Slide-out topper replacement
Headed out Friday to a local State Park for a relaxing weekend. Mother Nature decided the relaxing part was not going to start on Friday. 60 mile an hour winds to keep us on edge. We kept the slides in when possible to ease the wind catching more surface and listening to the slide covers flapping. Our fifth-wheel is a 2009 and we had the toppers put on in 2010. The living room/dining room slide is around 12 feet long and when parked at the house faces the south sun. Time has taken it's toll and I told the wife when we set up we will probably be replacing that cover soon. The stitching holes were getting larger as the material and thread were giving out.
Well it wasn't to long into the storm when the back corner started coming loose. The threads used to sew the material around the plastic piece that slides into the channel on the trailer gave up. The winds died down for the rest of the weekend. Yesterday we brought in the slide for the drive home. Thankfully the loose stuff rolled up nicely and we had no flapping on the way home.
That's where the fun ended. When the wife went to put the slide out at home the cover was tangled up and binding. I unrolled some by hand and we managed to get the slide out a little more. So now I had to get the old cover off so we can put the slide back in without any problems. It is a carefree slide topper. Did my google search for tips and tricks. Not a single example showing my old version.
I did figure out how to insert an object into a hole to hold the spring. Getting the trailer side off was easy. Just a short screw put into the rail to hold it in place. The spring roll side was a different story. Seems whoever put the thing together decided running 3 inch screws in the groove from the end of the roll was the way to anchor the topper. And that may be a good idea.... if you have 3 inches of clearance to back out a screw when you need to replace the mounted canvas. I had one inch and no way to access the screw head as there is a solid end cap.
Thought about drilling a hole in the end cap. Thought again as I would also need an opening to slide the old topper out and the new in. Drill is out and angle grinder is in. Cut a slot where one should have been put by the factory. Managed to find the serial number on the tube. I went to Carefree's website, entered the number and up pops all the info for that slide topper. One click and the replacement material is in my cart. $243 later (including shipping) I should be good for another 10 years.
One more thing, I did remember to count and write down the number of turns the roll made as I relieved the tension so I can get it right when I reinstall.
Well it wasn't to long into the storm when the back corner started coming loose. The threads used to sew the material around the plastic piece that slides into the channel on the trailer gave up. The winds died down for the rest of the weekend. Yesterday we brought in the slide for the drive home. Thankfully the loose stuff rolled up nicely and we had no flapping on the way home.
That's where the fun ended. When the wife went to put the slide out at home the cover was tangled up and binding. I unrolled some by hand and we managed to get the slide out a little more. So now I had to get the old cover off so we can put the slide back in without any problems. It is a carefree slide topper. Did my google search for tips and tricks. Not a single example showing my old version.
I did figure out how to insert an object into a hole to hold the spring. Getting the trailer side off was easy. Just a short screw put into the rail to hold it in place. The spring roll side was a different story. Seems whoever put the thing together decided running 3 inch screws in the groove from the end of the roll was the way to anchor the topper. And that may be a good idea.... if you have 3 inches of clearance to back out a screw when you need to replace the mounted canvas. I had one inch and no way to access the screw head as there is a solid end cap.
Thought about drilling a hole in the end cap. Thought again as I would also need an opening to slide the old topper out and the new in. Drill is out and angle grinder is in. Cut a slot where one should have been put by the factory. Managed to find the serial number on the tube. I went to Carefree's website, entered the number and up pops all the info for that slide topper. One click and the replacement material is in my cart. $243 later (including shipping) I should be good for another 10 years.
One more thing, I did remember to count and write down the number of turns the roll made as I relieved the tension so I can get it right when I reinstall.
