Slide Topper Issue

[Nuclearcowboy]

Our Bighorn has an issue with the metal wrapped slide toppers installed by the dealer. When extending one of the slides, the topper jumps over the top metal trim, resulting in the topper roll resting on top of the slide, which is obviously a problem. This has now happened to two of my slides. It appears that there is not enough clearance between the topper roll and the top metal trim as the slide extends and this then causes the topper roll to “roll over” the top trim and land on the slide top. First time it happened the dealer told me this is a problem with the metal wrapped toppers, but I’m not convinced this is the issue. First one dealer had to fix and they did this by adding a second rail above the installed rail on the RV itself. Seemed to fix the issue but the metal wrap now doesn’t completely hide the roller. Now I have this second issue. Could there be too much cloth on the roller, making it too thick such that there is not enough clearance for the roller to not catch the top trim on the slide? I could sure use some advice, as I am frustrated over the issue.

 

[jbeletti]

What brand (Dometic A&E, Carefree of Colorado, Solera by Lippert, other)? Wondering if a call to the manufacturer's customer service line would yield some advice.

 

[cookie]

Maybe they didn't install the slide awning high enough on the slide face.
Can you post a picture of the slide and awning?

Peace
Dave

 

[WV_Ram]

My dad had the same issue, slide wouldn't allow mounting high enough due to seal lips and nothing to screw into. He had some stainless steel plates cut, attached them then mounted covers higher, was that way until he sold camper last year.

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[Nuclearcowboy]

What brand (Dometic A&E, Carefree of Colorado, Solera by Lippert, other)? Wondering if a call to the manufacturer's customer service line would yield some advice.

Jim,
They are Dometic metal wrapped slide toppers. I will be posting pictures when I can take some, hopefully tomorrow.

- - - Updated - - -

Maybe they didn't install the slide awning high enough on the slide face.
Can you post a picture of the slide and awning?

Peace
Dave

Thanks Dave. I will post pictures of the toppers, hopefully tomorrow. The dealer had to address the first issue I had and the fix was to install a second rail on the main frame of the RV itself. As a result, it did fix that one, but the fix stinks for two reasons - first, I now have two rails above one of the slides - most wouldn’t notice it but I do. Second, when the slide is now pulled in, the metal wrap does not fully enclose the roller as it did before and as the others do. There has to be a better fix than this.

 

[jrzygrl64]

The exact thing happened to us on our dealer installed slide toppers and when we had the rig at Heartland for unrelated warranty repairs, we mentioned the problem, thinking maybe an adjustment was needed. Turned out the dealer installed the wrong type of toppers. Heartland contacted our dealer, got her to agree to pay for the right ones and Heartland installed them for free! We couldn’t have been happier!

Coincidently, it’s a bit ironic for me to log in and see a thread about slide toppers, as yesterday we had some bad winds come through and before I could get the slide in, it ripped our bedroom slide topper off and before Bill could get up there to get it completely off, it broke the a/c cover and shower skylight (thankfully only the outer part) Crazy! We will be in the market for a new one now.

 

[BLR]

The exact thing happened to us on our dealer installed slide toppers and when we had the rig at Heartland for unrelated warranty repairs, we mentioned the problem, thinking maybe an adjustment was needed. Turned out the dealer installed the wrong type of toppers. Heartland contacted our dealer, got her to agree to pay for the right ones and Heartland installed them for free! We couldn’t have been happier!

Coincidently, it’s a bit ironic for me to log in and see a thread about slide toppers, as yesterday we had some bad winds come through and before I could get the slide in, it ripped our bedroom slide topper off and before Bill could get up there to get it completely off, it broke the a/c cover and shower skylight (thankfully only the outer part) Crazy! We will be in the market for a new one now.

That's the main reason we would not have toppers. We are fulltimers and camp in the desert or along the Oregon coast where winds can come up at anytime..

So sorry for your damage..

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[Oldelevatorman]

The exact thing happened to us on our dealer installed slide toppers and when we had the rig at Heartland for unrelated warranty repairs, we mentioned the problem, thinking maybe an adjustment was needed. Turned out the dealer installed the wrong type of toppers. Heartland contacted our dealer, got her to agree to pay for the right ones and Heartland installed them for free! We couldn’t have been happier!

Coincidently, it’s a bit ironic for me to log in and see a thread about slide toppers, as yesterday we had some bad winds come through and before I could get the slide in, it ripped our bedroom slide topper off and before Bill could get up there to get it completely off, it broke the a/c cover and shower skylight (thankfully only the outer part) Crazy! We will be in the market for a new one now.

Kelly, so sorry you guys had that happen. I've read that these guys are the best when it comes to awnings and slide toppers. It's stonevos.com, they're out of Brooksville, FL
I'm sure if you give them the measurements they could make you a new one. Jim


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[Nuclearcowboy]

Ok, so here are a few pictures of my slide toppers and the issues I’m facing. Note that for the first pic of a topper that works great, there is ample clearance between the slide trim piece at the top of the slide. In the second 2 pics, the topper roller actually rides the top of the slide top trim piece - upon extending the slide, the topper will jump over the trim piece, causing a real issue. Both toppers are the same manufacturer (Dometic) and I can’t see any differences in the mounting. Any suggestions?

 

[travelin2]

I had one like that. It’s not mounted correctly. HL factory installed. The more the slide is opened and closed the worse that will become. The fabric is rubbing on one of the screw heads in the slide fascia trim. HL authorized our dealer to replace the topper. By the time that happened our fabric had holes in it.


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[Nuclearcowboy]

I had one like that. It’s not mounted correctly. HL factory installed. The more the slide is opened and closed the worse that will become. The fabric is rubbing on one of the screw heads in the slide fascia trim. HL authorized our dealer to replace the topper. By the time that happened our fabric had holes in it.


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The dealer installed mine - I ordered the unit with them, but Heartland had them dealer installed. The one thing that I can’t understand is that, after scrutinizing them, they all appear to be installed the same way. It’s just that two of them are rubbing.

 

[WV_Ram]

It appears in the 2nd pic the bracket coming off the slide is bending/twisting by the leverage of the topper vertical arm and rewind springs. What does the mounting look like on the front of the slide?


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[cookie]

My older A&E toppers have an adjustment of the vertical arm that the roller is attached to.
It appears from your pictures that the roller that is not a problem is mounted farther from the face of your slide.
So, my thoughts would be to look for an adjustment of those arms so the roller can be farther away from the slide.

Peace
Dave

 

[travelin2]

The dealer installed mine - I ordered the unit with them, but Heartland had them dealer installed. The one thing that I can’t understand is that, after scrutinizing them, they all appear to be installed the same way. It’s just that two of them are rubbing.

I understand what you’re saying.
My dealer (the tech) said HL installed ours wrong but the replacement (brackets) is essentially the same. All I know is it doesn’t rub!


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[mlpeloquin]

Just had mine replaced. Did the same thing. Turns out that they make spacers that are put between the slide and the slide topper mounting brackets. They used the same mounting holes and gave plenty of clearance for the fabric. The screw head on mine wore the through splitting the fabric.

 

[Nuclearcowboy]

It appears in the 2nd pic the bracket coming off the slide is bending/twisting by the leverage of the topper vertical arm and rewind springs. What does the mounting look like on the front of the slide?


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That may be the angle of the picture. The mounts are straight and solid and match all the others.

- - - Updated - - -

Just had mine replaced. Did the same thing. Turns out that they make spacers that are put between the slide and the slide topper mounting brackets. They used the same mounting holes and gave plenty of clearance for the fabric. The screw head on mine wore the through splitting the fabric.

After my evaluation, I concluded that plate spacers between the mounting bracket and the slide will correct the issue. Now I have to just locate some - worse case I will have to make them myself.

- - - Updated - - -

My older A&E toppers have an adjustment of the vertical arm that the roller is attached to.
It appears from your pictures that the roller that is not a problem is mounted farther from the face of your slide.
So, my thoughts would be to look for an adjustment of those arms so the roller can be farther away from the slide.

Peace
Dave

I thought an adjustment would be available on these but no such luck.

 

[Nuclearcowboy]

Question on slide topper adjustment - should the torsion spring tension for a slide topper be greater when the slide is fully extended or be greater when the slide is retracted. Right now, the tension seems to be very high when the slide is fully retracted and I’m wondering if I need to back off on the tension when the slide is retracted. I’m still trying to fix my topper issue - bracket spacers had no affect on the issue.

 

[danemayer]

Question on slide topper adjustment - should the torsion spring tension for a slide topper be greater when the slide is fully extended or be greater when the slide is retracted. Right now, the tension seems to be very high when the slide is fully retracted and I’m wondering if I need to back off on the tension when the slide is retracted. I’m still trying to fix my topper issue - bracket spacers had no affect on the issue.

When extended, the spring is compressed more tightly. When retracted, it's more relaxed. So I would say if it seems like there's too much tension when the slide is brought in, there's probably way too much when the slide is out.