Are the exterior side walls of the slide rooms made of material other than fiberglass? If so, what is anybody's experience with the paint application and quality? Are these materials different through the model years?
That are just like the side walls on my year.
Peter,
I have asked the same question. I have a 2004 A year ago I notice the bed room slide paint/fiberglass was starting to show small slits in the finish. Not blister but a slit from a 1/8 to a inch long. It started with just a few but now there must be at least 30-40 of them . Now I noticed the front cap on top there are a few like 8 ea. I have been told this is what they call fiberglass fatigue. I hope that someone out there has heard or has a fix for this problem. I had a 10 year old SOB with no fiberglass fatigue on the slides, sides or caps. I have been told that dark colors are the problem. There are a lot of dark colors out there. It is very disappointing when you have delamination and fiberglass fatigue. I have both.
Best of luck to Peter.
Karl,
I have no knowledge on this, however, I would be talking with James at Xtreme, I am sure they have correct solution and answer for you. Am aware they frown on dark colors.
I have a 2001 w/ 1 slide, no such issues, but it also sets in a heated garage about 11 months per year, so most likely not a good example of what happens to outdoor weather issues.
My Michelin tires are dated 1207, so new shoes are going on Friday via FMCa/Michelin Advantage for $521 + So tires also age.
I too have an 01 with no slits.
+1 for Xtreme. The slides (at least on my 01) don't have any metal in them as far as I know. They are laminated fiberglass construction. The blisters may be thermal paint cracking - I looked at a 2002 U295 that had a lot of it in the dark paint sections.
I have an 02 295 and my paint is perfect so maybe it was a few nr of coaches with this paint issue. DAN
Really?
Have you searched the skin with a magnet?
I could be wrong, but each of the coaches that I have seen under construction at Nac. has had a metal framed slide substructure, regardless of year. It's hard to imagine that they could achieve the required strength and dimensional stability without such a substructure.
Neal
Neal
I think it is the outside skin we are discussing. I had heard that at least on a Nimbus the outside skin was not fiberglass but some other more flexible material which had special problems particularly with darker colors. I was just wondering any of our members experience.
Peter,
I knew that you were asking about the (slide) exterior fiberglass, but I wondered what Jeff was talking about.
Neal
Instead of guessing, why not contact either James at Xtreme or Biscuit at FOT, they would have a more clear answer since they work this area frequently, me, I know nothing about it. nor am I very interested as I have no issues nor concerns so far.
I'll try and remember to ask James Monday - residing in their apartment while some de-lamination is being remedied. Had two small areas caused by water and one large are caused by glue failure. My bride refers to this as "open wallet surgery".
Also, my slide did not have the heavy (1/4"?) metal brace to support the inside top section where the bladder touches the roof when the slide is out. MOT added it on my last visit during the bladder replacement as the new bladder would not seal properly due to the slight sag in the slide roof. It spans the entire top inside edge and extends about 8 inches down each side edge. Bolted in place.
These braces were installed at the factory in later production numbers. There was a thick plate running the length of the top inside edge and it was predrilled for the additional brace but the brace was never installed for whatever reason.