Roof blisters on Coleman Mesa

[rcaban]

We just purchased a 2000 Coleman Mesa in excellent condition.  I noticed that blisters were beginning to appear, one so pronounced, it developed some hailrline cracks.  We leave it outside, with an RV cover at a storage place.  Anyone know why the blistering is suddenly emerging?  There were NO blisters when we bought it 3 weeks ago.  I did notice that there is someone else with a Colemen who parks in that storage place and uses no cover, and has no blisters.  Is the RV cover causing this?  We are concerned as the other blisters will probably begin cracking too.  Is there something I can place on the roof where the cracks are now to prevent leaking?  Will I have leaking?  I suspect if there's a crack, surely I am going to have roof leaks.  Any short term and long term suggestions would be appreciated.

We just bought this popup so I don't think replacing the roof is an option we can afford.  Now we are concerned with leaks, there actually is 2 very thin cracks in one of the blisters.  

Is there anything we can do without having to replace the roof.

Any help would be appreciated.  We hope that this is not going to cost us thouosands of dollars more.  Please help

Roy & Kathy Caban
2000 Coleman Mesa with roof cancer
2001 Toyota Sienna

[vjm1639]

Not sure how to fix it, I'm sure someone here can help with that area. Some of these guys can fix anything.  However, if your 2000 Mesa has the ABS roof (and I believe it does) I've always heard you should never cover the ABS roof.

[hoppy]

Sorry to say, but the ABS roof on your PU (along with mine) is subject to many problems and defects. They were a great concept when they were first introduced. But soon after they were introduced, there were a lot problems reported with them.

 Roof sagging is probably the number one defect, followed there after with side and front bowing causing the seal to fail, blistering, cracking and delamination.

  It became such a problem with the ABS roofs, that Fleetwood discontinued placing them on all their 2003.5 models and returned to using aluminum style roofs.

  To help prevent all the above conditions, I keep mine stored in my attached garage out of the direct UV sun rays, and the extreme heat here in GA. But mine has developed a slight bow along one side of the PU that has moved the seal about 1/4 from being flush with the box wall.

  One thing I have noticed over the years as a participant of several PU boards such as this one, is that there is no time limit for these ABS roofs to develope problems. Some roofs when they were first introduced back in 1996 were failing while new on the dealer's lot. Others would fail for one reason or other as far as 6-7 years after.

  Since you are not the original owner of the PU, there is no warranty on your roof. I recommend that you just not worry about it too much, and enjoy the PU. Replacement roofs installed on our sized PU could run between $ 2,000.00 - $ 2,500.00. Try to store it out of the direct sunlight as much as possible to minimize the blistering, cracking, and delamination. As for the covering the PU, mine came with the warning from Fleetwood not to cover it. But it seams that they didn't know at that time what was causing the roof problems, and therfore didn't want to add any "variables" to the equation.

  Another thing to keep an eye open for since you are storing your's outside, is the front storage door leakage issue with these models. The side and top access storage lids would leak enough to cause the flooring in that area to rot.  Once again, Fleetwood could not correct this issue either, and elected to replace the storage bins using seperate molded vinyl boxes.


 PS: If you do a search using ABS on this forum, there is plenty of information regarding this issue.

  Other than these problems, I like my 2001 Mesa a lot.

  Hope this helps.

[rcaban]

Geez, so much for using an RV cover.  I have removed the cover and will start storing it in my garage.  Hopefully the "disease" will not progress too far.  We called Fleetwood and they also mentioned not to put a cover on, and not to worry about the blister that is already cracked, it will not leak, because there is so much material inside the roof and the crack is very thin, there should not be any leaks.  There does  not seem to be any sagging and I did notice quite a significant bar running inside the middle of the roof by the ac I guess for support.  

The folks at Fleetwood suggested I make small pin holes in some of the blisters and use a hairdryer to shrink them.  Was just a suggestion.  Any thoughts on that?

Thank you for your replies.

Roy & Kathy Caban
2000 Coleman Mesa

[hoppy]

Although the people at Fleetwood stated that the crack will not leak since there is the insulation material between the two ABS layers, this probably will not prevent water getting into the crack, and forming mold and mildew on the insulation material. The roof may become very heavy if allowed to become water-logged. JMHO.

 I have read in other forums that some members would drill very small holes at the beginning and ends of the existing crack (to stop the spread of the crack) and mix up a small amount of ABS filler / cement and fill the crack.

 The blister remedy sounds plausable, but I would add the ABS filler / cement to the holes also once completed.

  Good luck.