Decent covers for the coach

[MarkL]

So I’ve got my rig up and running, but I’m in the in-between stage of restoration. I haven’t been able to replace any window seals, and I haven’t gotten around to re-doing any of the roof/body sealant.

I live in the Midwest, and I’m not naive to the horrors my home climate can inflict, so I’m in the market for a good cover. Not afraid of spending a little extra. Just wanted to know if any of you fine folks had a decent line on where to buy one that’ll fit the need.

There are a lot of general Class-A covers available, are there any that anyone would recommend?

I’ve also seen a couple tailored to the GMCMH; are they worth the extra money?

Would a decent tarp with a solid bungee setup over the top suffice?

Also: any advice on window seals or roof leak prevention would be killer.

 

[Mike Perez]

So I’ve got my rig up and running, but I’m in the in-between stage of restoration. I haven’t been able to replace any window seals, and I haven’t gotten around to re-doing any of the roof/body sealant.

I live in the Midwest, and I’m not naive to the horrors my home climate can inflict, so I’m in the market for a good cover. Not afraid of spending a little extra. Just wanted to know if any of you fine folks had a decent line on where to buy one that’ll fit the need.

There are a lot of general Class-A covers available, are there any that anyone would recommend?

I’ve also seen a couple tailored to the GMCMH; are they worth the extra money?

Would a decent tarp with a solid bungee setup over the top suffice?

Also: any advice on window seals or roof leak prevention would be killer.

I'll try to answer in order. First of all, most Class A covers don't fit. Modern Class A motorhomes are tall, so they drag the ground too much on a GMC. Most people have luck with a 24-26 foot travel trailer cover. I've had two over the past few years. They are a few hundred each. The first one was that Tyvek type material. It started shredding from sun in about a year. My new one is waterproof material, and although it seems to be holding up better, the zippers are not great. Once I paint mine, I won't even consider putting a cover on as it is hard on the paint.

I've never used the GMC tailored cover. My fear would be it would still shred after a few years after paying 3-4 times more.

As far as the roof and window seals prevention......are they already leaking or are you trying to prevent them from leaking?

 

[pvfjr]

I'll be going straight to the metal carport option. I may splurge for a new one that someone else will erect for free, but I'm keeping an eye out for a used one as well since I'm not in a hurry. I just passed on one that was 12x38 for $500, as it wasn't quite the size I was looking for (I want to go wider). That sure was a great deal for someone though, since it's in the ballpark of a cover that won't last. Not everyone has the space for a dedicated carport though; YMMV.

 

[pvfjr]

Would a decent tarp with a solid bungee setup over the top suffice?

I've done this for our other RV. You've got to eliminate stress points for the tarp, and fill in depressions to prevent pooling of water for best results. I have a ton of EPS foam panels in various sizes, so I stacked them on the roof, higher than the rails. I also covered sharp rail ends with cut up pool noodle pieces. Then I tarped it. We get lots of wind and rain in the winter, so I zip tied a 30' run of 1/2" EMT conduit along each edge of the tarp, all along the sides. Then I weighted down the conduit with gallon jugs of water. This puts nice, even tension on the tarp across it's entire length. The ends of the coach had all the slack folded in and taken up with parachute cord, like you're wrapping a Christmas present. It was a lot of work, but there was no water pooling and it survived all the wind storms. It's not something I want to do often.

Also: any advice on window seals or roof leak prevention would be killer.

I think this is probably the best option. I'd just seal mine up and let it rain if it weren't so close to trees. The tarp was mainly for prevention of Oregon scum, which coats everything left outdoors during the winter.

 

[MarkL]

I'll try to answer in order. First of all, most Class A covers don't fit. Modern Class A motorhomes are tall, so they drag the ground too much on a GMC. Most people have luck with a 24-26 foot travel trailer cover. I've had two over the past few years. They are a few hundred each. The first one was that Tyvek type material. It started shredding from sun in about a year. My new one is waterproof material, and although it seems to be holding up better, the zippers are not great. Once I paint mine, I won't even consider putting a cover on as it is hard on the paint.

I've never used the GMC tailored cover. My fear would be it would still shred after a few years after paying 3-4 times more.

As far as the roof and window seals prevention......are they already leaking or are you trying to prevent them from leaking?

It’s been barn-kept for probably more than a decade, so most of the rubber is looking pretty rough, not quite sure how good it’s gonna be for keeping out water in the long run. We hosed it off and no water got in, but I’m just not confident it’ll hold out the elements for an extended period.

So, yeah, replacing all the window seals is happening very soon hopefully, gonna hafta figure out how to do that.

 

[MarkL]

After doing a little digging, I found out that rvcovers.com has a customizable cover option. You plug in the year, make, and model, as well as the length and any protruding accessories, and apparently they make you one for $34 per foot. You can choose either Tyvek or Sunbrella, ships in 3 to 6 weeks and comes with a five year warranty.

I priced mine out just for the hell of it and it came out to about $884, roughly a hundred bucks cheaper than the GMCMH-specific customs I’ve seen with comparable materials. Free shipping, too. Heavily considering going this route; most of the reviews I’ve read online say the Sunbrella is the gold standard and can last around a decade.

Still need to call them and get some more particulars, but this seems like it could be a great product. Almost 900 squids is expensive for a cover for sure, but if it works it’ll be well worth it to keep ‘er out of the elements, especially until we can get the body and windows watertight—I won’t feel so frantic to get the work done and I’ll be able to do it at a more leisurely pace, and make sure it’s done right. I’d hate to be cheap in the early stages and pay for it later with a ton of water damage, especially since it’s in such good shape and it’s been barn-kept for so many years.

 

[MarkL]

@pvfjr A carport would be super dope, but totally unfeasible for me at the current moment unfortunately. Maybe down the line.

The tarp setup sounds like a super great budget-friendly option for some semi-longer-term storage, I’ll absolutely keep that in mind for future reference, but, you’re right, doesn’t sound like something I wanna do and I do every week when I go to work on it.

Once I’m confident the body isn’t gonna leak I’ll feel much better about just leaving it out in the weather, but right now that’s my biggest fear. I’m low key freaking out about it, haha. I’m in Indiana, so it doesn’t rain near as much as I’m sure you get in the PNW, but we get subjected to a little bit of everything here around the Great Lakes—heavy rain and wind one day, baking sun and humidity the next, unpredictable brutal winters, the occasional tornado... all the greatest hits.

Thanks a ton for the replies!!!

 

[bdub]

CUSTOM GMC MOTORHOME COVERS

We are a major supplier of GMC Motor Home, RV Parts. Serving GMC MOTORHOME owners everywhere.

www.gmcrvparts.com

 

[Russell]

Hi Mark,
We keep our 26' GMC outside under a cover. We are currently using our fourth cover in four years. I do NOT recommend the ADCO 52242! It lasted about 10 months in the Florida sun. ADCO did honor their one year warranty and sent us a new one, which also lasted only 10 months. Right now we are using a Wolf Tyvek RV Cover Part No. CY41044. It has a three year warranty, but I do not expect it to last three years. I would not expect tarps to last long either, but tarps are cheaper to replace that these covers. If I had a place for a metal carport, it would have been cheaper than all these covers. Good luck.

Here are some pics of our various covers: http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/g7049-storage.html

 

[pvfjr]

Hi Mark,
We keep our 26' GMC outside under a cover. We are currently using our fourth cover in four years. I do NOT recommend the ADCO 52242! It lasted about 10 months in the Florida sun. ADCO did honor their one year warranty and sent us a new one, which also lasted only 10 months. Right now we are using a Wolf Tyvek RV Cover Part No. CY41044. It has a three year warranty, but I do not expect it to last three years. I would not expect tarps to last long either, but tarps are cheaper to replace that these covers. If I had a place for a metal carport, it would have been cheaper than all these covers. Good luck.

Here are some pics of our various covers: http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/g7049-storage.html

I can't believe how badly even the logo bleached out in just 10 months; there's no trace of the original yellow!

Also, is that a giant gravel pile behind the coach? Or a distant hill? I'm having trouble with the perspective, but it looks like it might be the tallest thing in Florida!

 

[Russell]

I can't believe how badly even the logo bleached out in just 10 months; there's no trace of the original yellow!

Also, is that a giant gravel pile behind the coach? Or a distant hill? I'm having trouble with the perspective, but it looks like it might be the tallest thing in Florida!

pvfjr,
My office, where I keep the coach, is next to an asphalt plant. That is a pile of recycled asphalt in the background. A very dusty operation with crushing, and screening, and conveying, going on constantly.

 

[tmsnyder]

Believe it was on this forum, but it was mentioned that you can't really use a class A cover for these, they are way shorter in height than a typical class A. However, the ones made for travel trailers will work nicely. Just look for the right length.

 

[pvfjr]

Believe it was on this forum, but it was mentioned that you can't really use a class A cover for these, they are way shorter in height than a typical class A. However, the ones made for travel trailers will work nicely. Just look for the right length.

That sounds familiar, that could've been on here.

 

[tmsnyder]

I had a 31 foot Holiday Rambler which I sold to buy a GMC. I tried putting the HR cover on the GMC, it was hysterical how much too big it was. It wrapped completely around and underneath until the two side met and maybe even overlapped a little bit. These GMCs are tiny compared to a 'modern' class A.