slide toppers

[exav8tr]

Steve, my thought was to use 3 inch webbing with a comalong device. Over and under the slides and the ratchet to the rear. I actually looked at K-mart tonight, but they were too small. I think that Lowes or Home Depot has webbing you can cut to length and then attach the hardware. My thought is with a comalong you can loosen it when the wind is calm and tighten when you need to. What does this sound like. BTW I would not be without mine..

[Waynem]

One of my thoughts when I get to do it is to get the 2 1/2 to 3 inch web strapping (Academy may have it)and have it go over the topper and part of the down side of the slide.

Get a braided rope (nylon or cotton) and cut it short of reaching the tie point under the slide. Braid a return loop in each end of the rope. Tie the web strap in one end of the rope (or an "S" hook - if you wish, insulate the point of connection with foam used to insulate water pipes or air conditioning pipes to keep the rubbing down. You could also use a bungie at this point and insulate both hooks.)

Bungie or tie the other end to the tie point under the slide. do the same for the other side of the rope. Measurements would have to be made and adjusted to allow a slight tension on the strap.

Anyhow, that's my general idea.

[sreigle]

Rich, now you have me thinking and wondering if I should strap them down or not. I'd not heard of any fallout from that process other than making sure the straps are wide enough to not chafe the fabric. I will have to give this some more thought.

Phil, I was thinking of the 2 inch but I think maybe you're correct and the 3 inch would be better. A come along device would work well but I'd need to make sure the strap going under the slide is not going to get greasy from the slide bars. I don't really want to have to crawl under to route the straps above the bars, either. I guess I need to do some more research.

Wayne, thanks for the ideas. Clearly I need to think this through for my situation.

[richfaa]

I am sure we will collectively figure this out.. I have some 3 inch webbing on board but have hesitated from using it. After Getting through all those prolonged high winds in Az last year without damage and observing a fellow camper with these "hurricane straps" lose his awning..The straps held,,the awning still came off the camper, had he been able to get the awning up he may have been ok. We rolled up the awning and brought in the main slide quickly and did OK??? I am going to look at the issue again and watch this thread.

[Wayne and Carolyn Mathews]

Topper update:

Today I made my regular eyeball check of our slide toppers when I came in from work, and the edges of the big topper, the one over the sofa and dining table and chairs, have ripped. I did put strapping tape on the areas where the first frayed spots appeared (see February 22 post). That stopped the damage at those points. The rips and frays today occurred in the last 24 hours. They're on the edge by the door and extend about 1" into the topper.

When I climbed the stepladder to put strapping tape on the new damage, I got a nasty surprise: strange-looking holes about the size of a pea scattered here and there throughout the topper. They don't look punched in and they aren't clean holes; instead, they look as though the fabric frayed just enough to cause a separation. I could cry. OK, I did cry.

Our old 5th wheeler had slides that operated separately. I wish our 3585 did, because I would have pulled in the long slide every time the wind came up. My other wish is that those toppers could easily be removed if the need arose and then reattached just as easily.

Well, my "Fix It" list continues to grow, and as soon as Wayne returns from Texas, this puppy is going in for service!

[Wayne and Carolyn Mathews]

Followup: Last week I repaired several little tears in the large slide topper by using 3/4" Scotch brand filament tape. The repairs are invisible unless you just happen to look up and see those small pieces of tape along the door-side edge of the topper. The tape did hold firm during our last bout of high wind. Our dealer is going to replace that topper awning because along with the rips along one edge, it has also developed some pinpoint holes and several small frayed areas scattered over the suface in random locations.

The other 2 slide toppers on the rig are in perfect shape. We consistently get high winds from the north, south, and west, so theoretically all the toppers should have had the same exposure to wind gusts and steady wind. Either the longer length of that one topper, giving the wind a bigger surface area to slam it around, or some inherent flaw in that particular topper's fabric/tension has caused the damage. On the other hand, who knows?

And yes, if and when we get a different Montana model some day, we would still order it with toppers. We will eventually be spending several months a year in the Texas Hill Country, and having lived there in a 5th-wheeler that didn't have toppers, I know first-hand how much dirt and trash can get into a rig without a bit of protection over the slide-out areas.

[sreigle]

Carolyn, I'm sorry to hear about the damage to your toppers. That's never good news.

You might check in the front locker, above the battery and see if there is a silver-colored (ours is anyhow) block with the same number of knurled knobs as you have slides. This is an extra cost option but many Montanas have it. If yours has this, then each of those knobs controls one of the slides. If you look closely they should be labeled. Some are labeled on the front, some on the bottom, ours is on top. One of them is labeled "main" slide. Close all the others but leave the main slide knob open and now the slide button will move only the main slide. You could use this to retract that slide when in high winds. Just a suggestion.

Did you figure out what caused those holes? It does sound like a fabric tear. But if I may ask you a dumb question, did you by any chance clean those toppers with anything containing a citrus fragrance? If so (and I'm serious) then birds may have pecked through the fabric looking for the fruit. At one of our rallies, the representative from the company that makes the rubber roof told us to never use anything with citrus for this reason. That's why I mention it here.

The other day I remembered I have around here somewhere one of those kits I could use to install a grommet in the web. That would serve to connect a bungee cord or rope. I still haven't decided whether to try the straps.

[Wayne and Carolyn Mathews]

Steve, as soon as the gale-force winds we are experiencing die down a bit, I'll check to see if we have those knobs you described. So far as cleaning the toppers, I'm ashamed to say I've never cleaned them. So, it's not a cleaning agent attracting birds to peck holes. I sew quite a bit (even taught fabric and textile design at one point), and have seen the same type of frayed areas in fabrics occasionally. We always had to return those fabric bolts as "flawed." Maybe the fabric on that big topper was flawed to begin with, who knows?

Can't wait to look for the knobs. However, if I tried to open the front battery area, the wind would probably claim that door as well as a topper!

Thanks for the suggestions--I appreciate any and all help!

Carolyn

[Fire1]

Got'em, love'em and ordered more on the new rig.
Several years on the motorhome and never had a problem with them, In Florida it rains almost every day in the summer no leaks not noise, no problems with seals.....BUT thats my choise to order more you have heard the good and the bad, there are hundreds of stories in the nakid city.

Doug

[sreigle]

Carolyn, this is what you are looking for. There will be one knob for each slide.

[sreigle]

Well, shucks. I took that picture at night. I noticed after posting it that it looks like a drop about to drip from the leftmost knob. And that looks like puddles on top of the reservoir. I went out with my flashlight. Sure enough, we have some drips from the manifold. It's time to email Dale and find out what needs to be done.

[Wayne and Carolyn Mathews]

Steve, we don't have the knobs, but I was hoping they'd be there. I'd forgotten how nice it was to be able to operate one slide at a time, like we could in our old RV--great option for emergencies, too.

The winds are continuing to blow, but my filament tape repair jobs are hanging in there. The locals say they have never, ever experienced winds like we've had the last 7 or 8 months. It's an unending, pounding, unpleasant situation, to say the least.

Thanks for your help! Wish we had those knobs.

Carolyn