I solved the billowing problem while driving by adjusting the "stop". Now whenever the wind gets 20-30 while at a campground, the topper will billow which unrolls the tube all the way about 1 1/2 turns, and makes awful noises. Todays forcast is 30-50 mph winds here in ND so we put the slide in to be on the safe side. We have put a bungee around the ends of the topper to hold it tighter but in some big gusts its popped off. Do you think the tension needs adjusting or what. Have no idea how do do it and the 3 other people here in the CG don't know either...course 2 are in 5th wheels without the toppers.
30-50 mph winds are more than enough to rip the awnings off the top of your slide outs. Best bet is to leave the slides in until the winds decrease. If the awnings are deploying with the slide in what you could do is use rope and tie them off to something on the roof, ie. air conditioner. Anything to keep the wind from billowing them.
Skipcarrol,
Well Sir, you've got a couple of options here. One, you can tighten the tension or, you can do what I've done quite a few times in the past. And that is, place something heavy on the slide topper when the slide is out, obviously. I used either some big blocks of wood or even a large rock now and then. Yes, it's tad bit of a pain to get them up there but, if you're going to be there in the campsite for a while and, you'd like your slide out for more room, it's worked flawless for us in some pretty nasty winds.
The weight keeps the topper from flapping and, I've even forgot I put the weights up there and pulled the slide in. All that happened was the blocks of wood fell to the ground and no damage to anything occurred.
Now, as for tensioning the topper springs, it's not all that hard but, it can be a bit nerve racking. It's the same principle as a "sectional garage door spring". You simply wind it up a certain amount of turns. And then, you go to the other side and do the same thing. There's a fair amount tension on them anyway or, maybe in your case, it's backed off due to age, or your fabric is stretching or combination there of.
They are end caps that are sometimes held to the rail with rivets or if you're lucky, small screws. If it's screws, that's easy. You simply have large screw driver or something similar to use as a lever to hold the spring pressure while you're undoing the screws. Then, you'll see the direction it needs to go to make more tension. If you add say, three full turns, then go to the other side and do the exact same. Be care full. I've done those a few times and also the bigger awnings too. You just have to make sure that those springs don't get out of HAND and spin back to their resting point, THAT SMARTS!
Scott
Scott and Karla SDFD RETIRED
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I have taken the bungee idea a step farther....
I throw a long nylon strap completely over the slide topper and secure it to the bottom lip of the slide room with a bungee on each end...
Have used this system a couple of times in very high Oregon Coast winds.
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Thanks... Now the wind is about 40, gusts to 50 so the slides in...amazing how small the insides get!. The main slide is about 12' x 3'. Small slide never a problem. Gonna try the rope across the top/ bungy idea when wind decreases.
Hoping to be here 3 more weeks working the beet harvest...laid off this week because of unseasonal hot weather. (I think I brought it).
Hi, I have a full wall slide(28`) on my DP. What I did was make a template from heavy corregated cardboard of each end opening between the slide top and the topper.Painted them to add rigidity and inserted. Kept the wind out and thus the flapping. Wet weather did them in so I used the cardboard templates to fashion " plugs" made of plywood.Painted up, handles attached for ease of use. Will try them out when we get to AZ mid Nov.
downtheroad wrote: I have taken the bungee idea a step farther....
I throw a long nylon strap completely over the slide topper and secure it to the bottom lip of the slide room with a bungee on each end...
Have used this system a couple of times in very high Oregon Coast winds.
Also here on the Oregon coast, I do some thing similar. I take my 35' strap with a ratchet on one end and hook on the other. I use my awning rod to grab the hooked end of the strap and I run it over the top and around the entire slideout and connect to the ratchet that is hanging down on one end of the slide out. With the ratchet I then tighten the strap until the cover is cinched down tight on top of the slide. I typically can do this (even in wind) in a couple of minutes.
Works for me...
Ron
Ron & Sandie
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downtheroad wrote: I have taken the bungee idea a step farther....
I throw a long nylon strap completely over the slide topper and secure it to the bottom lip of the slide room with a bungee on each end...
Have used this system a couple of times in very high Oregon Coast winds.
This works. Its the most foolproof method and easiest.
I've also stuck a soccer ball under the awning on the wind side and it works too but a strap takes a lot less room to store and cary.
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