Covers/Slide shades.

[Phil Eyler]

The more I read the more questions I have. My 3400 is going to be parked outside, in the open, for at least the next year. Should I buy a cover for it? Why? Why not?

Another question: Why do so many people put shades on their slides? Do I need them? They seem pretty expensive.
Thanks for your advice

[Emmel]

Phil, about the cover. Our Montana sits outside all the time, either along side the house or in Florida. We do take other trips, but it has never been inside. I did purchase a cover the first year I bought this Montana and used it the first winter. It did blow in the wind and wear holes in the cover. I have not and will not use it again, worried it might damage the finish on the Montana.
No experience with the shades, sorry.
This was my opinion and should be taken as that and not as advice, you have to decide it you want to chance possible damage.

[Glenn and Lorraine]

We live in our Monty 24/7/365 and of course it is never covered.
Personally I would not waste the money plus time and effort putting a cover on any RV just to find it tore or it put rub marks on the fiberglass.
You said "shades on their slides". Are you referring to the slide toppers covering the top of the slides?
We do have the slide toppers and love them. In the heat they will keep the trailer slides cooler. Think about it the slides have little or no insulation. The covers do work. PLUS, on a rainy night they do help deaden the sound of the rain particularly on the bedroom slide.
If you are referring to the small awnings on the windows, those we do not have but wish we did. They do help considerably at keeping the sun out.

[TLightning]

I think your best option is to find covered storage...that's what I have.

[NCFischers]

Or build a barn for it like I did.

[exav8tr]

I have slide toppers and would do them again. I also have window awnings and would do them again, however, they do obstruct some view out the widows. We also have a rolling shade on our rear window, actually a sunshade, keeps most of the heat out of that big back beautiful window and keeps people from looking in. Does not obstruct outside view though. Hope this helps somewhat. BTW we are full timers so we don't use a whole house cover. Have heard the same negatives as above....

[alandaudrey]

I just installed side toppers last weekend so I can't comment on their effectiveness. I would like to mention that if you do get a cover for your Monte use a material that "breathes". You do NOT want to trap moisture inside your trailer or under the cover. That will lead to lots of mildew and mold. There is one company that makes RV covers with a fabric called "Sunbrella". I don't remember the company's name but you can Google Sunbrella to find out. A few years ago I entertained a thought of covering the trailer we had and that product sounded like a good cover. They weren't cheap but compared to covered storage it would probably pay for itself over time.

[sreigle]

We've had the slide toppers on all three Montanas since January 2001. I won't be without them. I don't need to sweep the slide tops to get the debris, acorns, etc., off before retracting the slides. Water/ice/snow will weigh them down to where they sometimes even touch the slide roof. No problem, the topper just pulls more material off the roll. When we retract the slides, the ice/snow/water just roll off the slide. So, stand clear.

The negative is they deteriorate in about 4 to 5 years, from our experience. Maybe sooner for some. They're not cheap. They can flap in the wind. Making sure they are sufficiently tensioned helps that but they can still make some noise when windy. For us, it's a tradeoff we're willing to make. We don't have them for keeping the sun off the slides. We have them to keep me from crawling on the roof, rain or shine, to sweep the slides so we can leave.

We've never used a cover, not when fulltiming, not when the rig was parked. I had bad experiences with a cover for the winter on my 1963 Impala convertible (don't have it any longer). Paint was rubbed off the knife edges of the body. Also, if your cover is not correctly designed you can have moisture/mildew problems in the rig. If you get a high quality cover with a good fit then maybe it would be ok.

As always, all the above is just my opinion. Others' needs may differ.