After 12 years on the road, we’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to suppliers of RV services and equipment. So when we purchased our first Tough Top Awnings slide topper replacement fabric three years ago, we immediately knew we were dealing with a great company. Responsive customer service, fast shipping and top quality products.
We’ve since had enough experience with Tough Top Awnings to recognize that Ray & Tyler run a truly wonderful company, and we’re proud to call them friends.
We recently visited their new production facility in Vancouver, WA where they taught us how to replace the fabric on a Carefree of Colorado SOK III slide topper. Since that model is fully-enclosed, it’s one of the more intimidating DIY tasks for an RVer. It turns out… it’s actually a snap! Check out the video to see how easy it is.
Visit www.ToughTopAwnings.com and enter the
Discount Coupon Code “RVGEEKSROCK”
for a 5% discount on your entire order!
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Looking for a tutorial on how to replace a different brand/model of slide topper or awning?
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Dr. Michael
Monday 31st of May 2021
The nice thing about your content is that it is still just as relevant today as it was five years ago. We have a new to us 2014 Anthem. The driver's slide topper is in great shape except it is starting to have the seam come undone. The dealer refused to replace it before we picked it up. Question 1: Do I have to open the slide all the way to do the job? (why? see question 2) Question 2: I will be doing this project all alone. Can this task be done with only one person? Since I will be working alone on it alone, do you have any special tips or recommendations?
TheRVgeeks
Monday 31st of May 2021
Aw, thanks Michael. Some things definitely last longer than others, and lucky for us there are still a lot of these slide toppers out in the wild! ???? We don't think there's any reason you can't complete this replacement with the slide only partially extended... which will make it easier to do as a one-man job. Just plan your ladder placement carefully... and go slowly. With proper care, we think you should be able to handle it. Don't have any specific tips/recommendations. But if you're buying your fabric from Tough Top, be sure to ask Tyler if HE has any. He's the guru of slide-toppers... and will know if there are any "gotcha" moments you should aware of!
Good luck!
Neale Partingotn
Tuesday 23rd of October 2018
A friend has a SOKIII slideout topper that he has been having trouble with. It is quite a long one, with a splice in the middle of the roller tube. He has had issues with the tube being too short, and coming off of the catches on the spring tension (rhs) end. The splice insert has also been bent. We took the tube down last week and replaced/riveted the splice with a new one, however, with the end caps back in place, there is easily a half inch or more of play for the tube to slide back and forth between ends, and potentially come off of the ratchet on the right hand side.
We noticed too that the bearing on the left end had migrated a half inch or so into the tube - there is nothing to stop it from doing that. When the rivets are removed, they only appear to be in slots on the bearing that are open to the left and do not stop that migration. There is also therefore no way to apply a "push" on the bearing from the left end of the tube to keep the right end spring close to the right end cap, fully engaging the ratchet mechanism.
The owner tried buying some large fender washers to use as spacers on the left end, but has told me via email that he's not confident that will work.
The plastic part of the LH bearing looks unhealthy too. We had considered gluing it into place to allow for using it to push the tube toward the ratcheted end, but that would make it difficult to replace in the future. I had also suggested pulling the tube apart at the splice and re-riveting it so the tube is at a closer tolerance (do we need to leave room for heat expansion if we do?).
The replacement tarp he ordered locally is 334" x 35" btw.
We'll be attempting another re-assembly tomorrow.
thanks, Neale
TheRVgeeks
Thursday 25th of October 2018
Hi Neal,
Sorry for the delayed reply... we were in England and then flying back to the States. We're not sure what's going on with this particular unit... and since the one we showed in the video is the only one we've had experience with fabric replacement on, we're not sure if there's an issue with the unit you're working with, or not. We'd be leery of making too many modifications to the existing components, in case there ISN'T a problem. We'd actually suggest calling Carefree directly to find out if there's anything they can recommend as far as how this unit is working and/or if there's a modification needed to ensure it continues to work.
Sorry we can't be of more help here, but hope you are able to get the new fabric installed and working!
Dave Stalder
Friday 27th of April 2018
I have a super slide that is over 26ft long and needs a new slide topper. Given your experience replacing them, would you tackle this job yourself? Thanks
TheRVgeeks
Friday 27th of April 2018
Hi Dave! We would definitely tackle it ourselves, but with a helper and a second ladder. It’s not difficult, but a second set of hands really helps make things easiest.
Scott
Monday 14th of September 2015
Thank's a lot for all your recommendations you have been very helpful! I would like to know what type of front windshield screen you have on your rig, it looks really nice along with the tire covers your using. With all the research I have done I can't find anything as nice as yours. Could you let me know who the manufactures are?
Thank you in advance.
TheRVgeeks
Monday 14th of September 2015
Thanks so much for the nice comment, Scott! Coincidentally, both our windshield screens and tire covers were made by the same company: MCD. Unfortunately, they have switched their business completely over to manufacturing RV window shades for many of the major manufacturers, and no longer make anything else. We have never seen any other tire covers anything like ours, and don't know what we'll do when they eventually wear out, because we really love them. As far as windshield screens, we have friends who bought Magenshade screens, and are extremely happy with them. You can find out more at their website: http://www.magneshade.com.
Ed Soniat
Tuesday 16th of June 2015
I noticed some trash had collected in the topper cover. Would opening the cover and cleaning that out be something worth adding to preventative maintenance schedule?
TheRVgeeks
Tuesday 16th of June 2015
Hi Ed! This wasn't our RV, and we never allow that kind of debris build-up to occur on our slide-toppers, so we hadn't thought of it. But it's a great idea.... if you neglect your toppers and allow them to get this dirty, adding a cleaning to the annual maintenance list would be a good idea. Thanks for the tip!