Roof pulled loose

[rtheall1]

Parked at my Parents house living in our motor home, while we tale care of ailing parents. We are parked facing North and South, a big gust of wind from the west hit us broad side and peeled my roof loose full length on the passenger side. Well its 45o out side an really windy I'm outside using gurilla tape to pull the roof down and hold it in place. What a wreck, now I have to find the foam corner pieces so I can put it back together. Anyone have this happen to them before?

[woodburner]

There was a thread last year with some similar problems...I've never heard of the whole thing lifting though.

Check it out:
http://www.irv2.com/forums/f101/roof...do-112254.html

[Mr_D]

WOW!! That isn't good at all!

[rream]

What year and model do you have ?

[Doggy Daddy]

It is not uncommon as one may think. I was speaking with a RV repair facility in Palm Desert, CA about a Monaco I saw in their shop. The desert winds get strong and there are lots of wind mills all over the desert proving that. I was told that they see 8-10 peeled roof failures annually. Failure comes from not inspecting the roof, corners and edges for bad caulking/sealants and water damage. With all the twisting movement of the RV that the side walls and roof receive, things can weaken and Once air gets under any part of the roof, the wind will peal it right off when stationary or going down the road with a strong head or side wind.
So if the screws in the aluminum molding on the sides and the caps are covered with a strip of plastic, remember to remove the plastic and check the screws and staples. Replace as needed with stainless fasteners and glue if possible and re-seal.

[rtheall1]

We have a 2001 Winnebago 37 G The roof peeled from the front cap to the rear cap, and pulled some from both caps. Lucky nothing ripped, I taped it down with Gorilla tape until the wind quits. I will clean it and tuck it back in and seal. I chased around the fields for all of the foam strips that go under the corner I think I found them all.
The wind was gusting at 35MPH and blew at a steady 25 mph from 6 am until 8pm. Hope I can get it back in place before the next high desert blow.

[AFChap]

The Winnebago roof caulk needs to be checked annually and repaired as needed, especially along each side. When neglected, roof peel can be the result. If the roof sheet is not torn, it can be reinserted into the grooves and caulked. Winnie web site has some pics in service tips area to give an idea of how it is constructed, and proper caulking.

[rdoghse]

This happened to us while driving through a small town outside Sidney, Nebraska a couple years ago. What a shock! Anyway, we found help from a local guy who had a shop with a large garage and got it taped back down. When we returned home, we took it to our repair facility and had the entire side riveted and caulked. We now have it checked every six months or so. I never want that to happen again. We have a 2001 Winny Adventurer.

Betty East

[Duner]

When you find a place to do the repair, confirm that they are NOT going to use silicone sealant. Silicone doesn't have a strong enough adhesion and won't stay sealed very long. Then you have a very difficult time to get anything to seal on that surface again. The correct sealant is some variant of poly-urethane rubber.

I've had Winnebago coaches since '99 and it seems like you'll find spots along the roof-to-sidewall joint needing reseal every couple of years. If this preventative maintenance is ignored, it very common to have the fiberglass blow up and possible tear off a peice. My nephew that bought my '99 Chieftain, found that out a couple of years back.

Here's the Winnebago Service Tip dealing with the roof seal:
http://www.winnebagoind.com/resource...%20Sealing.pdf

Good luck,
Bill

[perrybass]

Hey duner, thanks for the great link. I was wondering just how that whole roof detail tied in. I recently removed an old worn out awning fabric so now would be an opportune time to dig in an inspect that area.