Class A Winnebago 2008 roof has "popped out" of the railing (?) - Need suggestions/Help

[quiltercowgirl]

Our 2008 Class A Winnebago, we just noticed the roof has started to "pop out" delaminate right above the awning. We don't know if this is a DIY or take it into the repair shop. No water damage that we can see. Any suggestions appreciated.

 

[Isaac-1]

You might want to watch a few of this guys videos, he as a number of them talking about Winnebago roofs, here is one he posted last week

 

[John Canfield]

Please do not double post. Can you be more specific about the delamination? Pictures?

 

[youracman]

The videos Isaac mentions are a great way to get educated re WBGO roofs. I will attach a pic posted by a "good guy" WBGO owner years ago that shows the "internals" of the roof radius area (I have annotated it pretty heavily) ..... hope it helps. You may have to click on it to enlarge.

Good luck on the fix. As John says, a pic or two of your problem area will help forum members help you.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Could you expand a bit on your roof "delaminate"? The roof is a thin sheet of filon that is only loosely glued on and doesn't rely on that to be waterproof. Coming unstuck at the edges (seams), though, is a mechanical failure that both leaks and possibly allows the roof membrane to get blown loose at highway speeds. That sort of seam failure isn't really "delamination" in the sense the term is commonly used on RVs, but it is indeed a serious problem.

 

[John Canfield]

I'm guessing the Filon sheet has popped out of the aluminum extrusion....

 

[8Muddypaws]

This happened to my traveling buddy as we drove in high winds towards Palm Springs. He had just had his roof power washed and my theory is that the high pressure water was the final straw for that roof.

According to the folks who replaced it this happens all the time on Winnebagoes. The glue in the extrusion gets to a 'certain age' and just decomposes.

Perhaps renewing the glue every few years would prevent this? A simple bead of liquid nails?

 

[creativepart]

The roof radius junction with the drip rail is MASSIVELY important and must be checked yearly, if not every 6-months. Once the original caulking fails the roof can lift out of the drip rail and actually blow off in pieces.

AZ Expert, an RV Tech in Phoenix, AZ documents all of these things and has shown a number of roof resealing projects. DO NOT USE DICOR - use the ProFlex sealant that he recommends.

Here's a video with the entire process. If you do the work carefully follow his instructions. If someone else does the work make sure they carefully follow these instructions.

 

[youracman]

^^^^^^^ X2. ^^^^^^ Well said.

No pics (or anything else additional) from the OP yet, but it sounds like at least some of the Filon has popped out of the aluminum extrusion (as John suggested) and "right above the awning" according to the OP. If so, it would seem prudent to just remove all the sealant (which is probably "bad") and then carefully ease the Filon out of the retention slot there near the awning all the way to one end of the extrusion; then "retuck it" (as James, the AZExpert says) from that awning area out to the end and reseal all of it with the ProFlex adhesive sealant. Then go reseal the other side too. Others may have a better idea, of course……may have actually done that repair.

BTW- I got a few very fine, long longitudinal cracks in the white "Geocell ProFlex" I used to reseal the Filon on my class C many years ago. My family took it on a long trip though the desert SW about a day and a half after I finished and I have since read that it likes several days to cure before use. My bad, I think; I believe it was likely caused by a wee bit of occasional racking of the coach …… even on good highways …. before the ProFlex was thoroughly cured. It was SOooo difficult to remove the newly installed sealant after they returned that I just covered it up with a continuous run of 2" EB tape. James doesn't like EB tape much, but mine has been up there about 4 years now and it looks almost like the day I installed it. It's white tape on a white Filon roof, so I'm the only guy who even "sees" it. Just my 'sperience, FWIW,

Good times and safe travels, all.

 

[John Canfield]

I recently finished completely digging out the old sealant in my roof-sidewall extrusion joint and resealing - it was a three day project (and a lot of work.) One common maintenance practice is to add sealant to the old sealant in that gap which is not ideal since you aren't getting a complete bond.

As I've mentioned several times here, it's terrible engineering for long term integrity unless you are faithfully checking that joint. Brilliant design for production - they had a trolley like device that ran along the sidewall-roof joint that manipulated the Filon edge into the extrusion.

 

[casualemt]

I recently finished completely digging out the old sealant in my roof-sidewall extrusion joint and resealing - it was a three day project (and a lot of work.) One common maintenance practice is to add sealant to the old sealant in that gap which is not ideal since you aren't getting a complete bond.

As I've mentioned several times here, it's terrible engineering for long term integrity unless you are faithfully checking that joint. Brilliant design for production - they had a trolley like device that ran along the sidewall-roof joint that manipulated the Filon edge into the extrusion.

On our annual trek to visit the in-laws in the mid west. While prepping the 2005 Journey for the trip, read AZexpert’s video on the roof edge channel caulk, checked it (and the rest of the roof) it was loose in several long areas..like I could push my finger in and watch it move! Spent the next couple of days cutting out and removing the old caulk all the way both sides of the roof. Weird that I couldn’t find clear pro flex anywhere! I have the blue/grey paint scheme, so I got black. I ended up masking off a clean line along the edge figuring if the black was visible it would at least be neat. Worked out fine, it’s hardly noticeable, and only so because I know it’s there…
Great peace of mind on my trip!

 

[John Canfield]

This is what I used, bought on Amazon:

MANUS-BOND 75-AM XTREME ULTRA CLEAR​