Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 05-15-2018, 10:39 PM   #1
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 23
Opinions? Best Slideout Covers.

Our main slideout cover (fabric topper) was ripped right off the rig by wind during a storm recently. No notice that the winds were going to go insane or we'd have brought the slideouts in.

We had the Carefree "Sideout Kover II with Deflector" mounted. And frankly I've never been very happy with it. Primarily because the center built in support simply was inadequate, but also the mounting method of cover to rig left something to be desired.

I'm going to replace it. Would appreciate your thoughts/opinions on what to go with as a replacement.

As far as I can determine, the options are limited:
Carefree of Colorado
Dometic A&E / Dometic Elite
Lippert Solera (apparently only available to OEMs)

After looking at the support frame/wind deflector and how it mounts the roller... I'm not surprised that exterior frame and roller separated.

So I'm leaning toward a different mount, with no wind deflector. The pics attached: First is current type, 2nd is what I'm leaning toward. Seems most rigs have that type. And it seems a more solid solution. Maybe not... thus - your thoughts.

The last photo - saw this in a neighboring rig, but they could not tell me the manufacturer. If you know, please pass along. That dual roller support would appear to be a much better support for the roller....

Thanks !

Edit - appears the photos uploaded in wrong sequence. So - LAST photo is what we had, 2nd is that intriguing roller holder, and FIRST is what I'm thinking of going with. My apologies.
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	Cover mount b.jpg
Views:	131
Size:	35.0 KB
ID:	172047   Click image for larger version

Name:	Cover mount c.jpg
Views:	126
Size:	189.8 KB
ID:	172048  
Attached Images
 
hittheroad is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-15-2018, 10:08 AM   #2
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 441
Bumping this up for (hopefully) some replies. I want to add covers to our Trilogy.
__________________
Trilogy 38RE
-lenny- is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-15-2018, 10:29 AM   #3
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 57
I put B on my class c with huge slide and it worked great
jake wolfpack is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-15-2018, 10:33 AM   #4
(Dry Huunday)
 
DreiHunde's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Eastern North Carolina
Posts: 2,298
I installed a Carefree on mine and had good conversations with them prior to purchase. Straight forward installation instructions and happy with the quality of the product.
__________________

Beau & Sue
FurKid Express
2015 Coachmen Catalina 303RLS
2016 Chevy Silverado LT 2500HD Duramax
The more people I meet, the more I like my dogs!
DreiHunde is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-15-2018, 10:41 AM   #5
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 441
I have 3 slides, but unable to measure right now. I would guess two at around 15 feet and one at 10? It’s a Trilogy 38RE.

I see the Lippert Solera on Amazon. Is install really just as easy as taking a deep breath and sinking some screws?
__________________
Trilogy 38RE
-lenny- is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-15-2018, 11:35 AM   #6
Site Team
 
bikendan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Goodyear, Arizona
Posts: 33,598
Quote:
Originally Posted by -lenny- View Post
Bumping this up for (hopefully) some replies. I want to add covers to our Trilogy.
There are only 3 brands to choose from.
Carefree
Dometic
Solera
__________________
Dan-Retired California Firefighter/EMT
Shawn-Musician/Entrepreneur/Wine Expert
and Zoe the Wonder Dog(R.I.P.)
2016 PrimeTime TracerAIR 255, pushing a 2014 Ford F150 SCREW XTR 4x4 3.5 Ecoboost w/Max Tow Package
4pt Equal-i-zer WDH and 1828lbs of payload capacity
bikendan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-15-2018, 03:25 PM   #7
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Apollo, PA
Posts: 588
SOKIII Caution

I just put toppers on the two living room slides on our Keystone Sprinter. It wasn’t a difficult project especially since I had access to a man-lift.

I purchased the Carefree toppers on Amazon for about $300 each including tax. I thought it was a pretty good deal. I got the SOKIII because I thought the cover would be a good idea. What I didn’t realize was the ones I bought (#UQ0850025) didn’t include the cover, just the wind deflector. After emailing Carefree, they said they would be happy to sell the covers for $209 each plus $35 shipping for both. For $453, I’ll do without the covers. As far as I’m concerned, this is a scam, or at least a poor way of doing business. The ad was not clear about the cover not being included. I now know the correct part number for the complete topper with cover is UP0850025 (the first three numbers indicate the length). The price difference is about $60. I haven’t purchased the topper for the third slideout yet. The toppers do seem to be a good quality product.

The only problem I ran into with the install was the drip rails. On the first side I did, the drip rail was high enough to get the topper rail mounted and still be within Carefrees specs (just barely). If I removed the drip rail, the topper rail would have been too high if I wanted it to cover the old holes in the trailer.

On the other side the drip rail was mounted at the right height for the topper rail so I removed the drip rail and installed the topper rail in place of the drip rail. I never noticed it before but Keystone installed one drip rail about two inches higher than the other. At least they were parallel to the slideouts. Cleaning the silicone seal off of the side of the trailer after removing the drip rail was the worst part of the project.

All screws bit into solid backing material.

Next week I’ll be installing a second A/C in place of the bedroom vent. The man-lift will make that easier too.
__________________

2017 Rockwood 2703WS - Sold
2015 Keystone Sprinter 333FWFLS
2017 F250, 6.2 Gas, 3.73 Axle, 2902 lb Payload
If women don't find you handsome, at least they should find you handy!
andymil is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-16-2018, 12:55 AM   #8
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 23
The responses are appreciated. It's kind of a "six of one, half a dozen of the other" situation. I eventually decided - no, not going with the wind deflector type again. Really unimpressed with that setup. I chose to simply go with the basic Carefree model ( 1st photo in original post ).


Relatively inexpensive. Straight forward as to installation....


With a caveat. There was no way to see this - until mounting the new slide out cover. When our original was ripped off the unit by the wind, the roller itself remained on top of the slide. And hammered the 6" upper edge of the slide out. Bending portions of that upper edge in various directions in and out.


Only after replacing the actual mounts for the cover onto the slideout and attempting to install the cover did we find it. And only after realizing the cover was -not- going to clear the edge when extending/retracting. You actually had to bring the slide out in to about 6" from the rig, climb the ladder and eyeball that upper edge in relationship to the rig itself to see the bending in and out that had occurred.


Result - those mounts HAD to be relocated upward toward the top of the slideout. Worked out well as it turned out.
hittheroad is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
cover, slide

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Forest River, Inc. or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 07:01 AM.