Slide Maintenance

Well, if you're going to shelter in place in your motorized home, there are far worse places than your cousin's RV dealership. Showalter RV had just completed water and electric hookups in their customer parking area. So, while we were hunkering down, we were able to get some work done on the coach.

Harold took on the task of replacing the slideout seals and weatherstripping. He had ordered the parts months ago and was just waiting for the time to get them done. He spent a couple of days working through each slide. He lost count of how many times he went up and down that ladder.

The thirteen-year-old seams in the slide toppers had worn out. So, the guys pulled the toppers off and took them down the road to Amish-owned Millers Custom Canvas Shop LLC in Milford, Indiana. They confirmed that the Sunbrella fabric was still good and simply restitched the seams. The price was incredibly reasonable, far more so than buying entirely new toppers. Back at the lot, the guys reinstalled the toppers for us. Yeah, Harold didn't have to go up and down the ladder again.

We are so glad that we have family with RV expertise. If you're looking for an RV, we encourage you to give Showalter RV a call. You'll get a great price and excellent service.  🙂

Moon Buggy II

Awhile back, when we were visiting Nappanee, Indiana, we had some bodywork and paint corrections done on The Beast.  This included removal and replacement of the Diamond Shield clear paint protectant film. Next, we had the paint polished in the garage at Showalter RV. Because of this, we needed to apply some paint protection as all of the previous owner’s wax was removed in the polishing process.

I really like going to Showalter RV. The owner is VERY accommodating, as he is my cousin‑in‑law. When one of his service bays was not in use, he allowed us to use it to apply wax indoors.  WOO HOO!  This made the job easier, but the big help was loaning us a set of rolling scaffolding.  Waxing a 45’ long, 13’2” tall RV on a ladder is a lot of work. Climb up, climb down, climb up, climb down…. Another advantage to the scaffolding is we could have two people on it at the same time!

Elizabeth and I were up on the scaffolding, which we called a “Moon Buggy II” in memory of the scissor lifts that her Grandfather built and she played on in her youth. The scaffold was on casters and had two platforms on it so it made the daunting task of waxing four billboards of surface area very easy.

Moon Buggy II
Photo Credit: Junelle Showalter

The original moon buggy
Photo Credit: Greg Kiser

My paint sealant of choice is RejeX^®, which is a thin film polymer that provides a high-gloss, and more importantly to me, an ultra-high release surface. Their slogan is so true: Nothing Sticks but the Shine. I use it on all the smooth hard surfaces on my vehicles. On glass, it works like Rain-X but it lasts longer, and RejeX^® is easier to apply.  It makes washing our vehicles effortless.

OH, and now I had to order a buffer/polisher to make the work go even faster.  But I will also have to order a big pile of pads to keep a clean one on the machine at all times.