How are mercedes coach built bodies made?

I have been wondering how the Auto Sleeper Mercedes / Peugeot based motorhome models are made concerning the roof and body panels and how they are fitted together. Do they still use wood for the frameworks and what is the top joint like? Is it lapped together with sealant to keep out the water, or does the roof overlap the side like a cap.  What is the water ingress problems if any like, and where do they mostly occur?

Perhaps you should ask Auto-Sleepers directly, rather than seek uninformed owner-opinions here? I'm reasonably sure that none of us have dismantled our current vehicles, so would not be able to give you an accurate response. No doubt some of the usual suspects will be along soon.

I do not think they would answer, as to whether there is a load of leaking roofs out there whereas this forum might actually answer the  question.

AS are the people to ask about construction methods. For water/damp issues, why not use the search facility and enter 'damp' or 'ingress' and look at reported problems.

GWAYGWAY wrote:I do not think they would answer, as to whether there is a load of leaking roofs out there whereas this forum might actually answer the  question.

Apologies- are there "a load of leaking roofs out there"? If so, I must have missed the posts on this forum. Perhaps you could point me to them?

Being a relatively new AS owner, I would also say contact AS themselves.  Since picking up our Mh in December we have had nothing but good service from them when we had a query.  We had a phonecall back from the sales director relating to one query, and when we were at the manchester show on Saturday we met David Williams there and were able to sort out a couple of issues there and then.  Very impressed with the level of customer service; I'm sure that if you rang them they would answer all your questions.

I believe they do still use wood at present, which is sandwich type construction. You could confirm this with AS.

GWAYGWAY wrote:I have been wondering how the Auto Sleeper Mercedes / Peugeot based motorhome models are made concerning the roof and body panels and how they are fitted together. Do they still use wood for the frameworks and what is the top joint like? Is it lapped together with sealant to keep out the water, or does the roof overlap the side like a cap.  What is the water ingress problems if any like, and where do they mostly occur?

The detail of the construction has changed over the years, are you interested in new or older models?

I am interested in the new models on MB base  but they all seem to be the same body  type. I was wondering if they are now using  polyurethane extrusion type materials that the other major companies are going to nowadays. The advantage of this material is that it does not ROT and the damp ingress is not so much a major disaster  that the wood frames cause. I am going to spend  what to me is a Major amount of money, and I am interested to know if there may be problem over the horizon once the warranty time is finished. Butt joints and wood frames are a big no no to me, as the water will get in sometime. A cap type of roof panel going over the framework where the water runs down the side  is what I would like to see, but as I do not carry a ladder around at shows U cannot actually see what they are on AS. I would like to have seen a  you-tube video similar to the one Bailey made on the construction of their caravans and MH.

As a member of the ASOC committee I've been invited to visit the factory a few times.

The floor, internal ceiling/back and side walls are made in the factory.  A laser projector shines the location of the wooden frame components onto a setting out table and they are stapled together, routes are provided for services and hard points for things like bike racks.  The gaps are filled with styrofoam insulation and the appropriate covering (décor for the inside and grp for the outside of the side walls) are glued  by passing through a heat/pressure machine.  Apertures for windows, doors etc are cut on a cnc machine and the frames for the fittings glued in.

The floor with all its underneath services already fitted is fixed to the chassis and then the internal furniture assembled before the walls and ceiling panels are added.  Finally a GRP skin is placed over the roof, rear wall and around the cab.  The GRP skin overlaps the walls and the edges are sealed.

The only cases of damp I'm aware of in recent vans is where a mistake has been made during manufacture in sealing say a roof light, locker frame, BBQ point.  There are very few such cases reported on the forum and those that have been have all been satisfactorily remedied by Autosleeper.

Thank you  Peter, that is what I was trying to ascertain,wood in itself is fine, my plane is made of it and is 1962 built. It was the roof and the chances of ingress that concerned me. My present van seems to have been made to get water in it and is a constant repair worry  wondering when it will leak again. I didn't want to repeat the mistake for £70000 or so.