We have a traveler with us that really is nervous when the slide toppers start making flapping noises in the wind. (Our dawg
!) So I'm one of the guys you see tossing ropes over the toppers to cinch them down a bit in moderate winds.
And one safety tip. I have one set quickly attached to the underneath slide arms with some of those 18" big rubberized twist'ies. I did not want to need to bring the slide in quickly in a storm front moving in, and need to undo knots to remove the line. Takes me all of 10 seconds to unhook and start pulling the line off. The one time we had to do so quickly (Another weather app alert, plus it was daylight and we could see the dark sky heading out way.), the wife was bringing the front slide in as I was removing the rear's line.
On this storm front blowing thru, I watched a Winnebago's slide topper/window awning combination (With the window awning not extended.) repeatedly unwind the awning the wrong way, with the slide topper really taking a beating. (This was outside of Custer State Park, and the couple had gone off for a day trip.) Their poor dog was seen up on the dashboard, he was too spooked by the noise. As well as the hail too.
For us, in heavy winds/gusty storms, the front big deep slide coms in. The rear with line over it, usually handles storms pretty well.
We've brought the rear in another time just before a microcell burst (Front was already in...). The Weatherbug and Weather.com apps alarms both came on within 15 seconds of each other. 1:45AM. We could see the storm coming at us on radar's future cast. And opening the front shade, we could see the lightening show heading our way over the Missouri River (We were 10-15 miles South of Bismarck, ND.). So brought the rear slide in. Went out and unplugged the coach form the power pole. And we then road out a very bumpy/loud/hail bursting-rain showering 15-20 minutes. Many trees knocked down, and a fiver at close by campground was tipped on it's side. Two gents that were riding bikes along the Missouri Trail, were sleeping in one men tents. One of them was picked up and tossed inside of his tent, about 10-15' into the air. Hitting the branch of a tree. He was not hurt, but sure shaken up... We left out car open for them to sleep in the recliner seats. And also left the coach door open for them too, and told them to please come into the coach when the next front came thru in about 60-75 minutes. The spent about two hours in the car, but the next front was plenty tame in comparison. Next day as they were heading gout on their bicycles, they said they were going to splurge and spend the night at a hotel in Bismarck
!
Back to side toppers. I do use a 1/4" soft nylon line, and have it only pulled down on the side edges by maybe a 3" or so depression. On the rear bedroom smaller slide, this keep water from pooling. And it also helps on the front, reducing the polling of rain water quite a bit. I keep inspecting the slide topper fabric for any signs of wear (none so far in about two years), and may shift to a wider strapping fabric material in the future, probably a 1" if I make this change.
Everyone seems to come up with what works for them on these sorts of things. And learn from each other... which I appreciate it
!
Best to all,
Smitty
2000 coachmen santara 370 5.9 cummins isb
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