# Oh My!!!



## OregonCampin (Mar 9, 2007)

OK - I need your secrets, your ideas, your follies......

We bought the cover for the OB yesterday and I am telling you what.... the neighbors could have filmed the process of us putting it on and sold it to America's Funniest Home Video's. First we tried it the way the manufacturer suggested - from the back to the front....THAT WAS A JOKE! Then we tried from side to side....YEAH RIGHT! Then the DH crawled up and laid the whole thing arcross the top think we could "Just pull the sides down.....NOPE! What we finally did was roll the cover up, lay it across the OB, pull the front down and secure and then un-roll the rest towards the back. This worked, but it required moving the single ladder we have around the OB about 10 times.

How do the rest of you get the cover over your OB? Does it require a ladder or do you have some other trade secret??? SUGGESTIONS?

Thanks!

Shannon


----------



## Beaner242 (Jun 25, 2007)

We were wondering the same thing. Going to be picking one up shortly and wasnt sure what the process was. I was thinking I could make some kind of extension out of broom handles or something of that sort so we could reach. Not sure if it would work or not?


----------



## BigBadBrain (Aug 26, 2004)

OK, first, park between two gigantic motorhomes. Put some 12 ft. 2x4s from one of the motorhome roofs to the other about one every three feet so they span the Outback. Spread the cover across the 2x4s and even it out (make sure the front is towards the front). One-by-one remove the 2x4s and lower the cover to the roof of the Outback. Piece of cake! Store the 2x4s under the motorhomes.

Or, save on the cover and buy pallet wrap - you know, that stuff they wrap up pallets of dog food with? IT doesn't involve ladders at all if you can reach high enough and the fit is nice and snug. About thirty or forty trips around the camper should do it! A lot harder if you want to protect the roof.

Seriously, those covers are a pain. The second time is worse than the first time too. We followed the manufacturer's suggested method and with a few improvisations managed to get it on. I can't put full weight on the roof (I don't have the name BIGbadBrain for nothing) so it was pretty tricky. I must have moved the latter at least twenty times!

Last year we left the cover off and we were glad we did - the winds were terrible and folks have said that wind whipping the cover, even a tightly fastened one, will cause rub marks on the outside of the OB. We decided a good coat of wax was a better solution.

Have fun and be careful out there!

BBB


----------



## Herbicidal (Aug 29, 2003)

Boy, that must have been something to see!







I'm stongly considering buying a cover as well. The last time I inspected the top I found about a 1/2 dozen areas that I needed to re-caulk as the original material has shrunk. Also, the top of the rolled up awning actually appeared







burned! The sun really does take it's toll over time. I figure we will have this particular Outback at least another 6-7 years. Looking forward to hearing about how other's 'install' their covers too.

Cover brand recommendations???


----------



## outbackgeorgia (Jan 28, 2004)

No cover here, just a tarp over the top to protect the roof for about 4 months of the year.
Roof is OK after 4 years.

Dave


----------



## wolfwood (Sep 19, 2005)

Hmmmm....no cover here, either....for all the reasons BBB left his off last year. The spring/summer/fall winds at Wolfwood are W-I-C-K-E-D ... even when its very calm in town. Our Winter "Breezes" are NOT for the faint of heart...a cover wouldn't last more than a day of that stuff, let alone the REAL winds of winter!


----------



## camping479 (Aug 27, 2003)

I climb up on the roof with the cover and unroll it down the middle of the roof. Then I let the sides fall down while a helper on the ground pulls it down and evens it out. Takes two of us less than ten minutes with one trip up and down the ladder.

Being an agile but scrawny 150# makes getting on the roof easy though, that's my secret









Mike


----------



## Doxie-Doglover-Too (Jan 25, 2007)

BigBadBrain said:


> OK, first, park between two gigantic motorhomes. Put some 12 ft. 2x4s from one of the motorhome roofs to the other about one every three feet so they span the Outback. Spread the cover across the 2x4s and even it out (make sure the front is towards the front). One-by-one remove the 2x4s and lower the cover to the roof of the Outback. Piece of cake! Store the 2x4s under the motorhomes.
> 
> Or, save on the cover and buy pallet wrap - you know, that stuff they wrap up pallets of dog food with? IT doesn't involve ladders at all if you can reach high enough and the fit is nice and snug. About thirty or forty trips around the camper should do it! A lot harder if you want to protect the roof.
> 
> ...


FUNNY!


----------



## BigBadBrain (Aug 26, 2004)

Mike,
Definitely not my weight class. I once weighed 190 but the doctor told me the pain in my knees was the beginnings of scurvy and that I was showing signs of malnutrition on a number of fronts and I needed to EAT once in a while. I never looked back! He wouldn't sign a prescription for food though.









So, I don't subject my Outback to the pain. When my DD is home I can make her do it though and my son is still pretty scrawny (not for long if he grows into his feet)!


----------



## Rubrhammer (Nov 27, 2006)

On the roof here also. 147 won't collapse it. I do it myself. Usually twice because I generally get it inside out or backwards the first time. And that is before the refreshments.
Bob


----------



## Insomniak (Jul 7, 2006)

Before I abandoned the idea of a cover, and sold our 23RS, I did the rolled-up cover on the roof thing.

First, I used two pieces of plywood so I wouldn't damage the roof, and kinda moved them in a hopscotch fashion. I brought the cover to the front and unrolled it enough to work with, and got the sides lined up. Since we're always in windy areas, I brought a few scuba diving soft weights (5lb) to hold down the corners.
Once I got the front pulled down over the nose, I worked my way backward, unrolling the cover and securing it with the straps until I was finished.

Yep, it's a pain, and you have to mive the ladder about twenty times if you're doing this by yoursel!


----------



## fuji (May 5, 2007)

Just installed our cover and looking for a solution. 95 degrees bright sun and no idea of what the heck I was doing. I think two laddders and two people would make it easier. I have recieced many great tips from our website and appreciate all the help I can get. Still looking for a solution, but nice to hear I'm not the only one still struggeling. Don't want to cave in roof, so any suggestions would be great.

Thanks to all.

Fuji


----------



## battalionchief3 (Jun 27, 2006)

I have one and we put it on the roof rolled up and unroll it to the other end. Then move the ladder down and pull the sides down. Also a broom with a long handle helps. It took me about 20 minutes.


----------



## tomlholmes (Jul 3, 2007)

Just adding my 2 cents for what it's worth. I called my salesman at the dealership, and asked if I should buy a cover for the winter (here in KC - we do get snowy and can get really cold) - Anyway, he told me NOT to buy a cover, even though our TT would be staying in our driveway, exposed to the elements. He said I would only be inviting mold to live on the roof and other exterior places.

HEIDI


----------



## bill_pfaff (Mar 11, 2005)

Live in Delaware (very humid) and have been covering my TTs for 8 years now. Never had mold issues.

I only cover TT from mid Nov to mid to late March. Maybe that is why


----------



## battalionchief3 (Jun 27, 2006)

Lower part of MD here and I cover in the off months. Usually Nov to Apr. I have no mold but you have to have air flow and a cover that breathes not a tarp. When I uncover it looks as good as the day I covered it. This is an ongoing debate.


----------

