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msmith1199's avatar
msmith1199
Explorer II
Feb 12, 2018

Wind damage to slide topper

My RV is getting up in age, about 14 years now, and yesterday I moved it to a new storage place and got caught in some real heavy winds. The winds were at about 90 degrees to the direction of travel on the left side. I've driven in stronger winds before but they were from the right side before and I know they were stronger because in those previous winds I ended up having to get off the freeway and wait them out once I figured out I couldn't even keep the RV in the lane at 25 mph. Yesterday's winds I was able to keep in the lane.

So to the point, as I was driving in the wind I heard some very loud banging coming from the left side of the roof. I pulled over and looked but couldn't see anything loose or wrong. Back on the road and it started again and this time I was able to see through the mirror that is was the slide topper. I couldn't see the topper well so I don't know exactly what it was doing, but I did see a part fly off of it. The part that flew off was the anti-billowing device.

Anyway, I was close to getting to the storage location so I slowed way down and there were no problems getting it put away. I looked at the slide topper from the ground and other than the anti-billowing device missing you can't see any damage or anything wrong with it. When the weather gets warmer I'll take a ladder there and get a closer look, but I was wonder if this problem could be related to age? Are the springs that hold it closed just getting loose and this allows the wind to catch it? Anybody else had this issue?
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  • msmith1199's avatar
    msmith1199
    Explorer II
    Feb 13, 2018
    rgatijnet1 wrote:
    I had a single spring go out at 11 years old. I replaced both topper springs and the topper material at the same time. I took the material off, which is not a big deal once you have it apart to change the springs, and took it to a marine cover shop where they duplicated my existing topper fabric for $150.
    Tensioning the topper springs can be a challange so you may want to get a mobile mechanic to do that part of the project.


    When the spring went out did that enable the topper to blow more while on the road? What I was thinking is maybe the springs are getting old and loose and that is what allowed the wind to catch it and cause the problems.
  • msmith1199's avatar
    msmith1199
    Explorer II
    Feb 13, 2018
    ArchHoagland wrote:
    During a storm my main slideout topper pulled the anchoring base away from the top edge of the roofline while I was in a RV park.

    I contacted AAA insurance and they checked the weather for that day in the area and saw that there was a "Strong weather event."

    So they paid about $600 to have it repaired.


    I did some google searches and I found a lot of different links talking about wind damage and banging around while the slide was open and at an RV park. I couldn't find any info on the slide toppers while on the road. I've seen regular awnings get damaged on the road and know that happens, but not the slide toppers.
  • msmith1199's avatar
    msmith1199
    Explorer II
    Feb 13, 2018
    ScottG wrote:
    Never had that problem with our last TT which we used for 13 years. I had installed the lowest level of Carefree awning on it.
    But there are some junk slide toppers out there. If you buy it yourself and install, it's probably decent but there are super low quality units that only manufacturers can buy (cough* Northwood) and I can see how they will probably come loose with a good sneeze.


    Mine are Dometic and looking at the current Dometic slidetoppers, they have three categories. The one I have is the cheapest of the three. So if I do end up having to do some repair work, I may end up just buying the top end unit and having it installed.
  • ArchHoagland's avatar
    ArchHoagland
    Explorer
    Feb 13, 2018
    During a storm my main slideout topper pulled the anchoring base away from the top edge of the roofline while I was in a RV park.

    I contacted AAA insurance and they checked the weather for that day in the area and saw that there was a "Strong weather event."

    So they paid about $600 to have it repaired.
  • rgatijnet1's avatar
    rgatijnet1
    Explorer III
    Feb 12, 2018
    I had a single spring go out at 11 years old. I replaced both topper springs and the topper material at the same time. I took the material off, which is not a big deal once you have it apart to change the springs, and took it to a marine cover shop where they duplicated my existing topper fabric for $150.
    Tensioning the topper springs can be a challange so you may want to get a mobile mechanic to do that part of the project.
  • ScottG's avatar
    ScottG
    Nomad
    Feb 12, 2018
    Never had that problem with our last TT which we used for 13 years. I had installed the lowest level of Carefree awning on it.
    But there are some junk slide toppers out there. If you buy it yourself and install, it's probably decent but there are super low quality units that only manufacturers can buy (cough* Northwood) and I can see how they will probably come loose with a good sneeze.
  • Janss's avatar
    Janss
    Explorer II
    Feb 12, 2018
    I've had the exact same experience with the loud banging noise on the left side near the roof. I pulled over and looked. Fortunately nothing missing or damaged. I just figured the hardware at that end of the slide topper was lifting and banging on the side of the motorhome with the high winds.

    So I'll be watching this thread to see any other comments.

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