Slide Topper

Moder2 · 12-15-2006, 03:04 AM

Has Anyone changed the material and metal wrap on a slide topper?

When we bought ours part of the deal was for the dealer to replace the metal and fabric of the slide topper since it was pretty tore up, and the last owner must had run into a tree or somehting to dent the metal wrap...

Make a long story short, 4 months later and 3 attempts at getting the "Right" parts here, I finally have the metal and fabric. Now I just need to get them put on.

I talked with one guy who works for a mobil RV repair. They were quite "Shady" and wouldn't offer anny advice less than it would be $110.00 and hr and about 2 hrs labor. Another one of thier techs said he would "Do it on the side" for $100.00 flat...

Me Being the tightwad I am, can't see the value of paying someone to do something I can/want to do with some advice. Unfortuneatly I have learned the hard way, if I do it, I know what has been done.

Any advice is helpful.

John

Moder2 · 12-15-2006, 03:04 AM

Has Anyone changed the material and metal wrap on a slide topper?

When we bought ours part of the deal was for the dealer to replace the metal and fabric of the slide topper since it was pretty tore up, and the last owner must had run into a tree or somehting to dent the metal wrap...

Make a long story short, 4 months later and 3 attempts at getting the "Right" parts here, I finally have the metal and fabric. Now I just need to get them put on.

I talked with one guy who works for a mobil RV repair. They were quite "Shady" and wouldn't offer anny advice less than it would be $110.00 and hr and about 2 hrs labor. Another one of thier techs said he would "Do it on the side" for $100.00 flat...

Me Being the tightwad I am, can't see the value of paying someone to do something I can/want to do with some advice. Unfortuneatly I have learned the hard way, if I do it, I know what has been done.

Any advice is helpful.

John

smlranger · 12-15-2006, 04:20 AM

John:

If your's are A&E, I believe their web site has instructions for that. If not, a call to their tech support will likely yield a fax or email with that info. FYI, I paid my RV mechanic to replace both of my toppers...he charges $55 per hr. and charged me 1.5 hours for the job.

DriVer · 12-15-2006, 05:31 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Moder2:
Make a long story short, 4 months later and 3 attempts at getting the "Right" parts here, I finally have the metal and fabric. Now I just need to get them put on.

I talked with one guy who works for a mobile RV repair. They were quite "Shady" and wouldn't offer any advice less than it would be $110.00 and hr and about 2 hrs labor. Another one of their techs said he would "Do it on the side" for $100.00 flat... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>I have had my slide toppers changed twice and if that guy wants to charge you $100 to replace the shield and all of that please give me his phone number so I can call him the next time I need to have it done. Definitely worth it!

Geechee · 12-15-2006, 06:22 AM

Moder2,

Two observations:
1. Having bought our Winne new, I can tell you the slid toppers don't hold up very well. It is very likely that the condition you found is not the result of anything but normal wear and tear.

2. I wanted to do the replacement myself, but the better half insisted that we have it done. So I purchased the replacement fabrics from A&E and contracted the installation. I watched the whole process and it took the two people less than a ½ hour to replace both at a cost of $250, or as I prefer in discussing it with the wife, $500/hr. She reminded me that was the rate for a pretty good divorce lawyer, so we don't discuss it much anymore.

Geechee

ISLAPP · 12-15-2006, 07:42 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Geeche:
She reminded me that was the rate for a pretty good divorce lawyer, so we don't discuss it much anymore.

Geechee </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Mike

Moder2 · 12-15-2006, 10:49 AM

Thanks for the replies...

I think I was unclear.

The Slide Topper is from Carefree, and I don't see any instructions on thier website, infact I really don't see my model listed there anymore...

The $100.00 was just for labor. The Dealer provided the Aluminum cover and the fabric as part of the orignal deal.

The Aluminum Cover was hit, there is a large dent in it about 2 feet long. The Roller tube seems fine.

I looked a bit closer at it today, and it doesn't look all that difficult if I knew how to "Lock" the roller tube after I wound it up to get to the end of the fabric to slide it off. I was thinking of using a large Vice Grip, but I fear It might slip when I am in the middle of the process.

The other slightly "Difficult" part will be sliding the cover out of the main rail. Being that is is 17 ft long, it may be difficult...

John

Moder2 · 12-16-2006, 12:03 PM

Well it is all done.

Took me about 3 hrs, but that included some "Cleaning" time, as I had to rinse off the MH when I was done.

Overall it was not that difficult, although defineatly not a one man job.

Getting the old mounting rail off was the hardest. It refused to slide because of the ammount of crud in it. The really frusterating part was when I got it off, I realized it didn't HAVE to come off, since the dealer yet again shipped only part of the parts. I ended up cleaning up the mounting rail and reusing it. Used some lube on it (Vaseline) and it slide right back in slick as snot!

The fabric was a bit more difficult... Hanging on a ladder and trying to guide it in was time consuming, but we got it and it is now another check mark off the to do list.

To Lock the tube is pretty simple... Just insert a pin or cotter key in the round hole on the end of the tube. We wound tension on it till the end of the fabric was visable, and then pined it.

In any case, thanks for the advice.

John