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Old 02-02-2018, 01:25 PM   #21
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Depends on how long you want to own the unit.....
one or two years.... fine... beyond that....

UV rays will damage the rubber seals from full sun, learn how to replace them.

Why is my slide out floor warped and rotted??? Water will find a way to invade....


Your unit... do what you want...
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Old 02-02-2018, 01:32 PM   #22
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Slide Topper

We've had a seasonal for 5 years with no topper on the slide out- no problem with leaks, but it's a real chore to sweep off all the debris, acorns, nuts, etc. when it's time to close up. Our new trailer (coming in April) will have a topper for sure.


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Old 02-02-2018, 02:27 PM   #23
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UV rays will damage the rubber seals from full sun, learn how to replace them.
Not if you use this every couple of months.

Based on my own experience over the past 6 years or so and the comments of other seasonal campers here, I'd guess that over 90% of seasonal campers leave their slides out throughout the season.

Not saying it's right or wrong either way, but it's much more common than not.
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Old 02-02-2018, 02:37 PM   #24
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I know right! At the beach we always get blowing rain and it never fells we get water at 1 of our slides! I hope this new riverstone we just got will be different it has toppers on it but time will tell!
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Old 02-02-2018, 03:06 PM   #25
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There was a thread over a year ago about a fellow camper who had slide toppers that were sagging. I don't remember his name. What he did was added a 4 more turns to the springs and he said it took care of the problem. I have 3 slides with toppers and not yet to done it on my TT. The 8 foot slide topper has never sagged but the 12' and 16' toppers always sag. They sag enough that the birds use them for bathing. Have had the TT since August 2013 and I've never really worried about them.
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Old 02-02-2018, 03:25 PM   #26
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Curious. 🤔

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How much clearance do you need from the top of the slide to the top of the TT? My slide comes up pretty close to the roofline.
What is the advantage to leaving it open as opposed to the extra security of closingnit?? Leaks, critters and so on.
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Old 02-02-2018, 03:52 PM   #27
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What is the advantage to leaving it open as opposed to the extra security of closingnit?? Leaks, critters and so on.
In all the years we've been camping, we've never had anything bad happen as a result of leaving our slides out. (knock on wood).

For us it's really more about convenience that anything. For the most part, we pick things up and put things away before we leave but we don't have to worry about getting everything so that all 4 of our slides can close.

There's not that worry every single week that we may have missed something that will get caught in one of the slides. For example, if my kids want to leave a half-finished puzzle on a table in the middle of the bunkhouse, they can.

We also don't have to climb up and make sure the tops of the slides are completely clean every single week either. I'll still go up there once in a while to check on things though.

I also assume that we are saving wear & tear on the slide motors.
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Old 02-02-2018, 11:45 PM   #28
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What is the advantage to leaving it open as opposed to the extra security of closingnit?? Leaks, critters and so on.
We leave ours open all season and never had any leaks. Now for critters, I've only heard of one person getting a birds nest under the topper, hornets sometimes build their nests under them, their are not hard to get rid of. We get mice in our trailer whether the slides are open or closed, and we have tried all of the suggested remedies and nothing seems to matter.
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Old 02-03-2018, 12:03 AM   #29
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We leave ours open all season and never had any leaks. Now for critters, I've only heard of one person getting a birds nest under the topper, hornets sometimes build their nests under them, their are not hard to get rid of. We get mice in our trailer whether the slides are open or closed, and we have tried all of the suggested remedies and nothing seems to matter.
We feed the chipmunks at our campsite. We have a deal, I feed them and they don't come inside. The topper makes for a much cooler room below.

get a can of expanding foam crawl under, over and thru you camper and fill the smallest penetration. Look in every corner and cabinet.

seasonal site. Stays there.
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Old 02-03-2018, 06:54 AM   #30
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I agree with most the posts about leaving the slides out while set on a long term site. We usually keep our slides, with toppers, out all summer. However, I also like to leave our air conditiolast running so the trailer doesn't get too hot to cool down quickly when we get there in the evening. To save on the ac I bring in our one big slide. I don't have to move anything in the camper and it cuts the area bring cooled in half.
Another point, twice last year we were in storms with 50-70 mph wind gusts. All 3 slides were out and the trailer didn't move. Hoping we don't repeat that this year though!
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Old 02-03-2018, 02:17 PM   #31
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We feed the chipmunks at our campsite. We have a deal, I feed them and they don't come inside. The topper makes for a much cooler room below.

get a can of expanding foam crawl under, over and thru you camper and fill the smallest penetration. Look in every corner and cabinet.

seasonal site. Stays there.
Been there, done that. They still get in somewhere I haven't found yet. I found a couple of places where the frame was widened by 2" channels at the running gear. The rear ends of the channels was open and the front ends went into the area covered by the coroplast on the bottom by the door on the right and the gray water tank on the left. I filled the open ends with the expanding foam. We'll see if it makes a difference come April. The cg is accessible by walk-in only this time of the year. I went to check the camper last week and the cg owner said they didn't want people walking around because of amount of ice on the grounds.
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Old 02-03-2018, 02:23 PM   #32
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Been there, done that. They still get in somewhere I haven't found yet. I found a couple of places where the frame was widened by 2" channels at the running gear. The rear ends of the channels was open and the front ends went into the area covered by the coroplast on the bottom by the door on the right and the gray water tank on the left. I filled the open ends with the expanding foam. We'll see if it makes a difference come April. The cg is accessible by walk-in only this time of the year. I went to check the camper last week and the cg owner said they didn't want people walking around because of amount of ice on the grounds.
Sounds like my camp in MA.
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