Slide Toppers

[Roper46]

Any thoughts, positve or negative, on adding slide toppers ? The first time I used my TT was in a very nice campground which advertised "camping in the pines". It was definitely under the pine trees. Had pine needles all over the top of my slides.

[Happycamper2018]

just installed toppers on 5er all 3 slides cost me around 1300.00 bucks, bought them on amazon . we traveled up northern PA and had pine trees at our camp site and boy was i happy i bought them, saves from cleaning them off and having to get on roof.

[rhagfo]

We installed them on both of our slides a 6’ and 13’ slide. Would not be without them!

[sourdough]

I'm of a mixed mind on the toppers. Never had them but sure got tired of getting the ladder out and cleaning the slide tops. Thought the toppers would be good for protection so had them install them on this one when I bought it.

Well, they pop when the wind blows which I don't like. When it rains the water has to have somewhere to go...so it runs off both ends of the topper...right onto my steps. Probably some benefit to them but so far it's a wash to me and DW.

[gearhead]

Originally Posted by sourdough

I'm of a mixed mind on the toppers. Never had them but sure got tired of getting the ladder out and cleaning the slide tops. Thought the toppers would be good for protection so had them install them on this one when I bought it.

Well, they pop when the wind blows which I don't like. When it rains the water has to have somewhere to go...so it runs off both ends of the topper...right onto my steps. Probably some benefit to them but so far it's a wash to me and DW.

Yep, same here. I never had them before on 4 previous RV's. Decided I'm getting a bit too "mature" to be climbing ladders with a broom or a leaf blower. My RV shop had several choices. What I remember was Lippert/Dometic or Carefree. I chose the Carefree Alpine with a strip of polymer parallel to the camper wall mount that is supposed to protect the fabric from weather damage when rolled up. Maybe 6 weeks after installation two of the toppers were ripped right where the polymer is bonded to the fabric. Carefree replaced them under warranty. Day before yesterday I was tinkering around on the 5th and noticed one of the toppers was torn where it is bonded to the bead. Email sent to the RV shop. Hopefully still under warranty.

[flybouy]

I've had trailers without and with. I'll never own another without slide toppers. Pros/cons for me:
Pros:
Slide is noticeably cooler in direct sun.
No more debris on top of slide i.e. Pine needles, leaves, acorns, etc.
Typically no to very little water on top after pulling in the slide.

Cons:
Wind flapping. This has only been noticeable on one occasion over the last 8 1/2 years that we've had it. That happened while camping this September on the ocean in Delaware. To say it was windy is understating it. A Nor'Easter as they are called with gale warnings. The trailer was shuddering with the wind and anything not nailed down was blown far away.

Our camper will need to have the awning and slide toppers replaced next spring so durability has not been an issue for ours.

[Roper46]

Thanks for the replies. I think the pros will outweigh the cons. Will start doing some price matching.

[BrooksFam]

Always had them, always will...……….

[rhagfo]

Originally Posted by gearhead

Yep, same here. I never had them before on 4 previous RV's. Decided I'm getting a bit too "mature" to be climbing ladders with a broom or a leaf blower. My RV shop had several choices. What I remember was Lippert/Dometic or Carefree. I chose the Carefree Alpine with a strip of polymer parallel to the camper wall mount that is supposed to protect the fabric from weather damage when rolled up. Maybe 6 weeks after installation two of the toppers were ripped right where the polymer is bonded to the fabric. Carefree replaced them under warranty. Day before yesterday I was tinkering around on the 5th and noticed one of the toppers was torn where it is bonded to the bead. Email sent to the RV shop. Hopefully still under warranty.

Well we full time and when it came tome to add slide toppers, we went with Dometic. We installed our self's, and had no issues with the install. They have been out pretty much 24/7/365 for the 3.5 years, except when we went on vacation cruises.
We have only had one time that the wind flapping was too much, I was during a winter storm on the Oregon coast, strong westerly winds, our host site was about 50' off the beach and fully exposed to winds from the West. That is the one time we pulled in the slides!
Had I thought about the wind that night I might have put a tow strap over the slide to stop the flapping.

[BrooksFam]

Since we are living in our TT right now while building a house, I put a rubber playground ball under the topper to help the rain from puddling in it and stop the occasional flapping.

[ChuckS]

They are nice until it’s time to replace those upper wiper seals on the slide outs

[Javi]

Originally Posted by BrooksFam

Since we are living in our TT right now while building a house, I put a rubber playground ball under the topper to help the rain from puddling in it and stop the occasional flapping.

The cheap blowup pool mattresses are really good for this...

I had them on my last camper a Cougar 5th wheel and loved them... yes sometimes they flapped.. see above three slides took less than ten minutes to stuff the pool mattresses into the gap between the slide top and the topper..

Thought I'd put them on the Avalanche but Keystone added a goofy awning on to the living room slide and the dealer refused to try and add the topper.. Right now I'm living with it using a battery powered leaf blower and a homemade attachment that allows me to blow debris off the top of the slide from the ground.. All them years of schooling had to eventually pay off

But eventually I'll try and find someone willing to add them .

[Brantel]

I just installed three Solera toppers on my new rig a few weeks ago. Easy peasy since the rig already had the attach rail pre-installed from the factory. The living room slide required some extra ladders and helpers to get it up there since it was so long but my wife and 15 yo daughter were able to help me with some direction and planning.

They are worth the $1,140 I paid for them. I was able to price shop and got Etrailer to match pricing on the lowest prices plus they gave me an extra 10% of the difference off!

The value of not having to clean the top of the slides and the extra protection they provide keeping the water off the slides is worth it to me.

They were in my plan from day 1 of purchasing my new rig.

[travelin texans]

Like sourdough we're from Texas & unless you're in the piney woods of deep east Texas trees shedding leaves/needles is not of much concern but wind sure is.
Our last fulltiming 5th wheel had the toppers & as mentioned did help keep it a bit cooler, when camping in treed areas kept the debris off, but when in Texas or other windy areas I wish they would've had a zipper to temporarily remove them, the flapping & popping would drive you nuts. Would I get them again, you bet I would!
As to the rain puddling or running off at the door, with the level up system I calibrated it to add a slight tilt to the rear, not hardly noticeable, so that the rain would run off away from the door.
However even with the winds they lasted almost 6 years before the weather deteriorated the thread holding the bead attached to the rv. For about $100 each replaced the fabrics & good to go again. I also tightened the fabric by adding an extra revolution to the roller tube when replacing the fabric which greatly helped with rain puddling & the wind.

[dutchmensport]

For the very reason mentioned here, I'll not get toppers.... wind!

We've used all our campers at home all the time. We sleep in the camper almost every night, pretty much year round. Where I live, it's not uncommon to get 40-50 mile winds blowing across the cornfield and bean fields. 90% of the time, we can't put our awnings out because the wind is just too much. I can't imagine what toppers would be like.

On our current Montana High Country, last Summer (at home), the wind caught the awning just right and literally flipped it backwards (down). i thought for sure the arms were broken. It took all we could to get the awning rolled back up. The awning itself popped out of the track attached to the side (roof) of the trailer about 3 feet. But nothing else appeared to be damaged.

I did take it to my local dealership to get the awning back in the track. I could not budge it, and at my age, i've got no business running risks hanging from a ladder playing tug of war with a sail flying in the wind. About $100 later, everything was OK. Nothing broken on the arms, all well.

But it sure made me glad we did not have toppers on the slides. The last thing I want is to pay good money for them and then have them ripped off in the wind.

I don't mind climbing on the roof at all. It's dangling from a ladder wrestling a bear I'm not comfortable doing any more in my life.

[Gumby52]

First trailer we bought with a slide out I didn't think I would need it. Changed my mind after the first trip. When the trailer went back for it's 90 tune up and adjustments, it also got a topper. Using an electric blower to clear the leaves and debris before retracting - and still finding debris inside the trailer convinced me.

Really haven't had any problems with wind, no problems with rain run off either. For me, they are worth the money.

Gary

[JJaxon]

Whether you install yourself or have slide toppers installed by a Technician, be sure to keep the clips that are removed from the tube ends at install. These keep the preloaded springs from unwinding during shipping.

Keeping these clips for use when you need access to slide seals, replacing fabric, accessing top of slide when open are a must. I tried various tools to pin the tube before disconnecting and the battle was real. Allen wrenches snapped, small screw drivers were too big, etc. Ended up using cotter pins, and even those bent under load. The shipping clips are the thing to have!

I will always have slide toppers for the same reasons most have said, and I work on them myself.

[rhagfo]

Originally Posted by ChuckS

They are nice until it’s time to replace those upper wiper seals on the slide outs

Likely will never need to be replaced as the topper protects them.

[Happycamper2018]

Roper46, bought mine on amazon ,solera brand good review easy to install. had purchased 3 , 11',9'6",6' took about 45 minutes per topper to install

[GreG L.]

I did allot of research before I ordered them on our 2020. There are good and bad but the good outweighed the bad for me.

Not having to clean the slide roof's
Not having to worry about the slide seals at the top of the slide
Not having to worry about sun damage to the top of the slides
Keeping the pounding rain off the slide roof

And most important, decreasing the chance of emergency room visits