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Old 03-02-2020, 09:18 AM   #1
Sdexte
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Roller covers

Question for those that have roller covers on your slides... at what level of winds do you get concerned about damage to the roller covers and when do you decide to put the slides in? We are camping in the California desert area and are getting some fairly good wind gusts. My wife gets nervous and we wind up putting the slides in. It would be nice to know from others who are regularly in these types of windy conditions what their thoughts are so I can hopefully alleviate my wife’s anxiety. Thanks
 
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Old 03-02-2020, 09:59 AM   #2
lightsout
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I assume you are talking the Slide toppers? They will flap some however the roller is a spring loaded roller that allow everything to flex, in addition the volume of wind that can get between the fabric and slide is very narrow I would highly doubt that unless you are experiencing winds above 70-mph that any damage could be done, just not enough volume...
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Old 03-02-2020, 10:23 AM   #3
jcurtis934
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Have been in heavy winds, storms, etc and though the slide toppers may get noisier if wind is from the right direction, there is no risk of damage. The only time we got damage to the slide topper fabric was in South Dakota when a supercell came through the area with massive hail output. And that was just little circular cracks in the fabric that slightly leaked water onto the slide top afterwards. I just smeared clear silicon on the ding marks to stop the leaks and never thought about them until the toppers were getting old enough that I went ahead and replaced the fabric myself. Tell the wife to relax...no worries.
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Old 03-02-2020, 12:43 PM   #4
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We summer in Kansas and winter in New Mexico. 40-60 mph wind gusts aren't unusual and we've had 90 mph wind gusts twice. Toppers are still attached and working.
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Old 03-02-2020, 01:20 PM   #5
Hblick48
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I've had 3 slide toppers fail during 2 different trips. Very strong winds and age (they were 14 years old) caused them to tear where the fabric is sewn together around the installation bead. Fabric automatically rolls back onto roller because of spring tension. I put on some Gorilla tape to make sure they didn't unroll while traveling.

Ordered replacements that were superior to the originals. Installation was no problem. Hardest part is pre-loading spring tension. Had to have a 20 something to help with that part.
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Old 03-02-2020, 05:04 PM   #6
Dave W
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I have a piece of clothes line rope that I wrap fairly loosly around the 13 foot LR topper in high winds. No flapping, no noise. I also wound that toppers spring a turn tighter
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Old 03-11-2020, 01:32 PM   #7
ejerni
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When traveling and boon docking, i always pull the slide in at 25 mph wind
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Old 03-11-2020, 01:39 PM   #8
Museone
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We too are in the California desert and we have had a ripped topper due to the strong wind gusts. We now put in slides if 30 mph or more
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Old 03-11-2020, 03:05 PM   #9
Montana Man
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I saw an ad for inflatables that lay between the slide and cover to prevent high wind issues. A bit much trouble for me but if it keeps the DW happy...
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Old 03-11-2020, 05:53 PM   #10
Museone
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Montana man- we tried that. The inflatables just blew away in a hard gust that extended our topper😳.
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Old 03-13-2020, 11:11 PM   #11
mleeder
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Slide Toppers

Took ours off after a squall ripped the one over the bedroom. Had to sleep with the slide pulled in. Lost the main slide topper on the highway, just came off. Warranty wouldn’t cover it since they said I couldn’t prove that I didn’t hit anything. Was just a big waste of money. Built an articulating dust mop the width of the slide outs and that works fine if I think I need to sweep them off before pulling them in. Remove all of them after that.
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Old 04-01-2020, 03:19 PM   #12
McRod
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We have been in some serious winds. Our main DS slide was actually being pushed in by 60+ MPH sustained winds. It didn't damage the topper, but we went ahead and pulled the slide in.

My ODS slide topper has just started to tear at the stitching. I used gorilla tape to repair. I am hoping I can finish this year before replacing. The toppers have been on the unit since Jan 2016, so maybe get 5 years out of them before replacing.
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Old 04-01-2020, 09:04 PM   #13
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You'll know when. We just pull the slides in when we 'feel' the winds are getting too strong. No specific wind speed.


We actually met someone in the west who actually cut his slide covers because it was very very windy. As for us, we would have just pulled all the slides in.
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Old 04-02-2020, 08:54 AM   #14
Dave W
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mazboy View Post
You'll know when. We just pull the slides in when we 'feel' the winds are getting too strong. No specific wind speed.


We actually met someone in the west who actually cut his slide covers because it was very very windy. As for us, we would have just pulled all the slides in.

That must have been interesting to watch - that roller has lots of tension 13 or more turns on a pretty strong spring
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Old 04-11-2020, 12:41 PM   #15
Billyj571
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90 mph wow surprised it didn’t blow you over that’s crazy
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