MCD Shades

[exsailor1]

We are planning to get MCD shades for our 2004 Travel Supreme Select.
Want to get windshied shade and driver and passenger shades also.
Any one have this done, and are you happy with them? I see them on
other rigs and some look good and some seem like they don't fit right.
Gaps on the sides etc. Motorized or Manual?

[paz]

We installed MCD American Duo shades on all our side windows last year, and we love them. We would have liked to have them on the windshield as well, but decided not to do it for the reasons of possible poor fit you mentioned.

A lot depends on how the area above the windshield is configured. Newer motorhomes that originally came with LCD TVs usually have a thinner "bulge" in the front bulkhead for the TV, and they have a nice, straight recess behind the TV where you can mount one long MCD shade.

Older motorhomes, like ours, that came with an old-style CRT TV have a large box up front in the middle to accommodate the TV. The recess behind our TV is curved, so we would have had 2 (and possibly 3) shades across the front to fit the curved recess. There is no way to mount one long shade. There was a real possibility the 2 or 3 shades wouldn't have overlapped properly and would have had gaps so we decided against putting MCD shades in the cockpit area.

[exsailor1]

The guy who might do our work said they shorten the big tv box up
front and then you can put a single roller shade across the whole
windshield. I think the windshield shade has a guide track on the sides
so there wouldn't be any daylight coming in.

[Clay L]

We installed them ourselves in our living area - three sets of dual (day and night) shades - and liked them so well that we stopped by the factory and had them installed in the cabin area. Also decided to have them installed in the bedroom and in the kitchen. Also had the screen in the screen door replaced with the day shade material.

The shades in front of the windshield are motorized (both day and night shades). They added a pair of rocker switches to the dash that perfectly match the other dash switches. Because the TV cabinet goes back too far for one set of shades to fit across, they used two sets of shades.

There was quite a bit involved in the installation. They routed an area in the top of the trim pillars on each side so the shades fit right up against the pillars. The ends of the rollers fit into the routed area. They also had to add a 1 3/4 inch spacer strip behind the pillars on the side closest to the windshield so it is tipped out a little to eliminate light leakage. The strip is black and unnoticeable from inside or outside. The two fans had to be moved back a few inches so the shades could fit in front of them.

I saved some money by running 12 volt wiring up behind the left side trim pillar into the area behind the back of the storage area behind the TV for them before we got to the factory.
It is accessible by swinging the TV out (it's on an articulating arm) and removing the back panel of the storage area. I also ran a wire up there that is connected to the run terminal of the ignition switch. That is used so the shades know not to drop below a set point while the vehicle is in motion. They set them so the shades go as low as the sun visors do.

We are very happy with them and love the privacy they provide.

[Cat320]

These guys are really good, give 'em a call...I did and talked to the owner: www.magneshade.com

[Half Dimes]

Can't address your windshield question, but we installed MCD shades on all eleven windows on our fifth wheel. To paraphrase the old carpenter's creed, we measured three times and ordered once. The fit was perfect. It is vitally important to follow the measuring instructions that MCD provides to make sure everything will fit.

We bought the manual duo day/night shades. The shades roll up and stop where you want them just as advertised. They are not cheap but we saved some money by installing them ourselves and not bothering with the motorized version.

The company was very responsive when one of the shades wouldn't retract properly. They immediately sent me the necessary part and step by step instructions on how to replace it.

We are extremely satisfied with the MCD product.

[paz]

Originally Posted by exsailor1

The guy who might do our work said they shorten the big tv box up
front and then you can put a single roller shade across the whole
windshield. I think the windshield shade has a guide track on the sides
so there wouldn't be any daylight coming in.

I would have pulled the entire front bulkhead out and rebuilt it over the winter to shorten the box to make room for the shades if I had the workshop I had back in our stix and brix. I would also have made room for a 37" LCD (or maybe even a 42") instead of the 32" we ended up with. However, now that we're full-time, the shop is gone so we kept the sun screen and drapes we had. Couldn't afford the MCD shades AND the price for someone else to do the work.

[bthomforde]

We had MCD shades installed last summer, we LOVE them, the shades are one of the best things we bought since we started full timing.
That said DO NOT have them installed at the MCD factory, use one of the many places that do aftermarket upgrades around the country.

[Spikester]

I am in the process of changing all of our window shades to MCD Duo's with the exception of the Front, Drivers and Passenger side they already had the MCD night shade on them from the factory. Hardest window was the small one in the Kitchen, real pain to get at to begin with, also complicated by the way the valance/lamberquin was mounted to the bottom of the cabinets. Really look nice, fit perfectly, no cracks, keep the motorhome cooler even with tinited windows throughout. They do make a difference in the day and night. At night with the night shades down all you see from the outside, (with lights on in the MH) is a black window.

Probably the best up-grade I have undertaken.

Spike

[cb5300]

Originally Posted by bthomforde

We had MCD shades installed last summer, we LOVE them, the shades are one of the best things we bought since we started full timing.
That said DO NOT have them installed at the MCD factory, use one of the many places that do aftermarket upgrades around the country.

And why wouldn't you want to use the factory???

[bthomforde]

Originally Posted by cb5300

And why wouldn't you want to use the factory???

We called for an appointment 2 or 3 months in advance, thinking the factory would do the best job, and we had a business commitment in Iowa the next week, we agreed we'd be there Monday morning (week before the 4th of July).
We parked at their facility Sunday, Monday morning they measured, Thursday they installed everything except the cockpit, said they'd be there bright an early Friday morning, 2PM they showed up to start the cockpit install, they installed the plastic trim pieces crooked and unlevel, then when they weren't done and since it was a Friday before a holiday they said either take it the way it was or come back Tuesday, but either way we HAD to pay now, even though it wasn't done. while this was going on it was raining, a leak developed on one of the slides as they put 2 or 3 inch long screws through the top of the slide, lucky it lacked or it would have ruined the slide seal if I had tried to retracted the slide. They did fix the leak.
We paid the bill, under protest, and left, on Tuesday I called the owner, he told me they had installed well over 1000 shades and had never ran across a more difficult customer.
We didn't even start to complaint until the trim work looked like crap, he also said he looked over the bill and found they didn't charge us enough so if we brought it back they would fix if and charge us to fix their screwup.
Needless to say we didn't go back, we did have the trim work done at Precision RV in Bremen Indiana, it looks great.

I took some pictures on my blackberry but i have to find the blackberry as I have a droid now, i will post them.

[Zbugsii]

I used the factory and did not have any problems. We installed them through-out the entire coach including the front windshield. Especially nice is the drivers side blinds that are controlled electrically by a remote control box. This lets me adjust them as I want or need while driving down the road. Before this, I would have to get my wife to lean over me and adjust them frequently... that was a pain.

The only issue I had was when they connected the side driver's blinds in for 12vdc power, they connected it into a transformer that powers my TV antenna amplifier. This was really dumb and should have never been done. I have since corrected it.

Overall, these blinds are absolutely great, one of the best things we have done to the coach.

One side item that we have especially noticed is how well they do act as a barrier to the cold and hot air from outside. Definitely helps controlling the interior temperature of the coach.

[cb5300]

Originally Posted by bthomforde

We called for an appointment 2 or 3 months in advance, thinking the factory would do the best job, and we had a business commitment in Iowa the next week, we agreed we'd be there Monday morning (week before the 4th of July).
We parked at their facility Sunday, Monday morning they measured, Thursday they installed everything except the cockpit, said they'd be there bright an early Friday morning, 2PM they showed up to start the cockpit install, they installed the plastic trim pieces crooked and unlevel, then when they weren't done and since it was a Friday before a holiday they said either take it the way it was or come back Tuesday, but either way we HAD to pay now, even though it wasn't done. while this was going on it was raining, a leak developed on one of the slides as they put 2 or 3 inch long screws through the top of the slide, lucky it lacked or it would have ruined the slide seal if I had tried to retracted the slide. They did fix the leak.
We paid the bill, under protest, and left, on Tuesday I called the owner, he told me they had installed well over 1000 shades and had never ran across a more difficult customer.
We didn't even start to complaint until the trim work looked like crap, he also said he looked over the bill and found they didn't charge us enough so if we brought it back they would fix if and charge us to fix their screwup.
Needless to say we didn't go back, we did have the trim work done at Precision RV in Bremen Indiana, it looks great.

I took some pictures on my blackberry but i have to find the blackberry as I have a droid now, i will post them.

First of all, I would not have paid the bill until the job was finished and done correctly and if everything was as you stated, then maybe someone should have stayed overtime to finsh the job....

[bthomforde]

Here are some pictures of the trim-out work they did, it's hard to tell but the trim across the front was not straight but it does show the gaps they were very happy to leave.




This is after we had it done the right way.