# Hail Damage



## Chasgirl (Aug 15, 2006)

It was such a nice day today I decided to air out the Outback and discovered 2 of our 3 roof vents were cracked and broken presumably from the little bit of hail we had a couple of days ago.







I checked the roof and it appears to be okay, except for the vents. Is it difficult to replace these covers? They are the basic white stock covers. While I'm at it, I would like to add some MaxxAir or "Ramble" covers also. Has anyone had experience with the cheaper Ramble brand?

Chasgirl


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## Lady Di (Oct 28, 2005)

What brand are the current vent covers?

We have MaxAir and really like them. Not too difficult to do, we did ours ourselves.


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## egregg57 (Feb 13, 2006)

The white vent covers are not hard to replace. It just takes some time if your doing it yourself. Do you have insurance? If so, you may be able to have it fixed at your dealer. If not, and you're on your own there are several sites that have instruction, even video on the removal and replacement of the vents. I can't speak to the Maxxair equipment. I don't have that! Good luck! Keep us posted!

Eric


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## Ghosty (Jan 17, 2005)

I have had all three covers -- AERO FLO (French for "THEY SUCK - AND THEY CRACK UNDER ANY PRESSURE - JUST LIKE THE FRENCH - AND YOU WILL NOT GET A FULL YEAR OUT OF THEM - JUST LIKE THE FRENCH") -- Ramble (Spanish for "Dried out after my first season and crumbled like the Patriots in the 4th Qtr") - and MaxxAir (English for "THESE ARE THE ONES YOU WANT") 

In case you missed it -- get the MAXX Air ...

The MAXXAIR vent that i originally put on in Jan 05 is still going strong -- the other ones I had are all gone/destroyed and replaced with MAXXAirs --

As for the vent lid cover replacements -- yep -- they are easy to find -- I had one crack when i first got the trailer -- cost me -- i think -- 12.00 on EBay to get a new one --


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## Carey (Mar 6, 2012)

Your sure can make a point Ghosty... lol pretty funny...

I think someone needs to send you a bottle of french wine... Think that would change your disposition a bit?

Carey


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## camping canuks (Jan 18, 2007)

Ghosty said:


> I have had all three covers -- AERO FLO (French for "THEY SUCK - AND THEY CRACK UNDER ANY PRESSURE - JUST LIKE THE FRENCH - AND YOU WILL NOT GET A FULL YEAR OUT OF THEM - JUST LIKE THE FRENCH") -- Ramble (Spanish for "Dried out after my first season and crumbled like the Patriots in the 4th Qtr") - and MaxxAir (English for "THESE ARE THE ONES YOU WANT")
> 
> In case you missed it -- get the MAXX Air ...
> 
> ...










I see a theme here


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## Scoutr2 (Aug 21, 2006)

We had golf-ball sized hail hit one afternoon when we were at Disney World last June. I had to have dings removed from my truck hood and top when we returned home. But the Max-Air vents held up well. Nothing at all broken or damaged on the Outback. I was worried about the skylight above the tub, but the trailer is new enough that the plexiglass/lexan? isn't brittle enough yet for hail to cause problems - unless the hailstones are larger, anyway.

I'm not sure if you are talking about the factory vent covers or after-market add-ons (like the Max-Airs), but we love those Max-Air vents. We keep them open year round, to keep the trailer vented. (Except when we have the furnace or A/C running, of course.)

Mike


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## mswalt (Sep 14, 2004)

So, Ghosty, you're recommending the Max-Air vent covers?









Mark


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## GoVols (Oct 7, 2005)

Sounds as if Ghosty had a bad experience with Aeroflo vent covers. Mine have held up very well, thank you. They survived a hailstorm when the uncovered, standard bathroom vent cracked from the hail. No personal experience with Maxxair or Ramble.


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## Chasgirl (Aug 15, 2006)

Lady Di said:


> What brand are the current vent covers?


The current vent covers don't seem to have a brand name that I can see. Just plain white cover that came stock on the trailer. I plan on picking up 3 new ones tomorrow and hopefully get them replaced before it rains.

After that, I'm definitely leaning toward adding the MaxxAir covers. Thanks Ghosty!


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## skippershe (May 22, 2006)

I can't believe that no one has recommended Maxx Airs









We added these to all of our vents and love them


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

mswalt said:


> So, Ghosty, you're recommending the Max-Air vent covers?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks for asking...I wasn't too sure what he was trying to say either.


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## Fanatical1 (Jan 9, 2006)

skippershe said:


> I can't believe that no one has recommended Maxx Airs
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Sorry, but I have to disagree with everyone.

I would suggest the Max Air covers.....


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

Pick up a couple tubes of Dicor sealant to seal things back up too!


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## mountainlady56 (Feb 13, 2006)

I've had great luck with MaxxAir vents, and that's the only ones that several dealerships even carry or recommend. BTW, I don't think Ghosty gets a commission or has stock in MaxxAir.......he just knows a good thing when he sees it!!








Darlene


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## Thor (Apr 7, 2004)

I am with ghosty - Maxx Air Vents

Thor


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## colcamper (Dec 19, 2006)

We camped for the first time this weekend after hail storms of last month. When I opened the vent in the bunkhouse, I saw a pretty big chunk of plastic missing from it. When my hubby got on the roof to cover it with tape, he noticed ALL the vent covers were cracked. Just barely pressing on them, and the cracks ran all thru them. I think Keystone uses extremely cheap plastic for these that don't withstand sun, weather, etc. We are also looking to replace them, but hubby says they are riveted in. Don't know how easy this is going to be!!!

Good luck with your fix!!

BTW--I called Keystone to complain and see about warranty, and as usual, the CS rep was EXTREMELY rude and not helpful at all.


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

colcamper said:


> We camped for the first time this weekend after hail storms of last month. When I opened the vent in the bunkhouse, I saw a pretty big chunk of plastic missing from it. When my hubby got on the roof to cover it with tape, he noticed ALL the vent covers were cracked. Just barely pressing on them, and the cracks ran all thru them. I think Keystone uses extremely cheap plastic for these that don't withstand sun, weather, etc. We are also looking to replace them, but hubby says they are riveted in. Don't know how easy this is going to be!!!
> 
> Good luck with your fix!!
> 
> BTW--I called Keystone to complain and see about warranty, and as usual, the CS rep was EXTREMELY rude and not helpful at all.


I think the vents are all standard equipment for most makes/models. Yes they are cheap, yes they can shatter with hail, yes they do degrade and fail after too much UV exposure.

It sounds like you are planning on rplacing just the plastic cover? Usually, I've seen the entire assembly for sale. That screws to the roof and it will take <30 minutes to replace if you are handy with basic tools. While you are up there replacing them, put on some covers and that should protect them for the future.


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## Chasgirl (Aug 15, 2006)

colcamper said:


> We camped for the first time this weekend after hail storms of last month. When I opened the vent in the bunkhouse, I saw a pretty big chunk of plastic missing from it. When my hubby got on the roof to cover it with tape, he noticed ALL the vent covers were cracked. Just barely pressing on them, and the cracks ran all thru them. I think Keystone uses extremely cheap plastic for these that don't withstand sun, weather, etc. We are also looking to replace them, but hubby says they are riveted in. Don't know how easy this is going to be!!!
> 
> Good luck with your fix!!
> 
> BTW--I called Keystone to complain and see about warranty, and as usual, the CS rep was EXTREMELY rude and not helpful at all.


We did a quick fix and replaced just the plastic cover on the 2 broken vents. Looked pretty easy, just unscrew from the inside and unhook the hinged arm. Of course, I was supervising and DH was doing the work so it might have been harder than it looked. Long term plans are to get a couple of Maxx Air covers. The original covers did seem pretty brittle and crumbly. Hope you get yours fixed soon too!


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