Water Leak, Repair Update Feb 12th
Well, here we go again. Back in 2013 I found a leak that was deteriorating the slide out floor, so I undertook those repairs. I had a thread on here but couldn't find it again to give you a link, bu...
Forum Discussion
Hi Don,
Sorry this took so long to reply. I had a senior moment on your post...
As our good friend, ExxWhy stated, if you are using the standard slide topper mounts, too wide can create a problem.
First is at the camper wall. Does your already have a gutter rail with the awning groove on it above the slide?
See here on mine. Sunline at least gave me the awning gutter rail but toppers where options and mine did not have it...
Point is, if yours does not have this rail you will need to add it. And if it does have the rail, that already creates one of the limits on how wide you can go. The topper material needs to be fully supported in the awning rail. If you have to add a rail as Terry did not give you one, then you need to be careful on how long you make it as there is no solid wood to screw the ends too if it is too far from the slide room opening.
Next are the brackets at the slide room itself. The actual slide flanges vary by camper brand, some are wider than others. To get my point across I'll use my slide.
Here is the top corner where the topper roller brackets will mount
Where the vinyl screw cover is the end of the sliide room wall and then the flange flange overhangs out into the air to mate up with the seal on the camper.
Here is a back side pic I happend to have up on the photo site
Now to the topper roller brackets. A Dometic and Lippert awning uses a bracket screwed to the top left and right of slide room wall. Then a piece of hollow hex shaped aluminum shaft hangs out. That shaft is only so long. Here is a good pic of it from Etrailer on a Lippert awning.
Lippert Slide Topper brackets
I have seen those hex shafts setups yank hard on the mounting brackets when they are at full extension. The torque pulls on the screws holding the roller rail bracket to the slide room wall and sometimes pulls the bracket loose. Don't really know how the owners had them get like that but I have seen them. That end bracket cantilevers out there a good ways at full extension. Sometimes you are forced to hang out at full extension as you have to as the anwing is that long. Not all slide rooms widths are the same so you have to pic what they have.
So, you want to be as wide as you can, but you have to fit within the constraints of the awning gutter rail and the roller rail brackets.
The topper being as wide as the slide room plus some amount a few inches from each end is about as good as you are going to get. That corner joint where you had a seal leak is semi protected but not totally. The topper does help though. The long area top seal of the slide is very protected. The side vertical seals are pretty much all on their own but the topper does help deflect rain water off the side of the slide. Normally with no topper, the slide ends get drenched with all the water coming off the slide roof. The topper sheds a good portion of that slide end wall water.
Hope this helps
John
PS. You haul the camper to Eric's place and I'll come up. Or you haul it over to my place and we will invite him down...
Sorry this took so long to reply. I had a senior moment on your post...
As our good friend, ExxWhy stated, if you are using the standard slide topper mounts, too wide can create a problem.
First is at the camper wall. Does your already have a gutter rail with the awning groove on it above the slide?
See here on mine. Sunline at least gave me the awning gutter rail but toppers where options and mine did not have it...
Point is, if yours does not have this rail you will need to add it. And if it does have the rail, that already creates one of the limits on how wide you can go. The topper material needs to be fully supported in the awning rail. If you have to add a rail as Terry did not give you one, then you need to be careful on how long you make it as there is no solid wood to screw the ends too if it is too far from the slide room opening.
Next are the brackets at the slide room itself. The actual slide flanges vary by camper brand, some are wider than others. To get my point across I'll use my slide.
Here is the top corner where the topper roller brackets will mount
Where the vinyl screw cover is the end of the sliide room wall and then the flange flange overhangs out into the air to mate up with the seal on the camper.
Here is a back side pic I happend to have up on the photo site
Now to the topper roller brackets. A Dometic and Lippert awning uses a bracket screwed to the top left and right of slide room wall. Then a piece of hollow hex shaped aluminum shaft hangs out. That shaft is only so long. Here is a good pic of it from Etrailer on a Lippert awning.
Lippert Slide Topper brackets
I have seen those hex shafts setups yank hard on the mounting brackets when they are at full extension. The torque pulls on the screws holding the roller rail bracket to the slide room wall and sometimes pulls the bracket loose. Don't really know how the owners had them get like that but I have seen them. That end bracket cantilevers out there a good ways at full extension. Sometimes you are forced to hang out at full extension as you have to as the anwing is that long. Not all slide rooms widths are the same so you have to pic what they have.
So, you want to be as wide as you can, but you have to fit within the constraints of the awning gutter rail and the roller rail brackets.
The topper being as wide as the slide room plus some amount a few inches from each end is about as good as you are going to get. That corner joint where you had a seal leak is semi protected but not totally. The topper does help though. The long area top seal of the slide is very protected. The side vertical seals are pretty much all on their own but the topper does help deflect rain water off the side of the slide. Normally with no topper, the slide ends get drenched with all the water coming off the slide roof. The topper sheds a good portion of that slide end wall water.
Hope this helps
John
PS. You haul the camper to Eric's place and I'll come up. Or you haul it over to my place and we will invite him down...
