MCD Shades Tutorial

[Cruzer]

I recently took our Allegro Bus to MCD in McKinney, Texas to have our old powered sunvisors and pleated shades replaced by MCD shades. We are super pleased with the results. While there they extended me great courtesy and opened up everything to me so that I could document this installation. I was able to learn from their head installer, who's done over 600 MCD shade installations, and learned a ton of helpful tips. I've been able to document the installation in detail and was able to pass many of those tips on to anyone who is considering installing shades. I installed a hybrid setup on my coach which consists of the powered dual range windshield shades, the latest generation (GlideRise IV) of manually operated shades, as well as remote powered shades. I've included this stuff on some webpages, as well as instructions on how to identify and adjust the various generations of shades. The link to the webpage is MCD Shades - Index . I hope you find it helpful.

[RVThere]

Great job! We've been contemplating these shades for a while and may have to make a detour to McKinney this summer.

If I may ask, what did the job set you back?

[Cruzer]

MCD has their pricing on their website. Installation pricing varies with complexity of the operation as well as what size and type of shades you are looking for. You can call Bobbi at the toll free number and she'll give you that info.

[Drifter]

Cruzer, We also bought the MCD GlideRise IV Manual shades. I installed them myself, a easy install. Had to do some work to the new shades before we put them though, they seemed to have a quality control problem on our order, they came in pieces in the box. Somebody didn't finish assembly on the top rail to side bracket's. But over all they look good. On our way back from out west we will have to stop and have them adjusted.

[paz]

We just replaced all the shades (except cockpit shades) in our coach with MCD GlideRise IV American Duo (with a American Solo for the door). Fairly straightforward job if you're good at DIY projects.

We're thrilled with the operation of the GlideRise shades. Just give them a tug and let go. They rise slowly by themselves. The rise speed can easily be adjusted with a wheel on one end of the roll and the upper stopping point can be adjusted with the wheel on the other end of the roll.

[Cruzer]

Yes, MCD shades really are in a class by themselves. We went with a hybrid design in that the nightime privacy shades were remote powered in the living area and the daytime sunscreens were manual. That way you could just reach up and pull it down if the sun came your way while driving. Both the daytime and nightime cockpit shades were powered. It's cool to press the "All Shades" button and watch everything buzz on down for the evening.

I was quite impressed with the thermal quality of these shades. They really are not as much "sun shades" as they are "thermal barriers", or maybe "See-through Insulation" would be a better term. Even when the sun was down MCD's exclusive sunscreen material is a barrier to heat transfer. When I'd raise the windshield sunscreen when it was 30 degrees outside it was like a freeze just opened up.

[dkhender]

Thanks for the great write-up - another "to do" future upgrade for us!

[AFChap]

Great write-up Cruzer!

We had our MCD shades measured by MCD at the Winnebago annual GNR. Due to the curvature of our windshield and tight space between cabinets and glass, we had to have three overlapping shades across the windshield. They said 3 is pretty rare, though many require 2. We had the shades delivered to Davis Cabinets in Junction City OR where we were planning to be about 6 weeks later. I removed the original powered sun visors ahead of time, and Davis installed the cockpit shades the last half of one afternoon. We had manual sun screen material installed with powered solid privacy shades. That night, parked in their yard and with time on my hands, I wired the sun visor/solid privacy screens to the OEM sun visor switches. The Davis tech came back the next morning and set the stop limits and we were finished! We leave the screen materiel down except when driving, and lower and raise the solid powered portions for night and day. All of our window shades are manual, and I put them up myself, and was completed before leaving Davis. I needed a matching oak extension on the side cabinet on the driver side window to hide the new shade, and Davis made me one in a perfect match in less than 30 minutes. The shades are fantastic.