Slide topper tension

[throgmartin]

2 hours ago, Ivylog said:

Question by Ken was “the front passenger side topper does not have a cover”… no half circle aluminum cover over the roller/fabric.

I’ve had to carefully adjust my patio awnings (mounted to the raised rail) so the lateral arm on one end hits the aluminum cover on the slide topper when out. While I like having 40’ of awnings, without doing this, there isn’t enough slope to the awnings to shed water… front one to the front and back one to the rear.

I missed that. There are some models that have no topper assembly on the passenger slide. Since his does then I would need to know if it is an Omega or an SOK II assembly. All SOK II assemblies used on Monacos came with a cover. Many in 2004/2005 had gold anodized covers. No one has those covers. The last check I did showed we had the only 3 in existence which we have stored in our warehouse. This included salvage yards.

In regards to the Omega's, 2003 was the only year they had covers and were only found on the higher end models. If an Omega assembly has a cover it is an Omega II. If it does not have a cover it is an Omega I. Not to confuse anyone but the only difference between the two was the cover and the Omega II spring was left hand and not right hand like the Omega I's. In 2004 all Monaco coaches ( except the Sig ) came with the SOK II assembly. Carefree dropped the SOK II mid way through the 2006 model year and went to SOK III assemblies. That in my estimation was a HUGE mistake as the SOK II was the most reliable slide topper assembly ever made by Carefree. If you have one be thankful. 

If Ken can post or send me a picture I can identify the assembly he has.

[96 EVO]

You see a lot of Newmars with no slide topper under the patio awning.

[mmccwill]

On 6/11/2021 at 4:01 PM, throgmartin said:

No Sir I wont be there. I sent Jason out to do the rally. He is doing several for me this year. He is our Executive Director and oversees all of our companies.

Be sure to stop at the booth and say him to him. Let him know you are one of spies and are keeping an eye on him. 🙂

Chris -- I think you`re allowed West of the Mississippi River -- You`ve got alot of customers out here -- You should come out for a visit --

[Guest KenAVTech]

Thanks for your help in advance. Please see attached photos.

[astgerma]

On 6/10/2021 at 7:06 AM, throgmartin said:

Andy, Those bent tabs is the reason we stock a lot of those end caps. We stock a lot of springs as well.

I am always left wondering why other repair centers don't stock these common parts that are known to fail. They are always scrambling to get and end cap or spring when a customer shows up with a problem. We sell to a lot of dealers who would rather buy from us then a wholesaler because we ship faster. Even Camping World has bought from us because we can turn parts around quickly.

If someone in the USA who needs specific parts for Carefree assemblies calls Monaco or the Carefree factory they send them to us. Monaco is particularly annoying as they send customers tech questions to us as well. In turn we end up providing free tech support to their customers and it loads down our staff while freeing up their call center. We never turn anyone away and do it for the benefit of Monaco owners but I get a little tired of eating up our company resources by providing factory support for Monaco without getting reimbursed by them.

I forgot to mention, once you get the assembly back together, check for end play. See if the roller tube has any play end to end. This has been a common problem with large Carefree slide assemblies. If you find end play bush the left end with a washer. That end play damages the end caps and I have had numerous customers have their flarge slide topper assembly come off their coach while driving down the highway at 60 mph. Most end up on the roof destroying solar panels, sky lights and other items on the roof. We always check end play on all large slides when we get a coach in. Be sure to check yours.

 

 

[astgerma]

Well now that the new end cap is back on as I was installing it I found out what really caused the problem of the bent ratchet stop.

The 10-32 screws that hold the end cap in place were stripped out and that was the problem.  It allowed the end plate to separate  and the ratchet to  go past the stop and bend the stop.

I replaced the 10-32 screws with #12 sheet metal screws.  I had to grind down the heads to the same size as the cap screws.  I did this to both end caps, Just in case.

Thanks for all the response and the info on the number wraps on the spring to hold tension. 

[throgmartin]

Ken, that is an SOK I. It is built identical to the SOK II except that the SOK I has round end caps. Some of them had a small deflector on the bottom but I see yours does not. All the SOK I's came with no cover. The assembly was first used in the late 90's. I believe they used the SOK I because of patio awning interference.

Again, if they would have used a roof mount assembly then they could have used an SOK II but roof top awnings had not come about in 2003. I forgot the year they came out with the roof top's, I am thinking 2006/07. Girard was the first followed by Carefree then Zip Dee.

[throgmartin]

8 hours ago, astgerma said:

Well now that the new end cap is back on as I was installing it I found out what really caused the problem of the bent ratchet stop.

The 10-32 screws that hold the end cap in place were stripped out and that was the problem.  It allowed the end plate to separate  and the ratchet to  go past the stop and bend the stop.

I replaced the 10-32 screws with #12 sheet metal screws.  I had to grind down the heads to the same size as the cap screws.  I did this to both end caps, Just in case.

Thanks for all the response and the info on the number wraps on the spring to hold tension. 

Ken, if that happens again take a bolt to Lowes and match it up in diameter and then buy a longer one. Those threads go deep into the cover. Also always use blue loctite on the SOK III bolts.

[Dalton07]

We recently returned from our first camping trip after installing our RV Sliding Toppers. I ordered the Solera awning from Amazon. It arrived in good condition with all parts. It scrolls in and out as it should. During our camping trip, we encountered heavy rain and thunderstorm that lasted 45 minutes. The water was poured out efficiently and no water got past the whore's seal. Before installing the awning, we had what was essentially a waterfall inside the camp as a large amount of rain fell on top of the whore, unfortunately, it was on a slight incline that allowed the water to flow. towards the seals. So far we are very satisfied with the awning.

Edited March 30, 2022 by Dalton07