Lippert Solera Slide Toppers for our fifth wheel

[RickandBecky]

I want to say up front, this is an odd topic and question, but here goes. We purchased three Solera slide toppers to install on our Eagle HT fifth wheel. One fit perfectly and I installed it today. However, the other two are too long for the slides they are intended to go on. Not sure how this happened (either I gave the wrong measurements or the vendor recommended the wrong items for the slides). Either way, I want to keep them and not ship them back to the vendor. Our RV dealer said the best bet would be to cut the tube and the vinyl fabric down to fit and said they would be happy to do it for us, for a fee of course. And, that may well be the best way to go. Has anyone out there ever done this—cut down the slide out topper roll-tube and the vinyl? Not concerned with cutting some inches off the vinyl, but the tube presents the concern of there being a fairly stout spring inside it that rolls the fabric up when the slide is brought in. How do I deal with the spring, or is this really a job for an RV technician? Thanks for any advice and/or input on this project!

[RipinSC]

Cutting the vinyl is not an issue. Don’t even attempt to cut the tube yourself. If the dealer will do it that is your best bet. The spring is under tension and if you don’t know how to disassemble the components you may hurt yourself.

[RickandBecky]

Originally Posted by RipinSC

Cutting the vinyl is not an issue. Don’t even attempt to cut the tube yourself. If the dealer will do it that is your best bet. The spring is under tension and if you don’t know how to disassemble the components you may hurt yourself.

You must have talked to my wife! Seriously, that was my concern, just not knowing what’s involved in dealing with the springs in the two toppers. Thanks for the good advice!