Dear Dave,
Is my slideout roof rated for walking on like the RV roof is? Obviously, the slideout would be fully extended. —Doug, 2013 Jayco Flight Swift 267BHS
Dear Doug,
From what I can find on used units on the internet, your 2013 Jayco Flight Swift has a driver side couch and dinette slide room, which looks to be approximately ten feet wide or more. The construction of the main shell looks to be what we call “stick-and-tin,” which is wood framework, loose fill insulation, and aluminum-ribbed outer skin called “mesa”.
Here is a similar unit at one of the RV shows where I recently did seminars.
How the slide room is built
The room looks to have a one-piece roof and sidewall; however, the outer skin is the mesa material. Most manufacturers purchase components from specialized vendors and assemble them.
I have not specifically witnessed the construction of the slide room of your type of Jayco product. However, I am fairly confident that they purchase it from an OEM and assemble it.
Most of these rooms have very little framework other than an exterior perimeter aluminum or wood frame, if anything. Some are simply a sheet of 1/2” plywood, or thinner, to save cost and weight. They are not designed to support any additional weight, especially someone standing or walking on it.
Even with the slide room fully extended and the flange resting against the sidewall, I doubt there is enough structure in the center other than the plywood.
In addition, the weight applied to the top would pull at the upper part of the interior flange and add stress to the sidewall. That could create a bow or uneven plane since there is limited structure in the sidewall of a stick-and-tin unit.
Even some of the roofs on these units have strict weight limitations. Some recommend no additional weight on the roof without extra support, such as a 2″x10″x8’ board spanning the weight across a longer portion of the roof.
You might also enjoy this from Dave
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Dear Dave,
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Dave Solberg is a leading expert in the RV industry and the author of the “RV Handbook.”
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On occasion I have no choice but to be on the slide room roof. Dave mentioned using something to spread weight over a large area. Thumbs up. The second is to crawl with one knee and hand on the eternabond seam near the other edge and push along a weight spreader for the other knee and hand. There is usually more support where the roof meets the outer wall. I have a pair of fairly rigid large kneeling pads that push easily along the slide roof.