he said not to do it!

[nephi007]

Howdy. Manager of a dealer said to not bother with an $800.00 slide topper if I buy a trailer from him cuz topper puts additional stress on the slide out motor. He seemed sincere and said he could recommend it to us and make the money but felt obliged to speak the truth. Your thoughts?

[wmoses]

In TheBeag5plus' case, it must home been the wind associated with the rain, correct? I suspect that is what harley4275 was questioning. Just rain with no wind should not be a problem.

[TheBeag5plus]

harley4275 wrote:
for TheBeag5plus..

Why would you bring in your awning when it rains?? That is what it is for . I only bring it in if there is a wild wind .If it rains just lower one side to drain water . Then your slide under awning is good and dry. But that just me.

We have replaced an awning on another trailer we had and it was just not so much fun that we want to do it again. It was really raining hard and for us it is not worth the risk of having to replace the awning. I guess we are better safe than sorry!

[harley4275]

for TheBeag5plus..

Why would you bring in your awning when it rains?? That is what it is for . I only bring it in if there is a wild wind .If it rains just lower one side to drain water . Then your slide under awning is good and dry. But that just me.

[wmoses]

The tension in the slide topper can be adjusted and that should help with the flapping in the wind. However if the wind is strong enough anything will flap. In most cases it sounds worse than it is.

If I were you I would put the topper over the kitchen slide for the very same reason you gave. There could be a clearance problem though as the awning roller would be in pretty much the same location on the trailer side as the topper. In my case the awning stops just before the dinette slide so I don't have the problem you have, but I nearly did with the RV I was looking to buy before the one I now have - it too had an awning-over-slide arrangement.

[TheBeag5plus]

We have 3 slides on our 5er, 2 have toppers but the kitchen slide is underneath the awning so they did not bother to put a topper on it. We have discussed putting one on, simply because when it is pouring rain we do not leave the awning out and the slide did leak. I have read some comments about the weight of the topper on the camper and if the camper can handle the extra weight, I can not comment on that, I simply don't have the knowledge,I would definitely check into that if it were me. I just know I would love to have the third slide covered as well. It does get dirty and as I said it did leak. We were in quite a wind storm one night, up on a hill parked for the night and the toppers do snap and pop in the wind. For me, I will take the few nights that it may be a bit noisy. I do not like water leaks!! The night I mentioned we did put the slide in for the night, just because it was a bit noisy.

[wmoses]

My 3 were included from the factory as part of an Emerald Package, which included other extra items so essentially my toppers cost next to nothing. Very pleased so far.

[travisgsf]

I wouldn't go without them but it's just my preference. Also mine were $250 a piece installed. $800 is nuts.

[ripperoo]

fla-gypsy wrote:

todouble wrote:
never had them on any of my rigs. never a problem. i hear just as many reasons to have as to not have. flip a coin

X2 I hear folks complaining about them all the time including here. Just something else to spend money on.

Yeah, not really. I see more questions about how to get******off the top of the slide or prevent it from happening in the first place, than I do about having problems.

I've had one since new and would not do without it. So much easier not to have to drag a ladder out to make sure there are no branches or other debri on top before closing the slide and ruining the seal or bringing the debri insied.

Additionally, the topper give another layer of sun/weather protection from the top seal, arguably the most important one when it comes to keep water out.

To each his own, but I'd not do without it.

[deltabravo]

nephi007 wrote:
... cuz topper puts additional stress on the slide out motor..

That's the most bizzare thing I've heard in a long time.

The tension of the spring loaded roller on the slide topper awning is so minimal, it can' possibly stress out the slide motor.

[Huntindog]

Never had one, and don't see the benefit. Sometimes we camp in high winds. I think it would be a problem in them.

[dadmomh]

The slide is only moving the awning fabric and a mounting strip....not a heavy roller assembly. Agree, if it can't handle that, it's likely not very sturdy. We had one on our HTT and also on the new TT. Wouldn't consider NOT having one. The one thing we do if there has been rain overnight is to close the slide, which dumps any accumulated water and then just put it right back out. Takes maybe 1 minute and pushing 1 button. Also agree on the pine cones and leaves....what a mess to clean before closing up.

[APT]

I have read a lot of opinions on the benefits and compromises of slide toppers. I have never heard that reason.

I had one added to my TT from the dealer and would pay the $400 again in a heartbeat.

[dodge_guy]

I don't have a topper. Haven't had one in 9 years of having a slideout! I'm not against them, but for me i haven't found a need. I do agree that the stress is very minimal if anything!

[Dog_Folks]

Topper or not is personal decision. To each his own.

One thing is for sure: A dealer/salesman is NOT going to recommend anything that they don't have.