Slide Toppers - the good bad and ugly at this point

[sourdough]

Bought a new HC. After reading, studying, evaluating, hoping etc. I chose to have them add the toppers to the new trailer simply because I thought they might be beneficial for debris on the slide tops, possibly keeping the slide tops cooler and maybe mitigating any moisture intrusion through the seals - which I've never had.

To date; had it out one time and sat in our property next door - the slide covers appear to "twist"; they accumulate water and it won't go anywhere but stretch the fabric until you retract the slide - even if you are staying in it; need to put some time in it to check out the new repairs to the furnace but....the wind here in W TX is supposed to blow around 40 mph for the next few days so....it goes nowhere and I won't pull out the slides. And, never having done it, how in the world do I clean the seals and lubricate them with a cover over them?

First impression - gut feeling....this was a huge waste of money and point of irritation and increased maintenance going forward. Told DW I was just going to hit the covers with a razor knife and cut them off...and be back to normal RV life. Maybe I'm missing something but don't see how you can do normal things with an RV, slides deployed, in windy weather, with slide toppers. Just throwing that out there for folks that might think they are the cat's meow....they aren't in my experience so far....