roof strength

my wife and i just returned from a 6 week trip to north and south padre island, texas.  we got along wonderfully with our 2001 3023 pulled by a 2002 toyota tundra.  the entire experience was great and we will be repeating the trip next with reservations already made.  being new to "rving" and staying so near the salt water we noticed most everyone continually washed their rigs to keep the salt water/rust at bay.  we did develope some rust on the front and rear bed supports.  my real question is has anyone experienced getting upon the roof to clean it.  is it stong enough to support ones weight so that it can be adequately cleaned and maintained?  yesterday i was able to get the ladder and do a good job of washing the entire tm and noticed on the roof some fairly serious wear where the coating is worn off exposing metal.  this is a concern.  any ideas?

dennis

Dennisu,

I have been on the roof to install MaxAir vents. While I cannot tell you yes, do it, I can say I had no problem as long as I used a thick foam pad wherever I crawled so as not to dent the roof. The idea is to distribute weight over a large area and this works very well. The thick blue stuff like what you put under a sleeping bag that can be found at WalleyWorld works for me. I have been up there with the unit folded and open. Concerning the wear marks...they are normal and don't worry about them. If you don't like them, you could paint over them but they will reappear before long. The aluminum underskin isn't going to rust. Hope this helps.

Wade

wade

thanks for your information from someone who has been up on their tm.  i don't have great luck at many things and sure didn't want to make a skylight if i got up there and shouldn't  have done it.  i kind of figured the wear marks were going to be normal but wanted to check it out.  thanks again.  

dennis

[Civil_War_Buff]

I too have been on the roof. The dealership told me that it was OK just be careful and use a pad or blanket while up there. I have only been on mine to wipe the seals, but it's pretty strong up there, and I weigh in at 200#.

As for the wear, if it is where the two halves join, you can talk to the TrailManor factory they now have rub strips that will prevent the paint rubbing off (you will have to repair the existing condition). It is a standard item on 2003 models.

Larry

Yes, I've talked to Jimmy Davis down at Trailmanor about this, you do need to use a foam type padding to move around on the roof of your unit. You won't fall through, but you might create some rather nasty pits in the roof if the weight's not distributed. (That's what they do when they're working on a TM roof). And yes, TM does put out new stuff to combat the wear of the paint off the aluminum skin, but again, aluminum doesn't rust, that shouldn't be a problem anyway.


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