Chipper

My 2008 Safari Simba had the Diamond Shield and it looked just like your photos.  I had it removed and repainted by a good RV shop near where the unit is stored.  Very good job but on the expensive side.  

Chip

2008 Simba pulling a Wrangler.

  W

Ours didn't fall while driving, it just wouldn't roll up when we tried to raise it.  So we sort of wadded up the shade and clipped it in place with spring clips until we got home.

Chip

2008 Safari Simba 

There is a large range of motors listed on the AutoMotion Shade web site and prices are all over the board depending on which one you need.  I had to pull my motor to see which one it is.  There is a label on the shade housing but the installers had covered it with aluminum tape and removing that also removed the label so I still don't know exactly which shade I have.

Chip

Safari Simba 36DBD

Pulling the shade was a blast, I had to sit on the dash backward over the steering wheel and use a long bit on the driver to take the 4 screws out.  No connector on the tiny (22 gauge) wire so I had to cut it.  Pulled the motor and finally found a label.  For my 2008 Safari Simba the motor is AutoMotion Shade EL-4260-1250-AMS.  Naturally it is not listed on their web site and the customer service rep I e mailed back and forth with called it obsolete.  He did say they had a few left and was happy to sell me one.  I wonder if I should have bought 2?  I could get the motor to sort of work on the bench but there is some kind of mechanical holdup going on and I probably messed it up trying to take it apart.  

I will report on the installation of the new one when I get it done.  

Chip

2008 Safari Simba gas

I have the same problem with the driver side shade on my Safari Simba 37dbd.  After a struggle, I was able to pull the switch and swap it with the passenger side shade switch.  The switch is good which I guess means I have to pull the shade and play with the motor.  I will post what I find. 

I bought the replacement motor from a dealer and when I overhauled the old motor, bought the new plastic gear from the same dealer.  I think there was a broken tooth or two. New motor fit just fine and yes, I did unplug the power first thing before doing any other work on the step unit.  A wood block held the step in the deployed position so I could gain access to the wire harness and motor without the steps flopping around.  Easy job and  I still have a spare.

My 2008 Safari Simba step failed when a 300 pound tech stepped on it before it was fully deployed.  Oops.  Just flopping so I tied it off in the retracted position to get home. I replaced the motor then found it was the plastic gear.  I replaced the gear and kept the motor.  The steps failed again several years later for no apparent reason and the RV tech (not the 300 pounder) said it was the controller. The steps would hesitate when deploying or retracting but if kicked, would go to the proper position and stay locked. I replaced the controller which did not fix the problem so I swapped the motor with my spare and all is well.  I will fix the failed motor just to have a spare on hand. I am pretty sure it's the gear again and I also kept the old controller.  Lying on my back under the rig working on the steps in no big deal.  The problem is getting up afterwards.

Chip 

2008 Simba Gas, Jeep Wrangler sport with ham radio antennae.