Dometic Elite Slide Topper

[RichardMinnie]

Hey Folks,

I searched for "dometic elite" and only found one post that didn't address my issue, so thought I'd start a thread and see if anyone has any advice.

I have a 2018 Winnebago 2401RG and plan to install a slide topper. I'm attracted to the Dometic Deluxe and Elite lines. I like the idea of the weathergard protecting the topper while it's rolled up.

Any thoughts on vinyl weathergard (Deluxe) vs metal weathergard (Elite)?
Any vendors you might recommend?
Any thoughts on self-installation? I'm pretty handy and plan on doing it myself.

Prices vary wildly from a low of <$450 including shipping up to almost $600.

[MPI_Mallard]

I have five dometic awning shield's on my fiver and the one the dealer installed on my slide has the powder coating flaking off at both ends, I'm in the process of replacing the two awnings and three slide toppers so I called dometic and asked them if they would replace the shield that the paint was failing and was flat out told no as it was out of warranty. it's obviously a case of shotty prep at the powder coating shop and as i'm about to spend a couple of thousand dollars on more dometic awnings you'd thik they would look after this shield,,, not! So I'll simply re-paint the shield myself, get the awnings from Tough Topp and never spend one dime with them again!

Red Green; Do a good job and they'll tell ten people,,,
Do a bad job and my wife will tell a hundred,,,,

[STBRetired]

I have the metal weather guards and highly recommend them. Installing it yourself is not difficult as long as you have help when it comes time to thread the awning fabric into the rail. Mine is 162" long and it took 4 people for that step. One to pull the fabric, one to feed the fabric, and 2 to hold the rollup mechanism. Download the installation instructions before you buy to figure out if you need the 45 degree or straight brackets. Depends on the width of the flanges and the amount of space above the slideout on the MH.

[RichardMinnie]

neschultz wrote:
I put this awning on our 2401RG by myself in about 2 hours. “Black Vinyl Roller Assembly (V000251461) by Solera Awnings”. I can’t answer your guard question since it has neither. I have heard of people adding a piece of eternabond tape across the top of the awning to make it last longer.

Have you ever had any wind related issues with it, especially while on the road? I'm concerned about tension not being tight enough resulting in the fabric of the awning starting to billow then shred. and I'm hoping the vinyl/metal weathergard will help prevent that.

[neschultz]

I put this awning on our 2401RG by myself in about 2 hours. “Black Vinyl Roller Assembly (V000251461) by Solera Awnings”. I can’t answer your guard question since it has neither. I have heard of people adding a piece of eternabond tape across the top of the awning to make it last longer.

[MrWizard]

I've had metal guard awnings
And really like them
It's the only guard I will have