a picture would be worth a 1000 words.

Thanks Richard, sounds good! Although I am still unsure who would be better served to do this? Body shop or RV Dealer? The body shops big thing was warranty but now that I know for sure it's not covered I might just tell him to proceed if he's willing and confident in what he is doing.

Ok Gary, I am attaching a photo, may not be obvious cause it's a bad photo but if you look really hard you can see the line in the gap between the awning rail and side wall. May not be 1000 words but maybe 100 & the d-word is not in the 100  ;D PLEEEEEZE

Dar - egads!  That's a new one on me  .  We have extensively discussed sealing that roof to sidewall joint, but not a separation where you are having the problem.

As an FYI, failure to inspect/caulk (I realize this isn't your issue) that seam/joint will not invalidate your roof warranty.

If I had that sort of problem, I would be headed to Forest City for a repair. There are very few dealers in whom I would have enough confidence to trust on something like that.

I agree with Gary, my first choice for the correct repair would be Forest City and a Winnebago factory repair.  My second choice and I think your in Ohio.  Would be to take it over the Arbogast RV: http://www.rvandboatdepot.com/rv-and-boat-service.aspx at Troy Ohio just north of Dayton.  They are a Winnebago dealer and I think are well equipped to possibly handle the repair.  I have been there and seen motorhomes with the whole side removed in their shop.  Or at least maybe give them a call.

John Canfield said:

Dar - egads! 

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Yep, that sums it up John 

John Canfield said:

As an FYI, failure to inspect/caulk (I realize this isn't your issue) that seam/joint will not invalidate your roof warranty.

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Good to know, thanks

Gary RV Roamer said:

There are very few dealers in whom I would have enough confidence to trust on something like that.

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I agree completely! I am just afraid to put too many miles on it like this in fear that we will make it worse.

howdymi said:

My second choice and I think your in Ohio.  Would be to take it over the Arbogast RV

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That's actually where we purchased the MH so might not be bad idea either.

Thanks everyone, I'll follow up with a result when we get one. 24 days before hitting the road (with or without a roof ;D)!

Don't give up. We have had a lot of problems with our 05 Meridian. The first answer is it's always the owners fault but don't let that discourage you.  Ask for the Manager to discuss your problem. We had sidewall delamination, leaking windshields, bearing seal failure and other warranty issues with Winnebago and Freightliner after warranty expiration dates.  All have been repaired under goodwill gestures.
Good Luck! 
Guenter

I have been to the Winnebago factory twice in the 4 years we have owned our MH, each time I have asked them to check the roof and all seals. This past summer they found the awning side was separating. They repaired it on their nickle. The service tech took me inside the waiting area where they had a cross section of the roof line. It is held in place by the roof underlapping the drip rails and screws every 12 inches. They put additional screws between the existing ones. He advised that the caulking should be inspected annually and if any cracks found to repair at once. Water is susceptible in getting behind the walls causing delamination problems.

Thanks to everone for the push and input. I was fortunate to speak with someone at Winnebago that was able to diagnose the problem. Apparently we have brittle screws in that section in which Winnebago will take care of on their dime. The rep really took the time to explain the process of the repair to me, and with the diagram in front of me I was able to see exactly what he was referring to and realized it's not as major as I feared, actually quite simple.

We will be taking it to Dave Arborgast RV as suggested by howdymi because we were also impressed with their facilities when we purchased it there and are pretty unimpressed with local ones that we have observed. The Winnie rep even gave me detailed instructions on how to tape it for the 200 mile trip to Arborgast.

Just helps reaffirm why we love our Winnebago!  ;D

Thanks again for everyone taking the time, greatly appreciated!

Dar

Is it literally "brittle" screws that are breaking? How do they break?
When it's over I think we'd all appreciate the longhand version of the fix and pix to boot.
Good Luck !

'Brittle' screws??  Perhaps someone at the factory got too aggressive with the air driver.  I know I've found more than a few stripped or broken screws on my coach. 

That's great news, Dar. Three cheers for Winnie!

The assembly line guys do indeed drive screws hard and fast with powerful screw guns, and they never drill clearance or pilot holes either.  That is a recipe for broken or stripped screws, and also poor fastening technique because it does not draw the two pieces of material together well, nor allow the joint to "work" without pulling the screw loose.  But it saves a lot of construction time/cost. so that's how it is done.

The problem with the fasteners was embrittlement.  For those of you technically curious, here's a detailed explanation.  Embrittled fasteners can fail without warning.

The reason that comment got my attention is that I had replaced several screws on the screen door the day before that started to corrode on the head (they were painted black), and 3 of the 5 heads literally fell off.

John: Nice Wx got you here in SA. Got here this afternoon after 6+" of rain and radiation at home..

SCVJeff said:

John: Nice Wx got you here in SA. Got here this afternoon after 6+" of rain and radiation at home..

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We'll gladly take some of yours!  We haven't had significant rain in several months.

Yeah, the coast got pounded again today..  It was about 88 here in town today. Toured the two tallest rooftops in town. Too bad the haze was in, dropped visibility to about 8-10 miles. Nice view tho