How to replace RV Slide Topper and Awning Material ⋆ Bright Dais Ahead

Much as in a bricks and sticks house, things happen in an RV. Last summer, only a couple of months into our journey, we ran into our first large mishap with the RV. We were in South Dakota near Custer State Park when a terrible hail storm came through. The result of such a storm led us down the road to learning how to replace our RV Slide Topper and Awning Material.

Fortunately, we were not at the RV during the storm. Through luck and God’s grace, we were touring Custer State Park. We even got stuck in a Bison traffic jam. As we toured the park, we kept seeing big dark thunder clouds form. As the clouds shifted, they transformed into circular clouds, looking like a hurricane in the sky. John commented, “I think there is hail in those clouds.”

As we made our way back to our campground Fort Welikit in the town of Custer. As we approached the road to our campground, it looked like snow lined the side of the streets. I told John, “how cool, it looks like it snowed here.” His reply was not one of glee or shared enthusiasm as he was immediately worried about our rig.

At our campsite, covered in large balls of hail, we scoped out our RV for damage. Fortunately, we found minor damage; minor in comparison to the Airstream next to us. The Airstream resembled more like a golf ball versus a silver beauty.

The Damage from the Storm

Getting up on the roof to inspect, I quickly found our fan cover had a big hole in it. I carefully inspected the roof, RV gutters, AC’s and finally, our slide toppers. While on the roof, I found most of the damage. All three slide toppers on the driver’s side had holes where the hail had punched through the material. The passenger slide topper over the living room slide didn’t have damage as this topper has a bit more flex.

Later, we found our main awning, while it was in and rolled up, did sustain damage as well. Right where the awning seam meets the RV, the hail had punched small holes into the seam.

We found a Camping World about 30 minutes away with replacement fan covers, and we bought good strong awning repair tape. With the fan covered replaced and repair tape over every hole in the slide toppers and awning material, we were confident our RV was in good shape to continue our adventure.

how to replace rv slide topper — Sherryl inspecting the roof

Contact your insurance company immediately

If something like this happens to your RV, I encourage you to contact your insurance company immediately. We reached our insurance company, Progressive, the day of the storm. We took immediate pictures of the hail and damage. Remember, most of the time, RVers are remote, and insurance companies may not send out an adjuster. Detailed photos of the situation as it happened and damage are vital to your claim.

As this was our first insurance claim, I was very pleased with the ease of submitting the claim and then working with our adjuster. Our adjuster was very knowledgeable about materials, replacement, and dealerships, and she helped navigate the whole process.

The Repair Bill

We did receive a quote for the repair of all slide toppers and awnings close to $3,500. This estimate included parts, labor, shipping, and labor. Unfortunately, when we called a couple of dealers, due to Covid, the wait for repair would be more than 8 months.

We started considering other alternatives to replace RV Slide Topper and Awning Material.

DIY RV Project

If you have watched our blog or YouTube channel, you will know we are not experts at DIY projects. We don’t invent projects or change things out just for content’s sake. We like to think of ourselves as regular people who fix or address issues as needed. Typically, the DIY RV projects we share with you are projects where anything that could go wrong does, and we end up doing everything at least twice. Our experience can really help others learn to be better DIYers with faster outcomes.

You’re welcome; we like to be of service.

Our favorite type of DIY RV project is simple enough even we could do and saves us money! We weren’t sure if slide topper and awning material replacement fit this description, but after an RV Dealership quote, we decided to give it a try. In comparison, DIY would cost as little as 1/2 to 1/3 the price of having it done at an RV shop. So if you thought that replacing your slide toppers was out of your league as a DIY RVer, check out our video first, and you might change your mind!

Resources to replace RV Slide Topper and Awning Material

Before we embarked on this project, we did our research. First, our staff (mainly my dad) gave us the confidence to try this project. We moochdock at my parent’s house once a year. This is a great place to do projects as my Dad has every tool known to man. As a bonus, he has a bucket truck. Did I mention he offers full RV hook up too? If you need my Dad’s help and you are in Santa Fe, I am sure we can make arrangements for you to benefit from all his expertise too! Thanks, DAD!

Then we did what you probably did to end up here reading this blog. We googled how to replace slide toppers and didn’t find many videos. But one video from the RV Geeks helped us look like we knew what we were doing.

How to measure Slide Toppers

Measuring slide toppers is easy. Easy enough, I (Sherryl) did it myself. You get up on the roof and measure the width of your slides and/or current topper. Don’t worry about the depth, as they will send a lot more fabric than required which any extra will stay rolled up in the topper roller. You will need these measurements when you call the manufacturer.

Try to find out who manufactured your awning and slide toppers. Your owner’s manual or material from the dealership should have some information. The two most popular RV awning manufacturers are Dometic (formerly A&E) Awning Operation & Installation Manuals and Contact Carefree of Colorado to get Awning Fabric Replacement instructions.

If you do have Carefree of Colorado products, I highly recommend their customer service. Pam, our customer representative, was very knowledgeable, was in constant communication and was able to direct ship us the materials needed.