Hi Twecker,
Yes, this is the perfect place to ask the roof question. And no worries not knowing all about your camper, just ask away. We will try and explain what we think you are asking about, understanding you may have not yet understood all about how your camper is made.
Since yours is a 96, I thinking it is a rubber roof by the way the camper roof line is built in your pic. (Great pic of 2 happy campers too!) But you need to confirm this. I'm not 100% sure which year Sunline fully converted from the aluminum metal roof to the EPDM rubber. It was right around the mid 90's time period.
To tell which you have, the aluminum will have metal seams every so many feet down the running length of the camper and the seams run left to right. If you knock in it, it sounds like the same feel as the aluminum siding. The EPDM rubber roof is a very different look and feel. The rubber is all one piece front to back of roof. It is a softer roof and it acts like rubber, think rubber tire tube glued to a piece of cardboard.
I'm going out on a limb here, but I'm assuming it is a rubber roof and these questions directly apply for the rubber roof.
1. How do you know it is time to recoat the roof? What are you seeing that tells you that?
2. Any chance of posting some pics of the roof condition itself and good pic of the caulking around the edges?
I'm trying to help you make sure you do the recoat for the right reasons and make sure the roof is prepared correctly before doing the coating. This will make your coating job last the best it can and fix what it can fix.
Some info on the rubber roofs that need a coating. The rubber membrane is made up of 2 layers. The bottom layer is an all black EPDM rubber layer. Not very thick, but it is the moisture barrier that seals the water out of the camper. The top layer is a white layer that you see. The white layer reflects the sun and protects the bottom black layer. Over time, the white layer sheds and wears thin. Yours is for sure old enough that the white layer could be worn to the black layer in places.
Here are some pic's,
This is brand new Dicor Brite ply EPDM roofing membrane. This is what is on your camper. You can see the 2 colors. This is part of a roof job on a camper we did number of years ago.
new roof material on Flickr
Here is the rubber roof bonded the tan Sunline "budboard" as they called it. This is what your roof is made like. The budboard is a very thick, unrippable by hand dense corrugate material.
front roof seam 5 on Flickr
Here you can see we are rolling up the roof right off the camper. These Sunline roofs are "not" direct walk on roofs without special precautions. If you need help on how to walk on/service the roof and take the right precautions, let us know. Glad to explain.
right rear corner wet 7on Flickr
Now to the worn layer and what it might look like on the outside. This is the roof on one of my project campers. This roof shows the need of a recoat. The black layer is showing through in large areas.
Along the gutter rail
Worn white layer awning side on Flickr
Along the rear roof seam
Worn white layer on Flickr
If your roof is the EPDM rubber roof, after the right prep and corrections, you can recoat the roof to rebuild the white layer on the rubber. The coatings to do this are intended to rebuild the white layer, they are not intended to stop an active leak as a long term fix and the recoat does not correct deteriorated roof caulking. The recoating is an economical way rebuild the white layer of the rubber membrane and extend the life of the roof before a total reroof is needed.
With all that... let us know more about your needs and I can suggest a path to prep the roof and then to recoat.
Hope this helps
John