Allegro Bus 1996

Hello to all.  We purchased a '96 Allegro Bus 2 months ago.  I've been doing a little maintenance and have now moved to the roof which is rubber.  I need to reseal and have purchased some Eternabond tape.  What do you use to clean the intended reseal area?  I've read that acetone, gasoline,etc may leak thru the pores and loosen the attachment of the rubber.
For areas that are not amenable to tape (circular vents, etc), what caulk would you recommend?  The engine is a 460 Ford, fuel inj.; would you recommend a Banks System, knowing that I will probably trade up in 2-3 years?  Lastly, what is everyone's opinion on the Tiffin line of motorhomes?  TIA.  BTW, this is a great forum with tons of useful info that is much appreciated!
HLB

Hib,
I am not a motor home owner (yet) but have been doing a LOT of shopping at many dealers in the Midwest region.
One thing that is consistent with all the dealers I have talked to, is the good reputation and excellent customer service of the Tiffin group. These were not Tiffin dealers.
So, my suggestion would be to contact Tiffin customer service with your questions regarding your roof. I suspect you may get some excellent advice from them.
Just my 2 cents...
Good Luck!
Dodgeman

Eternabond is sticky stuff and adheres well to most anything. You just need to make sure that whatever it sticks to is itself well stuck to the rubber underneath. You want to remove surface dirt, tree sap, etc.  and any loose caulk, but stains and such are not a problem and can be left.

Do your initial cleaning with a good heavy duty detergent, e.g Simple Green, and a scrub brush to get into the creases and corners.  That may be all you need.  If there is loose old caulk, scrape it up first, using a soft blade if necessary. A piece of wood smoothed to a 45 degree edge works well and isn't sharp enough to easly gouge the rubber.  Isopropyl alcohol is the solvent of choice to remove pine tree sap and in modest quantites it won't affect the glue underneath. It evapaorates before it can penetrate much.  You can use mineral spitirs sparingly if further cleaning is necessary - put some on a cloth and rub where needed. Do not use a lot or pour it onto the surface because it may indeed loosen the glue if it penetrates.

Most RV stores carry a caulk suitable for rubber roofs.  The Dicor company, the main manufacturer of rubber roof materials, sells a good roof caulk under its name. Camping World sells the Proco brand and also Proflex, a general purpose caulk/sealant.  You can also use a  butyl caulk (the stuff used on metal gutter seams), which can be found in any home improvement or hardware store.


As for the Banks system, it is excellent but I would not recommend spending that much money if you plan to trade. A full Banks kit is around $3000 plus installation. If you do feel you need a performance boost, consider the Gear Vendors Over/under drive as an alternative to the Banks.  Your Ford 460 is powerful enough but the 4 speed E4OD transmission needs help to deliver that power to the wheels efficiently. An auxilairy transmission essentially doubles the number of ofrward gears and ives you vastly improved performance on hills.  Gear Vendors The Gear Vendors system will be expensive too.

As for Tiffin, they are highly respected and well known for their outstanding customer service. Visit the factory in Red Bay, AL if you can.

First of all, good for you for doing some roof maintanence, it will pay off in the long run. I did the same thing and it sounds like you've received some very sound advice for your roof needs.

As for the banks system, I would highly recommend it. I have a 1995 with a 454 Chevy motor. I didn't go with the full blown Banks system, but choose to go with the Stinger System, which is the full system less the manifolds. The difference between max power gain was about 1/2 from the full system to the stingr system. I went this way for two reasons. First I didn't really need to do wheelies with the rig, I was only looking for a little extra to get over the mountain passes that surround us in the promise land. The 2nd reason is because I'm a cheap skate and I guess you could throw in, I wasn't willing to pay someone to install it, and didn't want to tackle the manifolds.  The Stinger for my coach was $900 shipped to my door and I was able to install it myself (I'm not very mechanically inclined, but I can turn a wrench).

It's going to depend on your situation and what you want out of your coach over the next 2-3 years. Although I don't plan to keep my coach long term, it sure has made driving it more enjoyable, not having to worry about holding up traffic everywhere and being able to use OD so the family doesn't have to yell at each other driving down the road. I would do it again, and it will be a must have on my next gasser. Dropping $900 bucks was not easy for me, but it was worth every penny.  Of course, that is only my opinion.

Good Luck.

Well, HLB, I did the full Banks thing on our 1990 Winnebago Elandan.  It has a Ford 460 and those engines are renowned for warped header problems.  The evidence, as far as I could gather it, is that the five-eighths stainless steel that Banks puts on puts and end to header problems.  I also like the additional power--but no wheelies for me ;D.

Ciao,

Doug

HLB,

We have an Allegro Bus and have called Tiffin when we needed some answers.  They are fabulous to work with.

Marsha~

Thanks for all the replys.  Still thinking about the Banks System.  Shadowman, how difficult was the Stinger to install?  Hope to get the caulking and taping done this weekend.  I noticed that the Eternabond tape recommended using a steel roller to apply the tape; anyone have experience with this?  I wondered if hand pressure would be enough to activate the primer.
Thanks,
HLB 

Hand pressure seems to work fine on Eternabond.