Slide topper ripped loose

[boowho]

Anyone else had this happen??

Where the canvas (type) material attaches to the coach, the wind has managed to pull the canvas loose from the "track" that holds it.

Right now mine is only being held on by a screw on each end of the canvas.

The attachment is done in the usual manner: Canvas material wrapped around a thin piece of plastic clothes line type "rope" that is stitched around that "rope". Then the whole thing is slid into the "track".

On mine the stitching has all ripped out.

Boowho??

[NV245]

I had my sofa slide topper begin to tear at the stitching last year. After searching, I found Shadepro has replacement fabric that is trim to fit. My toppers are from Carefree of Colorado, however A&E at the time had Youtube video of fabric replacement. I did replace the fabric by myself, but a helper would be strongly recommended.


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[boowho]

Originally Posted by NV245

I had my sofa slide topper begin to tear at the stitching last year. After searching, I found Shadepro has replacement fabric that is trim to fit. My toppers are from Carefree of Colorado, however A&E at the time had Youtube video of fabric replacement. I did replace the fabric by myself, but a helper would be strongly recommended.


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Yes, the problem is if you screw up that roller coiled spring can break your fingers, your arm or worse. I just had a tech take it down.

I'm debating whether to try and have it restitched or replace the fabric completely. Carefree of Colorado said the fabric does not need any sort of UV protection since it's built in.

The tech said the fabric could fail in as little as 5 years. Which is a surprise to me, since my 10 year old Dutch Star had original fabric.

So, do you think the ShadePro material is any higher quality than CofC.

How much did they charge for a piece; and how big was that piece??

Boowho??

[NV245]

Shadepro had different lengths, most other places I looked at wanted exact length, but I lack 6-8 week patience. The cord seams are "welded" rather than stitched. Yes, the spring is powerful, but I used a hardened drill bit to hold winding tension. This year, I caught one end of the topper on a tree and peeled the cap off, allowing the fabric and roller to fall, replacing the cap required rewinding the spring (the proper number of turns can be found in the manual) and again reinserting a drill bit to hold the spring. I don't like messing with springs, I hate paying $120+ an hour for two hours that took 30 minutes.


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[boowho]

Originally Posted by NV245

Shadepro had different lengths, most other places I looked at wanted exact length, but I lack 6-8 week patience. The cord seams are "welded" rather than stitched. Yes, the spring is powerful, but I used a hardened drill bit to hold winding tension. This year, I caught one end of the topper on a tree and peeled the cap off, allowing the fabric and roller to fall, replacing the cap required rewinding the spring (the proper number of turns can be found in the manual) and again reinserting a drill bit to hold the spring. I don't like messing with springs, I hate paying $120+ an hour for two hours that took 30 minutes.


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Yeah, I wanted to do the whole thing myself.... I paid $85 (one hour) for him to get the thing down. Now that it's down I know I can easily put it back up myself. I LIKE to do my own maintenance and I do as much as I can; plus for every $ I save there is a $ to fritter away on hobbies/activities!!

Either we'll re-stitch the old one (the DW says she may able to re-stitch it herself) or just get a full new replacement. From CofC a whole new piece of material cut to fit exactly and ready to be put up, is right at $200.

Boowho??