31 replies to this topic

[ETAV8R]

I have the tracks as well.

[Captm]

Extended roof racks, non FWC solar panel.
Cheers

[camper101]

I don't have racks. But the first time I heard it was the first time I had a solar panel on the roof for several days. It's a temporary setup that is just tied down in camp - I don't drive with it on - so the weight is on little legs at 4 corners of the panel.

[Wandering Sagebrush]

I'm curious if the roofs that make this noise have Yakima tracks and racks.  My roof does and a solar panel and doesn't make noise.  If it did my wife would be the first to notice it.

John, we also have extended roof tracks and FWC solar panel.   

[RC Pilot Jim]

I noticed this sound - "poca-poca" or "oil canning " this past week while camping at Anza-Borrego. Ok under normal windy conditions...really noticeable during the 30-35 mile an hour gusts!...Noise seems to be located at rear end on the drivers side. Once I figured out what it was I easily fell back asleep as it wasn't making noise all the time.

 

We live in a mobile home with aluminum siding that "pops" when the metal heats up (expands) or cools down (contracts). I'm not sure a "stiff center seam" would be enough support.

 

We definitely should ask FWC is they have a "fix" for this condition.

[RC Pilot Jim]

I just emailed Brenda - brenda@fourwh.com. She replaced Terry Budd as Service Manager. She reports they have heard about the problem from one other owner.

 

She asks that we all email her the details of our personal experiences.

Edited by RC Pilot Jim, 31 March 2014 - 09:39 PM.

[Ted]

We are the other owner Brenda is refering to. We had a couple of nights on our ten day inaugural trip where the oil canning woke is up repeatedly. It is easy to replicate by simply pushing down on the roof. We were not aware of others having this problem when we contacted FWC letting them know about this. So it was interesting to suddenly see this thread start. The coincidence of them all being newer campers with rack tracks seems strong. FWC has been installing the one piece roof for more than two years now, so it is unlikely that in itself is the problem. It is solely my opinion, and I have no way to verify it, but it seems that for a short period of time something changed - the method of attaching the roof, the material, the staff doing it, or who knows what. It may even be bsomething like a bad batch of the tape used for attaching the roof that would not be noticed. FWC has discussed this internally and states they have not been able to find anything that has changed.

 

They agreed to take our camper back and inspect it as soon as we called upon our return. I have not been responding to this thread because I wanted to give them a chance to check out the camper and respond. Because they don't know why our roof is doing this, it makes it pretty hard to determine a fix. They have had it for about a week and a half now. The first plan was to stretch and retape the roof. Not sure if that was done and did not work, or they decided against that, but now they plan to pull the roof and reskin it.

 

A number of the reasons we chose to go with FWC for our new camper were more important to us than the one piece roof. So at this point we still would make the same choice again. But this and problems like Captm had ( http://www.wanderthe...hell-build-out/ ) are causing some people concerns. Like Stan said, their quality is good but they are built by humans. FWC really stepped up for Captm and he is happy with them. They seem to be doing the same for us. So we are hopeful that these are unique incidents and when completed the new roof will be as quiet as the one in our previous camper. At the same time I can't deny we are disappointed that this happened and we are missing the opportunity to go out on a couple of nice weekends. We should have our camper back in time for the rally. Maybe we can add a night at "Blowdega" to test the new roof. Naturally I will let you know how it turns out.

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Ted, thanks for the update.   I had an email conversation with Brenda earlier this week, and I know they are working on the issue.   She will contact me when they find a fix for your FWC.   

 

I think Stan hit it on the nose.   The folks there are human...   The good thing is that they want to make things right for the customer, as evidenced by Captm's experience.  

[craig333]

Not having a windtunnel I'm sure makes it difficult to replicate exactly what it causing the problem. I have no doubt Ted will be happy by the time we make the rally. I'm really trying to decide which of my special dishes to bring. 

[JHa6av8r]

 Maybe we can add a night at "Blowdega" to test the new roof. Naturally I will let you know how it turns out.

Spent 2 nights on the seawall at Lawson's Landing last weekend and the wind blew pretty good so I was listening to see if I'd missed the oil can sound before and nothing. Interesting.