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Roof top cracks


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On my old Dynasty, I used the permabond tape to cover a crack.  It worked really well and the top section was white so it did not show much.  If the section is painted, then may look much worse.  Perhaps the tape is paint-able?  Otherwise I would think fiberglass repair and paint.  I'm curious if there are other suggestions and will follow.

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Typically these cracks are in the fiberglass. Is this what you are saying Ray ?

These cracks normally appear near the front of the roof and the rear. I have been on the roofs of thousands of Monaco coaches doing inspections and most of these cracks that I have found appear near the front and slightly to the left of center line. The cracks in the rear are typically in the area in front of the ladder.

The fix is to drill a tiny hole at the ends of each crack. You then apply Dicor self leveling caulking to the crack and holes and then cover with a piece of eternabond tape. If the cracks are very fine spider web like cracks, painting over them with Dicor fiberglass paint will suffice. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out why these cracks appeared in the same area of these coaches. Strangely, these cracks have been predominately on Dynastys. My only theory I have come up with is the way they welded the braces on the roof in those areas.

I have repaired a dozen or more roofs the way I described above and have never had one leak.

 

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13 hours ago, throgmartin said:

Typically these cracks are in the fiberglass. Is this what you are saying Ray ?

These cracks normally appear near the front of the roof and the rear. I have been on the roofs of thousands of Monaco coaches doing inspections and most of these cracks that I have found appear near the front and slightly to the left of center line. The cracks in the rear are typically in the area in front of the ladder.

The fix is to drill a tiny hole at the ends of each crack. You then apply Dicor self leveling caulking to the crack and holes and then cover with a piece of eternabond tape. If the cracks are very fine spider web like cracks, painting over them with Dicor fiberglass paint will suffice. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out why these cracks appeared in the same area of these coaches. Strangely, these cracks have been predominately on Dynastys. My only theory I have come up with is the way they welded the braces on the roof in those areas.

I have repaired a dozen or more roofs the way I described above and have never had one leak.

 

AMEN and WELL SAID.  I can also offer a testimony....as to the DRILL and SEAL approach.  The Dealer, when I bought the Camelot new, installed a Wineguard Motorized Sat Dish.  That was in FL and I found a crack on the "curved roll over" section of the roof on the Passenger side...maybe 12" or so from the rear. I immediately noted it and when I had some warranty work, at a close friend's HR dealership, the word was "$1800 Estimate".  SAY WHAT.  The crack was NOT going to be approved by Monaco.  and this was when the were pretty liberal. My BEST NCIS Forensic analysis.  The tech carried it up by himself and dropped it and the base dinged the roof.  That is the ONLY thing that several techs and body shop folks could agree on...as a POSSIBLE cause.  It was NOT made that way...but never say never....ANYWAY....

The advice.  Clear seal it and rock on.  It MIGHT have been 1 1/2 inches...and the MH Collision (yes, they had a large Bus and MH and RV shop....a real rarity) Manager said to just MONITOR. 

Fast Forward a few years.  I would peel off the sealant and touch us and it was slowly migrating...in both directions.  Then, some words of wisdom from two folks here that I know personally and trust as well as the DRILL A SMALL HOLE...and SEAL IT. I used a tiny bit...maybe 3/64 or 1/6 or maybe even a "Letter" one.  Then recaulked it.

BINGO in the last 10 years, it ain't migrated a mm....

SO, Chris's advice is right on. The DiCor Self Leveling "EPDM Lap Sealant...but works GREAT on a Fiberglass roof...and I use it rather than ProFlex) would be my choice also.  Since mine was on the side, I used the clear (old time - Volatile Based) GeoCell ....which was the forerunner to the water based ProFlex.

SO...it works.  NOW, if it too large, I would strip off all sealer and clean with acetone (Colonel Bill, out FOUNDER...I have SINED and please forgive me for mentioning ACETONE and MONACO in the same paragraph.  LOL) and then apply a piece of EternaBond Tape (Amazon).  Use a HEAVY STEEL ROLLER.  Some guy, @throgmartin, told me to buy that roller and tape and the cleaner and give it to the tech that was installing my new 4 toppers as the tape over the slides was peeling a smidge.  That was in 2015 and all is well...as are his Vinyl toppers.

That's my experience...

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Dennis here are 2 pics left front and right rear.

Chris  Thank you so much for the info. I didn't realize it was mainly a Dynasty issue. You can see in the front pic the old dicor over the crack and how bad my clear coat is peeling. Infact it's peeling all the way around the coach from a inch or 2 above the beltline to where it meets the different textured white roof. I just finished the beltlines and am starting the sanding, repairing, and painting from the bottom of the beltline up. Your advise on how to stop this from getting worse is just what I needed, So let me ask you this do you see anything wrong with this. After it's sanded down and I drill the two holes and apply the proflex rv sealant (that I have from the beltline job) or do I need to get the dicor. And then continue with my primer, paint and clear coat right over the caulk. I know the white areas in the front would be ok with the white caulk but the green areas in the back would blend in much better.

Tom  Thank you as well I see you lean towards Dicor vs the proflex I will wait and see what Chris thinks I beleive Dicor is paintable as well so it's no big deal.

Roy  Mercier  2003 Dynasty

would have been nice if I remembered to attach the pics

Roy Mercier  2003 Dynasty

20230726_091242.jpg

20230726_091552.jpg

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I purchased a 07 Camelot new -- The 4 corner cracks started in about 6 months -- Two of my friends who had a 08 Camelot & a 08 Septer  had the same problem - The cracks were where the roof & caps joined -- Monaco had used something like bondo & it cracked --- We took the coaches to a local paint shop in Mesa, Az  & they used fiberglass  for the repair -- Monaco paid  for the fix  --   William Willard

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On 7/23/2023 at 2:31 PM, miacasa_2000 said:

What are you guys doing now for those pesky cracks at the top four corners of our coaches?

Roy Mercier   2003  Dynasty

Hi Roy, I didn't have the cracking and didn't want any problems with my roof so I had RV Flex Armor installed on it. A bit pricy but it has a life time guarantee and looks really good. 

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