2015 37TS Front Passenger Slide

[firedog]

We have awnings on our slides except for front passenger slide. When it rains and we slide it in to hit the road all the water comes in with it. Was told we could not put awning their because of main awning. Has anyone done this or have a fix? Main awning can't be used if high wind....

[Robbbyr]

I have a '14 TS, same exact design. I have experienced the same issue and have dealt with the problem two ways. If I anticipate bad weather and expect the awning to come in either manually or automatically (I installed Carefree's auto-retract system) I bring in the slide. It is small and we can easily maneuver around it inside for the duration of the weather, even if overnight. At times I will leave the main awning out just enough to cover the slide, it seems pretty stable when only out that far in most winds.

If conditions have caught us off-guard and I suspect pooled water on top I manually retract the levelers leaving just that slide out, dropping the front of the coach first and even raising the rear as high as it will go so as to "tip" the whole unit down in the front. A surprising amount of trapped water spills off! Then I get the coach level again, retract the slide, and then retract all jacks to get underway.

[meyerjohnc]

Robbbyr - you mentioned you installed the auto retract system, was this install fairly straight forward, any issues?

[Robbbyr]

It was not too difficult on my coach, mostly because of the location of the TS control panel located right inside the entry door and the fact that the front awning arm is just outside of that area. As far as the wiring and such, you can get the complete instructions from the Carefree website and preview the install to decide if you want to tackle the job.

Installing the kit involves running a second wiring harness from the awning switch area up to the motor on the front arm. Behind the panel containing all our switches, tank level indicator, genset control, levelers, etc., I (fortunately) had an opening in the wall leading right up to the top of the awning arm. The original wiring to the awning motor uses this chase and that is where the new wire has to go. I was able to put a stepladder up to the side of the coach, carefully slightly enlarge the hole at the top (with my Dremel), pass a wire down through the hole, catch it inside (in the panel area) and then pull the new cable out. Carefree gives good instructions on exactly how this new cable has to be routed along the arms to the motor area. It clips into a channel on the arms.

Then you have to slightly deploy the awning, remove the motor cover, and mount the small sensor module and rearrange the wiring per the instructions. A helper here is beneficial holding the awning arm while you unbolt the motor. Carefully seal around the wiring where it comes in through the wall to prevent leaks.

Once the wiring all run and sealed, module installed and wiring mods completed, and everything buttoned-up outside you need to install the new switches (on/off and extend/retract). Where there was one switch, now there will be two. I enlarged the switch cutout with my Dremel and mounted the switches. It looks like Jayco did it at the factory. Simple wiring connections to the switches explained well in the instructions.

Having this installed gives us peace of mind when we leave the MH with the awning out. This mod also allows for one-touch retract instead of holding it down the entire time it retracts. And it definitely works, too windy and in comes the awning automatically!

Here is a link to the kit which I got from Amazon: Amazon.com: Carefree (SR0093) 12V Direct Response Upgrade Kit: Automotive

Sorry this is a long post. If you have more questions I would be happy to help!

[meyerjohnc]

Robbbyr - I appreciate the response and will be ordering this kit.