ouR escaPOD mods

After much thought and after deciding I did not like climbing the ladder to put on and take off my homemade slide-out cover coupled with having to make a new one because the fabric I used was just not sturdy enough to last more than a year or so, I decided to order a slide-out cover. I ordered the Lippert Solera Slide Topper in black.

Mike Carter provided a link to installation on the eTrailer site that was helpful. He also recommended Lexel sealant.

Delivery was done by a shipping company. It was done first by Estes freight and then the last-mile delivery company made the final delivery. Everything came in one long tube. One end had a metal cap that was taped in place. The other end did not have a metal cap and looked like the tube had been dropped on that end. However, the rest of the tube looked undamaged so I annotated the damage on the delivery document and then accepted the package. Upon opening it, I found that the Awning Rail was bent. That was not an issue as the RPod already had one. The supplied rail will be used in future mods. The awning roll was covered in white plastic that looked somewhat abraded. Whether that was from the factory or from the handling in shipment, I do not know.

Solera awnings now use what is called an Access Plate. This gets attached to the slide-out. It does not hold the awning roll, but is meant to be used with the Access Bracket which is attached to the plate with set-screws. Extension rods attach to the Drive and Idler heads with Torsion Arm caps. The arms feed into the Access Brackets after the fabric is fed through the Awning Rail slot. I was able to flex the rain gutter enough to feed the fabric in from the back end toward the front. Per instructions, I sprayed the slot with silicone spray to make it easier to slide through the slot. Once I got that done with help from a friend, I was able to get the extension rods in place and secured with screws. The last step was to put screws through the rail and the polycord in the slot to keep the fabric from shifting.

Issues:  The instructions stated that there should have been four screws to secure the extension arms to the access brackets. There were only two in the package. Also, the end of the awning roll had one area where the paint was scratched, probably during shipment. The third issue is that the fabric is not centered on the roll. While this does not affect performance, it was not something I anticipated. I looked to see if I could slide the fabric in the roll, but it appears to be well fastened to the roll. It isn't a big difference, but I did notice it after I got the awning installed. I'm waiting on an answer from Liippert about these issues.

Opinion: Why did I wait so long? This will definitely be very helpful since I no longer have to worry about weather when we arrive, but can just extend the slide-out and it will be covered. The black fabric and hardware match the RPod so that it blends in and does not stand out visually.

Okay, now for some pictures:

Clearance between the fabric and the flange is good and there is enough tension so that the fabric should allow for good drainage of rain water.