With a name like “traditional,” it’s difficult to think poorly of one common method of constructing RV sidewalls. Its other moniker, “stick-and-tin,” doesn’t sound as glamorous, but for something that dates back to at least the 1940s, it’s still holding its own.

The other method – best-known as “laminate” – is a better-living-through-science approach, taking a resin plastic, reinforcing it (often with fiberglass) and then treating it with a gel-coat. The end result is then laminated onto a backer board and ultimately onto a superstructure of the RV-manufacturer’s choice.

With an industry heavyweight, Elkhart, Ind.-based Dicor Corp., adding a new product, Vixenite, and a new division, Vixen Composites, to make it, laminates are likely to get another long look from manufacturers.

Still, those in the industry who work with both – and even those who don’t – believe both have their place, especially when it comes to trailers and fifth wheels. For all laminate’s technology, stick-and-tin does offer something many buyers want: a lower price tag, and it’s likely that manufacturers will make – and customers will buy – both technologies on into the future.

Workers at Riverside Travel Trailer assemble the sidewalls of a travel trailer using the traditional stick-and-tin construction method, laying aluminum over a wood frame. While many manufacturers are now using laminates for their RV sidewalls, the stick-and-tin construction method still has plenty of adherents, who prize it for its comparatively cheaper cost and the comparative ease when it comes to doing repair work on those sidewalls when they suffer damage.

A New Look for Sidewalls
Gregg Fore, president of Dicor Corp., is quick to stress that Vixenite isn’t a laminate; it’s a composite.

He explains the difference by saying that many things may be laminated together – a Formica® kitchen countertop mounted to plywood sheeting is a good example – but in this case, Vixenite is a composite that may be laminated onto many different surfaces for different uses.

“Vixen is a manufacturer of composite panels,” Fore stresses. “You can manufacture composites in many different ways and in many different shapes. Vixen is a flat panel producer, so we’re not making shapes. We’re making flat panels that have a broad range of sizes both in terms of width and length, and also in terms of thickness.”

The product is formulated for not just RVs, but also for cargo trailers, step vans and other end uses where a flat panel is desirable.

In the case of RV manufacturers, “They will laminate it to their superstructure, whatever that might be,” he says. “They’ll likely have some type of insulating material – typically foam – and that will produce a flat wall they can laminate over the top of their superstructure.”

Fore adds that each composite used in laminate technology is formulated to have its strong points and its weak ones. In his case, he wanted Dicor to develop a product that could be produced without much human interaction, allowing it to be both more consistent and produced at ambient temperatures beyond the extremes most vehicles see.

By almost completely automating its production process, Vixenite is produced by a continuous manufacturing process that allows the creation of panels up to 40 feet. It also makes sure the panel is fully cured, a fault Fore sees with some others on the market.

“The sidewalls in an RV will see temperatures in the hottest places in our country at 120-plus degrees, and surface temperatures of upwards of 180 degrees,” Fore says. “Any sidewall has to have some expansion and contraction characteristics, and the chemistry has to be done so it can withstand broad temperature transitions without failure.”

If the components of composite materials, such as his, aren’t cured beyond the highest temperature the product is going to see, when the heat does get that high, the material begins curing again.

“If you have a product that’s made at an ambient temperature – and today most of them are – the product starts curing again in the field,” Fore says. “But, that curing isn’t constant; it won’t cure in every spot at exactly the same rate. It might shrink in spots, or cause a blister if the backing in the substrate has seams. It’s also very slow and not obvious to the naked eye until an imperfection occurs.

“What we tried to do was say, ‘What are the limits of the current technology, and how can we create a product that eliminates those limitations?’” he adds.

Proponents of laminates note that their sidewalls tend to stand up to the elements better than traditional units while also offering a modern look most customers appreciate.

The Cost-Value Relationship
Fore is honest enough to admit that while he believes Vixenite is a superior product, it’s not a perfect product, and manufacturers and end consumers ultimately have to decide what they’ll use and what they’ll buy based on what he calls the “cost-value relationship.”

“There’s a cost-value relationship in everything everybody does,” he says. “In this case, everybody tries to measure what’s the cost-value benefit in terms of several different issues.”

There isn’t a shopper alive who doesn’t like to see a lower number when the bottom line is added up, and at least on the surface that’s where the old traditional stick-and-tin, otherwise known as wood-frame construction with aluminum siding, has the most pull.

Although motorhomes have generally abandoned traditional construction methods for the lighter laminates, it’s still popular with fifth wheels and especially travel trailers.

“That’s where the rubber meets the road,” says Jeff Wagner, product manager for the Hornet Division of the Goshen, Ind.-based Keystone RV Co. “It’s more costly to build a laminated wall, even at the volume we build, because the fiberglass is more expensive than the aluminum siding, and the aluminum framing inside the wall is more expensive than the wood framing we use in the stick-and-tin.”

As with Keystone, the Coburg, Ore.-based Monaco RVs manufactures models using both methods, and that company’s West Coast sales manager, Jack Ferguson, says the figure that’s going to jump out at many buyers is that a traditionally built trailer will retail for $1,000-$1,500 less than the same-size unit with a laminated skin.

“The wood framing is going to be less money,” he says. “There’s always the appeal on the dollar.”

Mark Gerber, vice president of sales and finance for the Peru, Ind.-based Riverside Travel Trailers Inc., doesn’t have a laminate product with which to compare his models. Although his company purchased the assets of another manufacturer that built laminate units, Riverside has opted to focus on the traditional units only.

And, he says because the framing is less expensive, it allows Riverside to put more money into other features.

“We want to be known for the traditional manufacturing,” he says. “For us, it’s about the allocation of dollars. We asked ourselves if we wanted to put money into a construction technique or if we wanted to offer things like a china bowl toilet, night lights beside the bed and a pillow-top mattress.”

Vixen Composites, a subsidiary of Dicor Corp., is preparing to roll out a new composite material that can be laminated onto many different surfaces, including RV surfaces.

Different Values
Fore acknowledges that the cost of the laminated units is higher. However, when it comes to the benefits provided by that additional cost – particularly with Vixenite – he feels the value shines through.

As fuel prices continue to go up, manufacturers are looking for ever more ways to lighten the load in their units, and the combination of the laminate plus its aluminum framing and foam insulation saves a lot of weight, especially considering that the traditional method is actually borrowed from stationary housing.

“Simply replacing the wood with the aluminum does save a lot of weight,” says Keystone’s Wagner. “That’s really its greatest advantage.”

Monaco’s Ferguson, comparing the weight of his company’s traditionally built 25-foot Silver Creek model with the laminated 26-foot Trailsport, cites a difference of almost 1,900 pounds between the two units.

“That’s almost a ton,” he observes. “There’s certainly appeal in the fact that the weight-per-size is considerably less.”

Dicor’s Fore says while the first-time buyer may choose to save money and buy a heavier traditionally built unit, a second purchase may not play out that way.

“If the consumer says, ‘I want a trailer, but it can’t be more than X pounds and more than Y feet because I already have a tow vehicle and I don’t want to buy a new one,’ he’s probably going to buy a unit that’s lighter, and he isn’t going to be as concerned about the price jump,” Fore says.

Other advantages one method might have over the other are harder to quantify. For instance, Fore believes that one of the advantages to Vixenite and the laminates is that, separate from the weight issue, they just take less material to build.

“If you build a traditional wooden product, the studs might be 16 inches on center, or 24 inches on center,” he says. “You don’t have a lot of alternatives with that. With a composite material, because of the inherent strength of the panels, you use less materials and that takes less labor.”

However, there are performance issues with at least some of the laminates that also raise eyebrows. Fore observes that moisture is often a problem with these units, and not necessarily moisture which is coming in from leaks.

“The humidity created inside that box can be tremendously high, and it can deteriorate the structure – if it’s wood – over time, because of the moisture,” he says. “If you can reduce the amount of organic materials, you’re going to have better performance relative to moisture.”

Riverside Travel Trailer exclusively uses stick-and-tin construction for its RVs. The company notes that there is still a healthy demand for traditionally made units in today’s marketplace.

Riverside’s Gerber sees the issue differently, however. He says the laminates can be harder to repair if there is a problem.

“It’s harder to take apart if you have water penetration or de-lamination,” he says. “The nice thing with a metal-sided trailer is you can take the moldings out and pull out the fasteners, and you can change the interior sticks easily.”

The same holds true if the owner needs to add blocking for an aftermarket item, or if an exterior panel is dented during a stay at a campground.

For people concerned with exterior appearance, Gerber says the traditional aluminum appearance is likely also to be more appealing than the laminates.

“With the laminates, there’s no variation in color,” he says. “We have an 18-inch colored metal band at the bottom and a 15-inch colored metal band at the top, and we have the ribs on the metal for support that also add horizontal lines to help reduce the visual profile.”

By comparison, he says – agreeing with Fore – that when a laminate continues to cure at different rates, “The plastic used in the trailer fades at a different rate than the fiberglass, and the unit looks old pretty quick.”

That’s another area where Fore expects Vixen to shine over other, similar, products now on the market.

“There can be a big improvement in the aesthetic value, whether it’s color in the composite or whether it’s painted afterwards – and there are several ways to do that,” Fore says. “It can be very resistant to weathering conditions; it’s a better weathering surface than many other materials.”

And, Monaco’s Ferguson observes that the durability of both is extended through proper care.

“They each have their own needs, but they both need to have proper maintenance,” he says. “They have their own requirements to be washed and waxed and cleaned. It’s just like anything else; if you maintain it, it will look better.”

The Future for Sidewalls
So, what’s the future of these two construction methods, especially in the trailer side of the market, where the current use is about 50-50? It depends on who you talk to.

Riverside’s Gerber believes price – which favors the traditional construction – is only one of three main factors that people consider when buying, along with the floorplan and the overall look of a particular unit.

“Now you wouldn’t be able to sell a metal-sided motorhome,” he says. “But, when it comes to a towable product, the construction – in my view – is not the determining factor of what they buy.”

And, Keystone’s Wagner agrees that price is certainly driving the segment of the market that goes for traditional construction.

“There’s enough of a gap that even if the consumer thinks the laminate technology is better, they look at it and say, ‘It’s still $2,000 to $5,000 cheaper; that makes more sense for my family,” Wagner says.

Monaco RV employs both laminate and stick-and-tin construction methods for its units. Company representatives believe each technology has its place in the market.

Monaco’s Ferguson, however, believes that the price on the laminated products will continue to come down, simply because the number of people making laminated products is increasing, as is the demand for vehicles incorporating the technology.

Dicor’s Fore agrees that over time the demand for such products – including those that utilize new composite technology – will continue to expand.

“This is an evolutionary process, and technology marches forward at a surprising pace,” he concludes. “New things come to the market and they replace current technologies. There will be newer techniques, newer technology and newer chemistry that will all enhance the product; it’s what we all work for.”