Community Forums

Grandad5 · 02-24-2021, 01:24 PM

I have been "fighting" with the curtains since I've owned it. Finally decided to remove them and replace with an actual shade.
I am a couple of hundred miles from MCD in Denton, TX and they will not sell anything other than a power shade for the windshield. $1000. for the shade and kit. If they install. $125. an hour and may take 4 to 5 hours so this makes the price about $1600. more or less. And that is just the windshield, so doing much else would have to be delayed.
Just wondering if anyone might chime in on this if you've been down this trail.
What did you purchase and did you install it yourself? A manual operating one seems doable as there is wood to fasten to.

deandec · 02-24-2021, 01:40 PM

I have installed room darkening roller shades in our house bathroom.

The roller shade might be available from HD or Lowes but would need to be in the 8 foot range for a MH.

I have seen you tube videos of roller shades that some folks have installed in their motorhome.

In our installation, I also used roller curtain motors from Amazon to use a 12v remote control for the shades. This avoids stepping into the bathtub to lower the shades.

My application was about 1/2 the cost of materials from Budget Blinds types.

In our rig, the physical mounting would be difficult. One would also have to be sure that the roller would support the span between two points.

Hope you find your solution.

swduns · 02-24-2021, 02:03 PM

I have a 40' Tiffin Phaeton QDH DP
it came with a windshield power 1) shade & 2) screen
The shade quit working

I called Tiffin and order the replacement
~$650 for a unit that had both, exact replacement
was only the shade unit not the toggle switches (with are standard switches)

two wires for the shade
two wires for the screen

There were about five clips that you screw onto the mounting surface
(it came with the clips but the old ones were existing/identical)
I popped the new unit into the clips
I made up the wires
Done
the biggest part of the job was removing the moldings around the window to access the wires, and there wasn't much room to work with connecting the wires.

there was an extra wire for a safety that would limit the downward travel while the couch is moving, but the original didn't use it so I didn't add it
Then there is some programming of the shade to set the max upward travel and set the max downward travel
The old screen would travel all the way up and down
The old shade would travel all the way up but there was a stop on downward so you couldn't close it down while driving .... but you could never close it all the way .... so I just didn't program that in on the new one

Our last coach didn't have a motorized windshield shade .... it had a privacy curtain and visors .... but the windshield is so big that visors are ineffective
the motorized screen is very nice to be able adjust it while driving.

SteveJ. · 02-24-2021, 04:02 PM

I installed a manual custom shade that I had ordered from Home Depot's web site. About $135. Approx 89" wide with a pull chain loop. I put the loop anchor on the left side of the dash so I can raise/lower it while moving.

This was in a '98 Safari Trek. The shade was their brand. The brand name ones were pretty much at least double the money. It took about 2.5 weeks to arrive.

Grandad5 · 02-24-2021, 07:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveJ.

I installed a manual custom shade that I had ordered from Home Depot's web site. About $135. Approx 89" wide with a pull chain loop. I put the loop anchor on the left side of the dash so I can raise/lower it while moving.

This was in a '98 Safari Trek. The shade was their brand. The brand name ones were pretty much at least double the money. It took about 2.5 weeks to arrive.

Thank you.
I was hoping for someone that had a Country Coach with the same body style as my Intrigue.
Maybe they just deal with the curtains?

**CountryFit** · 02-24-2021, 07:15 PM

After we got our coach back then, the windshield curtain had a few spots of stains. I took it off and bleach washed. It became soft so DW ironed it to create the same pleats. It turned out to be great! We are still using it, but we have a sun screen for an extended stay. It really works!

(Photo lighting isn't good as outside was almost dark just now at 6pm)

lbfrombigd · 02-25-2021, 01:56 PM

M C D makes two windshield shades both are electric. You can get the single roller night shade only for about 500.

I had MCD shades on prior Coach and in process of purchasing windshield shade now.

I used dual shade as sun visor and also the daytime shade blocks heat but you can still see out it. With the key on day time shade will only come down about 18 inches.

My windshield has curve so I am going to mount board to bottom of cabinets to mount my day night shades on.

I have an appointment on March 8 to have Mcd measure and make sure I should have no problems, but I will install myself if they think it will take longer than three hours.

To me MCD windshield shades are worth it for windshield but not the standard window shade.

ron930cab · 02-28-2021, 12:16 PM

Had MCD shades installed by Eric Olstrom at his old shop in Tucson back in 2011. I had visited MCD in Denton prior and the main issue for me was the need for added woodworking to create tracks and valance for the shades. MCD didn't do that at the time (not sure if any difference now). The 2 fans were removed as well as the drop down power visors. The power duo shade was added with daytime and blackout shades operating on the original controls. It spans the length of the windshield between the pillars. I don't remember the cost, but was probably 1500+. It works extremely well and is significantly better than the curtains.

ron930cab · 02-28-2021, 03:06 PM

Previous post correction: MCD in McKinney

ronandsue74 · 03-03-2021, 05:58 PM

I got my windshield shade from Blind Chalet. They make double roller day/night shades for motorhomes. They are manual, they work great and look good. The self install was relatively simple. I believe mine were under $200.
below is an excerpt from their web sight
Designed with two roller shades, one with screen fabric and the other with blackout fabric. Lower the screen fabric to let filtered light enter the RV during the day. Lower the blackout fabric roller shade for a good night sleep. Both fabrics operate on their own individual roll....

Grandad5 · 03-03-2021, 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ronandsue74

I got my windshield shade from Blind Chalet. They make double roller day/night shades for motorhomes. They are manual, they work great and look good. The self install was relatively simple. I believe mine were under $200.
below is an excerpt from their web sight
Designed with two roller shades, one with screen fabric and the other with blackout fabric. Lower the screen fabric to let filtered light enter the RV during the day. Lower the blackout fabric roller shade for a good night sleep. Both fabrics operate on their own individual roll....

They look reasonable in price. Do you remember the length of your front one?
It looks like they only go to 80".
What type of coach do you have?
Thanks

Gatesway · 03-04-2021, 04:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grandad5

They look reasonable in price. Do you remember the length of your front one?
It looks like they only go to 80".
What type of coach do you have?
Thanks

This note was on the website for the MH roller shades:

"If you are interested in a shade larger then what we offer, please contact customer service for a quote."

ronandsue74 · 03-04-2021, 08:19 AM

Attached is a pic I found in my file. It shows the night shade pulled down.
CCRider

**CountryFit** · 03-04-2021, 10:05 AM

Over the years in RV parks while walking I observed various windshield shades, some had a wide gap at the left or right to the A column, some left a big space on the dash due to the shade being far away from the windshield glass - UV kept biting the dash... One particular shade on a 2001 Marathon was impressively well - virtually no gaps on the sides and corners, and touching the glass at the bottom. I had been wondering who made it. Hope OP pay attention to those and get a decent one.