Should I buy a Redwood RV?

[Rick and Mindy]

The Excel I saw showed a pic of the roof and it looked very impressive.

[Diesel chaser]

Rick, you very well could have seen an Excel on a dealers lot with the Rhino lining roof,but it is no longer offered as an option as of June I believe. It was one of the options we wanted but could not get when we ordered our Excel.

[lwg]

Originally Posted by atom ant

I saw a New Horizons in Silverton CO the other day and I think it had a fiberglass roof.

On a side note - It was probably one of the ugliest rigs I have seen in a while - hate to say. The fiberglass looked like painted filon with no gel coat, and it had more exterior marker lights set in chrome than a carnival ride.

This sir, is a Mack Daddy RV!

[Rick and Mindy]

Originally Posted by Diesel chaser

Rick, you very well could have seen an Excel on a dealers lot with the Rhino lining roof,but it is no longer offered as an option as of June I believe. It was one of the options we wanted but could not get when we ordered our Excel.

You're right, it was a new Excel but it was on a dealers lot for sale. I wonder why they dropped that option?

[rob_fla]

Originally Posted by Rick and Mindy

You're right, it was a new Excel but it was on a dealers lot for sale. I wonder why they dropped that option?

I remember reading that the early models with the Rhino Liner roof had a lot of heat issues when Excel started, they were using a grey color coating and it was making the inside of the coach very hot.

Do not know if they tried a different color to solve the heat problem or it just was a option not many were ordering due to the cost.

[Rick and Mindy]

Originally Posted by rob_fla

I remember reading that the early models with the Rhino Liner roof had a lot of heat issues when Excel started, they were using a grey color coating and it was making the inside of the coach very hot.

Do not know if they tried a different color to solve the heat problem or it just was a option not many were ordering due to the cost.

The one I saw was a gray color but I seem to remember the option stated it had a reflective coating for energy conservation or something of that nature.

[lwg]

Wonder why they didn't just make it white or off white?

I would think on coaches nearing or greater than the $100K pricepoint this option wouldn't be terribly expensive. Think about how much we pay for full body paint.

[atom ant]

I don't think it is cost as much as unproven. I think the jury is still out on that stuff for a roof. Maybe what Excel experienced with the heat has scared some of the others off for a bit.

[lwg]

Originally Posted by atom ant

I don't think it is cost as much as unproven. I think the jury is still out on that stuff for a roof. Maybe what Excel experienced with the heat has scared some of the others off for a bit.

While I think you probably hit the nail on the head the irony is that while rubber roofs seem to be the standard, it's well known that they have a lot of issues, particularly once they get a few years on them.

Its so painfully obvious that many RV manufactures build RV's to hold up just past the warranty to keep warranty costs down, but don't think much farther ahead than that. Can you imagine if the automotive industry did that!

[atom ant]

but I keep thinking of commercial roofs, I think the single membrane roof is still the popular option. Haven't heard of spray on.

[Rick and Mindy]

I watched last year as a local commercial quonset hut building was reroofed with plywood and then sprayed with 2 coats of some type of white material. I don't think the building owner would've spent the price unless it proved to be energy efficient and durable. It looks great, only time will tell.

[atom ant]

That building owner may be just taking the same chance a few are on their 5ers, "hoping" it proves out to be energy efficient and durable

[johnboytoo]

One of the things I KNOW from personal experience helps is the radiant barrier type roof decking...

When we built the last house we got that as an option and while I couldn't compare it to what it WOULD have cost to cool the house without it, They had left over material because the house had so many different pitches...
I told them to leave it as I was going to use it to line a new 10x 20 portable building we had put at the back of the property...

this was years ago when I did manual labor and I can tell you as I got a sheet of it put up that part of the building dropped 15 degrees it seemed like !!!

I was sold !

[KWire]

Originally Posted by Rick and Mindy

I wonder why they dropped that option?

Hi, I read the Excel Forum too. Everybody seemed very pleased with the Rhino Roof's performance.

One of the Peterson Construction execs, said they have temporarily suspended installing the Rhino roofs because it was slowing down production. The roof was adding several days to the schedule. They said they expected to resume offering it at a later date.

Keith, the wannabe retired guy...

[travelin' texans]

Met a couple today with a 6 month old Lifestyle with a whole list of problems, 4 of 6 jacks leaking, kitchen slide will not seal when retracted without going on roof & pulling, steps were jerry-rigged to fit, just to name a few, all of which are QC issues so RW is not exempt just part of the industry that needs serious work!!

[rob_fla]

The RV Industry in general need to improve quality from the top to bottom.
It seems no brand or model is immune from quality issues.
As long as we keep buying them, there is no incentive to improve quality, it cost money to improve quality !!!

[0nTheRoad]

You hit the nail square on the head...as long as there is no incentive to improve, there will be no improvement.
The manufacturers are selling these things as fast as they can produce them...what is the incentive to improve??? QC costs them money, unless there is a reason to improve...not gonna happen!

[atom ant]

I guess as risky as pioneering a new technology is, I don't really blame the manufacturers from holding back on something as significant as a new roof design.

I would probably let somebody else try it first, and when my competitors dive in with both feet, then I would switch over when I see my sales start going to them.

One thing about competing industries, they continuously seek equality. They try to offer no less than the competitor, but not a whole lot more either or they price out of class.

Look how long hydraulic leveling has been available on 5ers as an aftermarket. Almost 20 years. Yet it took one manufacturer to pioneer the concept on general production and a few years later it's hard to find a company that doesn't offer the homogenized Lippert 12" frame with 6-pt leveling.

[travelin' texans]

That Lifestyle I mentioned had the Big Foot level system & it had issues. Also I don't know what frame they use, but it had 4 huge steps going into it, bit of a hard climb into it.

[RobertMParton]

I'm glad that many of you have had a good experience with your Redwoods, ,but I have to say ours was built either on Monday morning or Friday afternoon. I cannot even begin to detail all of the stuff that was wrong at delivery or went wrong shortly after. We've had our 38RL about 7 months and it has spent 3 months of that time at the dealer being repaired, waiting for warranty repair authorization from Crossroads,waiting for parts or being repaired. We've had a total brake system failure, low voltage electrical issues with multiple attempts to fix (not fixed yet), AC system not put together properly, heater ducts not connected, awning missing parts and not wired properly, get the idea? If you want to buy one, don't buy it in Texas. The only authorized dealer is ExploreUSA and their service is terrible.