Roof Torn Away From Front Cap

[nellie1289]

Wondering if anyone has had this kind of issue on there roof. have a 336bhs. 15 months old, I have extended warranty but wondering what kind of repair this might entail? I posted it in the 336bhs fifth wheel thread but wondering if anyone else has had this kind of issue and possible repair. I know extended warranty doesn't cover leaks but this is not a leak this is a complete structural failure.

[chuckster57]

It looks to me by the pics, that the roof membrane has come loose. Is that what I'm looking at?

[nellie1289]

Yep it tore away from the front cap. Should say roof in title of post not room.

[chuckster57]

Gotcha. At 15 months old it may or may not be covered by warranty. If it were me, I would let the dealer attempt authorization first. I have seen Keystone step up and cover some things "just out" of warranty. Good luck and post up results.

[nellie1289]

I have extended warranty so that should cover.

[sourdough]

Just thinking off the top of my head, but I think I recall that the roof has a longer warranty than just the regular 12 month Keystone warranty. I don't recall who it is through (Keystone/membrane manufacturer) but you may want to look into that. I would look through the material that I got when purchasing my trailer but it's all with the trailer at the storage building.

[nellie1289]

Originally Posted by sourdough

Just thinking off the top of my head, but I think I recall that the roof has a longer warranty than just the regular 12 month Keystone warranty. I don't recall who it is through (Keystone/membrane manufacturer) but you may want to look into that. I would look through the material that I got when purchasing my trailer but it's all with the trailer at the storage building.

You may be right, mine is all in the trailer too which is now sitting at the dealer as well. Does anyone else know? they also gave me the "not sure if that is a warranty item language" but they are calling keystone now to see if they will cover it even though past the 12 months.

[chuckster57]

The warranty on the roof is for the membrane, not the install IIRC.

[JRTJH]

The TPO roofing membrane is manufactured by two companies, DICOR (DIFLEX II) and ALPHA Systems (Superflex Alpha). There are other manufacturers, but these two companies seem to supply Keystone with the majority of the TPO roofing.

Both have a "Initial purchaser" pro rated warranty of 10 years. The "rub" comes in how you "read the warranty". Keystone warrants the trailer for 12 months with the provision that "component manufacturers warranty" is also included. Essentially, during the first 12 months, Keystone will replace/repair any component failure and "back-bill" the component manufacturer for reimbursement. After the initial 12 months, the RV owner is "on his own" to seek warranty repair (Keystone is not involved). Most dealerships provide that service for their customers, so you may not be aware of the "billing issues" if the dealership does it for you.

On the DICOR and ALPHA Systems roofing warranty, it is "pro rated" for 10 years and covers the roofing membrane against failure. The 10 year warranty does NOT cover installation or costs associated with "accidental damage". I think your "rub" is going to be that DICOR will say the adhesive failure is a Keystone problem and Keystone is probably going to say, "The 12 month warranty has expired." Leaving you with an installation problem that hopefully the extended warranty will cover for you.

I believe you said you have another trip planned in 10 days. If so, unless your dealer works at "warp speed" you're probably not going to have your RV back with the roofing problem resolved. Change of plans??? I'd be asking about a time frame today or tomorrow so you can make arrangements with any reservations you have without losing your deposit.

Good Luck.

[nellie1289]

Yeah good advice John, I have already been asking for a timeline, I know it will be a miracle if it gets done in time, I have been looking for hotels for the trip(its a golfing trip). I have a few low dollar reservations I will cancel if I have to. Its very frustrating overall. I am starting to think about trading away this turd on something different. if I cant use it regularly what good is it to me? This is my ninth dealer trip for more than minor repairs. I told the dealer to give them my log of warranty trips in as evidence how bad it has been for me. Sad I like to trailer.

On the membrane, not only does it look like a poor installation, the actual design in my opinion is terrible. Why do the bring the slope of the membrane all the way down the face of the cap. Most 5'ers have a squarer nose so the membrane sits flat on the roof not taking all the wind's brunt. Seems like a poor design in hindsight.

[Campy]

It's BS that we have to put up with this kind of build quality for what these things cost. That clearly looks like a bonding failure to me, was the glue guy taking a smoke break that day?? Sorry about your luck.....

[esmoglo]

Originally Posted by Campy

It's BS that we have to put up with this kind of build quality for what these things cost. That clearly looks like a bonding failure to me, was the glue guy taking a smoke break that day?? Sorry about your luck.....

I agree 100% they slap these things together and want to charge top dollar for shoddy construction this simply should not happen period.

[denverpilot]

Originally Posted by nellie1289

I have extended warranty so that should cover.

Probably not.

Originally Posted by sourdough

Just thinking off the top of my head, but I think I recall that the roof has a longer warranty than just the regular 12 month Keystone warranty. I don't recall who it is through (Keystone/membrane manufacturer) but you may want to look into that. I would look through the material that I got when purchasing my trailer but it's all with the trailer at the storage building.

Keystone will not cover it.

Originally Posted by chuckster57

The warranty on the roof is for the membrane, not the install IIRC.

Yep.

Originally Posted by JRTJH

The TPO roofing membrane is manufactured by two companies, DICOR (DIFLEX II) and ALPHA Systems (Superflex Alpha). There are other manufacturers, but these two companies seem to supply Keystone with the majority of the TPO roofing.



Both have a "Initial purchaser" pro rated warranty of 10 years. The "rub" comes in how you "read the warranty". Keystone warrants the trailer for 12 months with the provision that "component manufacturers warranty" is also included. Essentially, during the first 12 months, Keystone will replace/repair any component failure and "back-bill" the component manufacturer for reimbursement. After the initial 12 months, the RV owner is "on his own" to seek warranty repair (Keystone is not involved). Most dealerships provide that service for their customers, so you may not be aware of the "billing issues" if the dealership does it for you.



On the DICOR and ALPHA Systems roofing warranty, it is "pro rated" for 10 years and covers the roofing membrane against failure. The 10 year warranty does NOT cover installation or costs associated with "accidental damage". I think your "rub" is going to be that DICOR will say the adhesive failure is a Keystone problem and Keystone is probably going to say, "The 12 month warranty has expired." Leaving you with an installation problem that hopefully the extended warranty will cover for you.



I believe you said you have another trip planned in 10 days. If so, unless your dealer works at "warp speed" you're probably not going to have your RV back with the roofing problem resolved. Change of plans??? I'd be asking about a time frame today or tomorrow so you can make arrangements with any reservations you have without losing your deposit.



Good Luck.

That's right.

Originally Posted by Campy

It's BS that we have to put up with this kind of build quality for what these things cost. That clearly looks like a bonding failure to me, was the glue guy taking a smoke break that day?? Sorry about your luck.....

Agreed.

This is the exact same failure our 2013 fiver bought in early 2014 suffered. Neither Keystone nor the extended warranty company would cover it.

Keystone claimed it was "improper maintenance, didn't put on new Dicor" (yeah, I'm not kidding - they said the roof peeled back from a lack of fresh Dicor) and the extended warranty company said, "if it's not something Keystone normally covers under warranty, we don't either - we extend their warranty".

I could look up the repair bill, but it would just make me angry. No point. It wasn't cheap. And as many have reported here, extended warranties are generally useless for most real-world issues.

We had the dealer repair it (they slapped a new metal hold down on it and reattached the membrane to the roof) and then we put that roof repair tape across all of the edges that have roof seams on top of the trailer, to cover them up "forever" and stop screwing around with Dicor on those "forever" too.

Tape stuff is holding up well after three-ish years up there. Still have Dicor around vents and what not and maintain it as per normal.

Ours took two weeks in the shop. Good luck on yours if you need it sooner.

[nellie1289]

Originally Posted by denverpilot

Probably not.


We had the dealer repair it (they slapped a new metal hold down on it and reattached the membrane to the roof) and then we put that roof repair tape across all of the edges that have roof seams on top of the trailer, to cover them up "forever" and stop screwing around with Dicor on those "forever" too.

Tape stuff is holding up well after three-ish years up there. Still have Dicor around vents and what not and maintain it as per normal.

Ours took two weeks in the shop. Good luck on yours if you need it sooner.

Well in a positive turn of events heard from keystone today and they are actually stepping up and covering its ,so this is good news! I think they are doing the right there here, this is a clear manufacturing defect.

[Tbos]

Glad they are going to fix it for you.

[denverpilot]

Originally Posted by nellie1289

Well in a positive turn of events heard from keystone today and they are actually stepping up and covering its ,so this is good news! I think they are doing the right there here, this is a clear manufacturing defect.

I'm glad for you and angry at my dealer and Keystone now. Haha. Seems about par for the course in these stories here. They're totally inconsistent.

I like my rig, but I'll try pretty hard not to hand money to Keystone or their parent company ever again. Won't matter much since we'll have this rig for many many years.

[cant_remember_ID]

Originally Posted by nellie1289

Well in a positive turn of events heard from keystone today and they are actually stepping up and covering its ,so this is good news! I think they are doing the right there here, this is a clear manufacturing defect.

Glad to hear they are stepping up. Sorry about all your troubles. Sounds like you have somewhat of a lemon. I'll have to keep an eye out for this too now. Your other posts have been very educational for me and I'm watching closely. Hope everything works out eventually.

[nellie1289]

I never posted the repair pics so here they are(I forgot). They pulled back the roof, took off the front antenna and vent, readhesived it to to the underlayment, added a second band at the front cap, and resealed it all up. here are some pics. I haven't had it in the rain yet and only towed it once for about 200 miles. seems to be holding. I am still nervous about it. At least keystone covered it.

[Tbos]

I hope it goes well when it rains and you get to tow it longer. From an untrained eye, the repair looks reasonable.

[chuckster57]

And from a somewhat trained eye, it looks good. I might have used more dicor, but that's just me.