The curtains in my 2000 Lance had seen better days. Years in the sun had taken its toll.
I searched through the posts on replacing curtains, but the suggestions I found there didn't seem practical for me. I got to thinking that I wanted something that would last, and that I could do myself. That's when the idea of making vertical blinds came to me. I purchased a set of white vertical blinds for a patio door from Lowes for under $30.00. There is enough "material" there for 3 campers.
I cut the plastic tabs from the curtains, and cleared them of curtain material and thread.
Next I had to decide how to mount the tabs to the blinds that I had cut to size. I had some double stick tape so I tried that. Forget it! Some of the side window slats held well, but the ones I tried in the front quickly fell off.
I thought I'd try hot glue, with a kind of rivet. This required drilling holes to get the rivet effect. Here is what that looked like.
That would probably be good on the side windows, but even that did not hold on the front, where you had to attach the plasic tabs to the top and bottom of each slat. Exposure to the sun heats and expands the slats putting too much pressure for the glue to hold.
I wanted this to work, so I went to the next level.
I got the box of machine screws complete with nuts and lock washers at Lowes for about $5.00. The side slats were pretty easy. I just drilled out a hole through the tab and the slat. The front ones were more complex, requiring 2 holes and screws for the top and bottom of each slat.
The finished job came out well. The front slats hold nicely, though the nuts are visible on the bottom of the slat. The side windows look nice, and the valance hides the screws, as does the front valance at the top of the front slats.
I'm able to slide the side window slats over enough to completely clear the screened part of the window. The side ones can slide around a bit when traveling down the road. but I don't see this as a problem since I don't need privacy at that time, and there wouldn't be enough sun exposure to damage anything inside.
The front ones can be slid enough so I get that wonderful view I love so much when I'm laying in bed looking at the stars, an approaching storm, or when I want to check out noise or vehicles moving near the camper.
Thanks for sharing- we also changed out out curtains for roman shades. The new shades are insulated so that should help with the summer heat or cool mornings or evening
2002 Dodge Ram 2500 SLT 4x4-2004 Hallmark Cuchara XL 9.5 w/Carbon Fiber Roof,1997 Grumman GV19TC,1997 Haulmark 27ft V nose round top - toy trailer
Good idea and looks great! I wonder if "pop-rivets" would work with the front lowers? You could "touch them up" with some white paint? Nice mod you did!
Redrattler01 wrote: Good idea and looks great! I wonder if "pop-rivets" would work with the front lowers? You could "touch them up" with some white paint? Nice mod you did!
I would have used these. But I knew they existed, so they would have been my first choice.
Since they're nylon, they can easily be dyed with warm water and Rit Dye. I should say the color can be changed easily, matching it to something may not be quite as easy.
05 Dodge 3500 4x4 DRW Long Bed 4dr
07 Lance 992
III so far.
Redrattler01 wrote: Good idea and looks great! I wonder if "pop-rivets" would work with the front lowers? You could "touch them up" with some white paint? Nice mod you did!
I would have used these. But I knew they existed, so they would have been my first choice.
Since they're nylon, they can easily be dyed with warm water and Rit Dye. I should say the color can be changed easily, matching it to something may not be quite as easy.
The snap rivets might have been an option, but I considered and dismissed the idea of pop rivets for the following reason:
The sun had taken it's toll on the plastic tabs as well. Luckily there were many extra ones because lots of them cracked when I was removing the material or trying to mount them. I was sure the pop rivets would break even more. With the screws I could control the amount of tightening required.
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