MCD Shade Brackets

[DSL417]

Just a word at pre-empting a issue or disaster if you jump too much as it will likely occur as your traveling down the road and your MCD shade drops right in front of you.

My front shade bracket let go while traveling down the road. In this coach the shades fit into six brackets that are screwed into the bulkhead (combo of thin plastic dress covering wood on the bulkhead).

After talking with Entegra CS and getting a fell for how the system was attached. I pulled the shade from the clip brackets (6 of them and requires a screw driver to push back the catch, one at a time to pop the shade out). Found in addition to the two brackets that had come fully off, that all the screws required tightening.

My guess is vibration loosens the screws and once it starts, it is only a matter of time till the bracket pops. For me, I think it is something to check annually. Pop off the shade, tighten the screws and put it back on.

[mel s]

Originally Posted by DSL417

Just a word at pre-empting a issue or disaster if you jump too much as it will likely occur as your traveling down the road and your MCD shade drops right in front of you.

My front shade bracket let go while traveling down the road. In this coach the shades fit into six brackets that are screwed into the bulkhead (combo of thin plastic dress covering wood on the bulkhead).

My guess is vibration loosens the screws and once it starts, it is only a matter of time till the bracket pops. For me, I think it is something to check annually. Pop off the shade, tighten the screws and put it back on.

DSL417
Ordinary screws into thin material have little holding power.
As a permanent solution I suggest that you replace all of the screws with some type of thin wall anchor.
When I installed the brackets for my 8' MCD windshield shade I used these: 1/8 Short Hollow Wall Anchor from Monster Fastener.
That was 5 years, (40k trouble free miles), ago.
Mel
'96 Safari

[TeJay]

When installing any screw into a 1/8" to 1/4" wall board of any sort I always use 24 hour slow setting epoxy around the anchor screws. That will reinforce the material that the sheet metal or anchor screws are screwing into. I've done that for years and it has never failed me yet. I always hesitate placing larger anchor things because it always makes a larger hole. Some of the anchors that have an expanding part to it as the screw goes into the fixture will work as well as those that have a bat wing that expands as it is tightened. They work as well.

Choose your poison. There are some that work well.

TeJay

[brobox]

Thanks for the detailed post on how to access the screws. From a post recently, I had that on my annual inspection list, but thanks to you I now know how to access the screws. Like Mel, I think I will add some anchors and be done with it. I learned the hard way how I-10 will loosen screws where you didn't even know you had screws

[DSL417]

They are driven onto solid wood. Plastic is just dressing. Appear to be secure in the wood. Have to look into anchors.