'01 Sunline Solaris Roof Leak

[mikejab]

Ok everyone...... we have a '01 Sunline Solaris T-2553 that we bought last spring from a private owner. We had some issues, such as a shower leak, recall on our fridge, of which we fixed. We took it last spring and summer on vacation to Delaware and LOVED the time we had. This year, after bringing it out of storage, we thought about trading it until the dealer told us we had a bad roof and it would have to be replaced before they would even consider any deal. When we took it on vacation, we were in a downpour and did not have any leaks. We do have a musty smell that does go away when it is used and opened up, so we figured that there might have been a leak at one time. The private sellers were not completely honest with us and we have learned alot this last year about being a camper owner. We have turned it into our insurance company and they said it is "normal wear and tear" and that is not covered. Does anyone know if Sunline is still in business or does anyone have any suggestions how we should deal with this problem? Some other solution that is not gonna cost us as much as a new roof. Thanks!

[Sunline Fan]

Welcome Mike! No, Sunline shut down in November 2006.

Water damage problems are fairly common because people generally don't maintain the roofs like they're supposed to. The problem is the seams around the edge and around the vents, etc. leak over time if not re-coated every five years or so as needed. If every insurance company covered water/rot damage on every 10 year old trailer out there, no one would insure RVs.

At this point, you basically have two options:
1) Sell it like it is, disclose the water damage, and try to find someone who will be interested in fixing it.
2) Pay someone to repair it or do it yourself. You could sell it right away, but I'd keep it a little longer to get some out of your investment.

KanyonKitty I'm sure will be along soon with a repair guy that a few people on here have used and he does good work. It would be a little bit of a drive for you, but it sounds like he's worth it.

I suspect your rot issues are more extensive than you think, that always seems to be the case. They don't start causing the trailer to smell inside until they're very in depth.

Jon

[mikejab]

Thank you for your quick response. We have thrown it around that we will probably keep it for awhile or maybe put it on craigs list. We really love this camper. We love the layout and it serve's our needs. But one thing, we will be honest with the next owner.

[EMD_Driver]

Post #18 in THIS thread, shows the roof repair on our last Sunline fifth wheel. The only evidence of a leak, was a soft spot in the roof and a musty smell in the camper. The pictures show the extent of the damage and the repairs necessary to fix it.

The man that repaired our roof, is the one in the pictures. His name is Roger Miller. He worked for Terry, Fleetwood and Northwood, before each of them went out of business near here. He has his own repair shop now and is VERY reasonable with pricing!

he just got done replacing the roof on another Sunline fifth wheel, as well as some needed maintenance items and a new awning fabric. He also just replaced the roof on another T-2553. Sometime soon, I am taking our current fifth wheel to him for some body damage. He's also getting another SOC member's Sunline for some needed repairs.. Needless to say, he is getting a great reputation among Sunline owners!

It would be about a 4-hour drive for you, but I guarantee you will be happy with his work, if you decide to have him do the repairs.


Gary


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[johnpake1964]

I am going thru the same thing with an 01 t2980. Talked to a former sunline sevice man who said to check roof seams and around the doors and the clacking around ref.