Slideout Awnings

[Ta4dice]

Hello from Missouri, My wife and I went to the RV show in Kansas City (with no intentions of purchasing a new rv) and fell in love with the Solitude 379FL. We made a deal and ordered it. My question is slideout awnings are a $1700 option from the factory and I cant decide if I want them or not. I've heard that they make a lot of noise in the wind. I would love to hear your input. Thank you, Tom & Teresa

[Steve and Cill]

Welcome to the forum Tom & Teresa, and congratulations on your new Solitude.

We do not have the slide toppers yet, but they are on our list of "wants" ;D

[thompsons 369rl]

Welcome, Tom and Teresa. My take on slide toppers is: Do they make noise in windy conditions? Often, yes. Do they keep crud off the top of your slides? You bet. My personal choice is not to have them since we prefer to camp in more open spaces where falling debris is not much of a problem. If there is debris, I climb on the roof with a broom and clean it off just before putting the slides in. If you don't like the idea of climbing up on the roof, then toppers might be a good thing but that "flap, flap, flap" noise they make when it's blowing outside can be pretty annoying. >

[Ta4dice]

Thanks for the input everyone. I don't mind climbing on the roof and checking my slide outs, so I will probably pass on them and save the $1700. Cant wait to get our new Solitude in March. Thank you so much.

[Renee]

Hiya Tom and Teresa and welcome to the forums!
Congratulations on the purchase of your 379FL...what a beautiful floorplan

We have the slide toppers and love the convenience and additional protection it offers to the slides. Our previous camper did not have the toppers and we battled debris and rain (sometimes it would leak) constantly. I promised myself that my next camper would not leave the dealership without them.

Wind so far has not been too much of an issue...On our last camping trip this past Nov, we had wind gusts of 25-30 mile and the flapping wasn't too noticeable.

[huntr70]

If toppers are installed and adjusted correctly, you should have very little flapping, except in extreme wind.

Many are installed too loosely, and then that is what you get....

I won't own another rv without them.

[laffman]

When I was traveling, I loved them. Just pull in the slide and watch everything roll off the topper. When we started seasonal camping, we upgraded from a TT to a 5ver. I had the toppers installed. The 5ver spent it's entire life on our seasonal site, never traveled with it. The toppers were a waste of money, only because the slides come out in the spring and pulled in in the fall. Cleaning the top of the sliders is just part of the roof washing I do during the summer. I owned that 5ver for 5 years and never had problems with flapping. Like huntr70 said, if they are installed correctly and tension set right, you shouldn't have a problem.

Skipped the toppers when we got our 369RL. If we ever start travelling with it, I may have them installed.

[Ta4dice]

Thanks again everyone for the input. Now I am leaning towards getting them. I think I would rather have them installed at the factory than at the dealer. There are alot of trees where we camp so I think it would be a good investment. Thanks again, Tom

[ACDW-Ottawa]

We have a Solitude 369RL with slide-out awnings and they make a little noise only in very windy conditions but its minor and certainly does not bother us or keep us awake at night. In fact we installed an after market slide-out awning on the slide-out next to the entry door because I think its essential. For some reason, GD only installs slide-out awnings on the 2 slide-outs on the off door side of our Solitude model when ordered from the factory. Definitely order them from the factory as you can get a better price than the listed MSRP from your sales person.
Good Luck

[cuttinchief]

Hopefully awning toppers are on all slides because in windy conditions most people put their big awnings in. You still need them on the slides on the main awning side? I won't have a rig without them. Yes they can be noisy during storms.