Slide topper replace

[jerry davis]

Anyone replaced their toppers? Thought I would tackle the job if it's not to difficult.

[Mr_D]

Yep, did it on our rig then helped a member (Lloyd) here with theirs.
Not difficult at all unless you get in a hurry and take the old one off without "pinning" the roller and you lose the tension.
Much easier if you have two people, one to guide the new material in and one to pull it into place.

[daveshan]

Did ours last fall, sourced the top from Tough Top. Good directions came with it, does IMO require 2 people, my wife held the fabric up and I pulled it, worked well, gets really tight toward the end of the 15' run on the LR slide. Here's a link to a thread with pictures of the job. Link.

EDIT: I got a strap wrench from Home Depot, made twisting the roller very easy.

[Refuse1]

I bought mine from Tough Top too. Ray is great to deal with and provides a terrific product at a fair price.

The awning fabric is fairly simple to replace and comes with instructions.

Jeff

[zinom]

Jerry, Several of us with same vintage Alpines have had to replace them over the past year. I found that "Shade Pro" in southern California price's were reasonable and included excellent installation. They were able to repair a botched job done by another outfit and coordinated it with the manufacturer, so that it was done under warranty. To some degree they are gypsies and attend most large rallies. They diagnosed mine at FMCA-Gillette and repaired it a month later at the NWMH-Albany rally. At both rallies they did installs on ACA member coaches. They do nothing but awnings. The lesson I learned is that; otherwise good shops who only do a couple of awnings a year can easily botch the job. I was able to closely watch 3 different of their installers, and they were all good. There seemed to be a couple of neat little processes, tools and parts that they used that an average RV shop or owner might not know or think about. Mine was originally replaced under an insurance claim (wind); but if cost was out of my own pocket (and knowing what I know now) I would probably pass on the DIY project and have then do it. Matt