Thanks for the replies. Why not the newer style roof? Well all types of rubber roofs do not last as long as aluminum roofs do. Leave a rubber roofed RV out in the elements and the roof will suffer. Leave an aluminum roofed RV out in the elements and the roof will only get dirty. There are many other examples of this line of thinking: fiberglass, plastic, kevlar ... canoes will suffer a lot from UV light exposure, but aluminum canoes can stay outside with no ill effect. Tape the seams on an aluminum roof with Eternabond tape and you will have even less to worry about. If you want to lessen the heating of the aluminum roof, it can be painted white to reflect the heat. Repairing small holes in an aluminum roof is quick and easy, no so with a rubber style roof. Heck, just look at home roofing, what is the longest lasting? The metal roofs that are so popular right now.
We have been RVing since 1989 (Palomino Pony pop-up), and I have been driving down the highway and have seen, on a few occasions, rubber roofed RVs with large bubbles (2-3 feet long and 6-12 inches tall) in the roof as they drive down the road. I doubt the owners even know what is going on up there. Some people will talk about aluminum roofs being too loud during rain .... We have only had aluminum roofed RVs (that 1987 pop-up, 1996 HR Aluma Lite TT, 1987 Avion, 1988 Avion, 2006 Pace converted cargo trailer, an now our 2013 Livin Lite TC), and we have never had any issues with roof noise (camped in 41 states so far). So in OUR OPINION, we will only own aluminum roofed RVs (and all higher end RVs use either metal or fiberglass roofs).
Now on to the other construction points... I did not know about that wall thickness difference, so thanks for that info. I had heard why the change was made as it was mentioned in another forum awhile ago, or I read it somewhere online. I am assuming the flat roof in the older LLs must have been water traps and that was the issue? I will have no problem with that once I tape all seams and keep the front of the RV slightly higher than the rear. So for us, we will be looking for an older unit once we are ready for the change... not soon enough
So again, thanks for the replies. The opinions expressed above are my own and simply me explaining our preferred choice of aluminum roofs over other types.
Take care,
Del
We have been RVing since 1989 (Palomino Pony pop-up), and I have been driving down the highway and have seen, on a few occasions, rubber roofed RVs with large bubbles (2-3 feet long and 6-12 inches tall) in the roof as they drive down the road. I doubt the owners even know what is going on up there. Some people will talk about aluminum roofs being too loud during rain .... We have only had aluminum roofed RVs (that 1987 pop-up, 1996 HR Aluma Lite TT, 1987 Avion, 1988 Avion, 2006 Pace converted cargo trailer, an now our 2013 Livin Lite TC), and we have never had any issues with roof noise (camped in 41 states so far). So in OUR OPINION, we will only own aluminum roofed RVs (and all higher end RVs use either metal or fiberglass roofs).
Now on to the other construction points... I did not know about that wall thickness difference, so thanks for that info. I had heard why the change was made as it was mentioned in another forum awhile ago, or I read it somewhere online. I am assuming the flat roof in the older LLs must have been water traps and that was the issue? I will have no problem with that once I tape all seams and keep the front of the RV slightly higher than the rear. So for us, we will be looking for an older unit once we are ready for the change... not soon enough
So again, thanks for the replies. The opinions expressed above are my own and simply me explaining our preferred choice of aluminum roofs over other types.
Take care,
Del