Replacing slide awning fabric

[cgaskins]

Hello. I have a 2007 Montana 3400RL that we bought used a couple of years ago. It came with the slide awnings. The fabric on these awnings are starting to get in bad shape. Is this a big deal to replace? Has anyone here done it?

Thanks,
Chris

[pineranch]

Chris,
Do a search for "slide topper fabric".
Mike

[dieselguy]

Like mentioned, do a search. There will be several videos on You Tube. Basically it definitely takes two people on two ladders. Run the slide all the way out and remove the anti billowing bracket noting where it was clocked. Both of you continue to roll the tube until the end of the fabric shows. You'll need to find the hole in the tube near the end to temporarily install a cotter pin to hold the spring from unwinding. Remove the tiny screws holding the fabric to the rail mounted on the side of your camper ... usually one on each end. Open up one end of the rail with a screwdriver a bit and slide the old fabric off. Clean up the slots and spray silicone in them if you want to aid in reassembly. Reassemble in reverse order. Remove the cotter pin and slowly wind up the slack in the fabric. Run it in and out several times to center it and work the kinks out of it. Replace the anti billowing device being sure it is clocked the same, and reinstall the small screws in the rail on the side of your camper. This is fairly generic, but works pretty well as long as the new fabric is the same length.
On Edit: If you experience one end of the new material considerably looser than the other or one end wanting to wad up a bit, you have the material on the roller way out of square from the where the material is on the rail on the side of your camper. Remove the two tiny screws holding the material to the rail and gently slide it one way or the other till you're more satisfied with the rollup. Reinstall the screws.

[Exnavydiver]

Here is a link to Tough Tops. They seem to have a very good product and it is not that expensive. They have a good installation video also. Our Big Sky is an 08 and two of our toppers may need to be replaced. I would prefer to use the heavier 15 oz vinyl they sell. The original material tends to get brittle after awhile.. This is where we will get our replacement topper material..

[Tom S.]

Great link Dave! We're (hopefully) a long way away from needing to replace ours, but I know where I'll go and what to do when they need to be done. Too bad the originals don't use better material.

[Artemus Gordon]

Thanks everyone!

[DQDick]

A deal was worked out at quartzite with an awning repair firm and several folks had theirs done there. Possibly a similar deal could be worked out this year.

[kdeiss]

As mentioned a simple Job with two people and two ladders the replacement fabric far better quality then the OEM

[1retired06]

I have replaced and with two folks, not too hard. Just be careful with the spring mechanism.

[pineranch]

Both end caps on my big slide became elongated and had to replace. Cannot just get caps, had to order entire spring. Easy to do on saw horses in garage.
All should check for loping when extending or retracting.
Mike

[jsmitfl]

We used Tough tops for our slides on our 2001 Montana. They were easy to install and the quality was very good. We will use them again if need be.

[richfaa]

We did have our main awning fabric replaced on our 06 3400. Our local dealer ordered it and replaced it. The cost was not all that bad.

[mazboy]

it's easy with 2 people and two ladders.

[Neil.M]

Here are a coule of good vids on replacing slide toppers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyLf...66C43348BEE410

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDKC...66C43348BEE410