Windshield Roller Shade

[John Fearnow]

Gerald,

The TV looks great.  In the pictures I noticed what looks like a white pull-down sun shade on a roller that goes across the windshield.  Is it something you installed yourself?  I am looking at getting some windshield shades from MCD but am also looking at other do it yourself alternatives.  Maybe you have already taken that route?  If so I'd appreciate any advice as to where you got the shade etc.

John Fearnow
2002 Patriot Thunder

[LarryNCarolynShirk]

This is not Gerald, but I may be able to help you.

I bought my sun screen at Home Depot or Lowe's several years ago.  I have seen them at Costco also.  I think it was about $80.  They are 8 ft wide, and you cut the tube and fabric to the length you need.  Two screws hold each end bracket to the ceiling.  It is a pretty easy install.  I put mine in our '98 Patriot and transferred it to our '01 Marquis.  I had to cut another 2" off at the time of transfer to fit the Marquis.  I guess the wall insulation is thicker on the Marquis.

Larry

[Gerald Farris]

I bought the roller shade as a custom order from Lowes. It was first in my 93 Patriot and I transferred it to my 2000 Marquis when I traded coaches. Since my roller shade was a custom order (exact width, length, color, and % of light blockage)  I had to pay more than $80, but it was only about $150.

Gerald

[Jerry Carr]

Hi Gerald, I just noticed the roller shade comment, I would like to have this in our 07 Pat. I looked at the systems available in Eugene and at Redmond but both suppliers are very proud of their work! I may have to take a run over to Lowe's.

Do you have any other photos available? I assume your system is manual, did you have the draw curtain system before? If so, did you have a lot of holes after you pulled the old system?

[Gerald Farris]

Jerry,
I drive a 2000 Marquis that came with 2 electric visors and a power privacy drape for the windshield. The solar roller shade mounts on the windshield side of the power visors and nothing needs to be removed to accommodate the roller shade installation. I do not have any pictures of the installation now, but I will take some tomorrow when the light is better and post them here in a day or two.

Gerald

[Jerry Carr]

Hi Gerald,

I was just checking to see if you had ever posted any photos of your shade installation

[Richard And Babs Ames]

I am thinking on the shade install. At the Tampa Show MCD representative said if they did it in Texas at the factory they get about $1200 for electric and without install over $600. Wades RV quoted approximately $400 installed for the manual slow roll up model.

Sounds like this is something you can save a lot on by going to a non RV specific application and get probably the same thing.

[Jerry Carr]

I believe you are correct Richard, I would like to see if any members might have some photos we have the 2 electric visors now with the wrap around curtin, our 06 Pat is very round on the nose so I think this may be a problem unless we remove the visors,
Let see what turns up in the thread!

[Edward Buker]

I also was looking for a better shade system and did not want to deal with putting up an outside shade and stowing it all the time. I chose MCD but the single shade option and kept the existing curtains for a full blackout. The price for the shade was $395 which kept it somewhat reasonable and not much more than a good quality outside custom shade set. Installation does involve a fair amount of work to do this yourself and I would say it requires an intermediate level of skill.

My coach is a 2002 Marquis. What was needed to be done was to remove the old scissor shades and moldings. Remove the A pillar trim on both sides and create a flat area using wood placed under the vinyl. Then extend and rewire the wiring from the old shades to one of the A pillars on the side. Create moldings that cover the old recess areas for the old visors, also a molding that extends down and covers the new roller, and in my case I had to create two 1/4 inch thick moldings on the Apillars to narrow the opening for the shade rod to ride on along with the Apillar flats. This assured that the rod that is part of the shade system stayed captive for the ride up and down the pillar post.

What I like is full width sun shading while driving that is fully adjustable to any height and the ease of dropping the shade when you have landed for the day. It is also an attractive install and adds something positive to the interior. I do wish that the mesh was a little denser and blocked the sun a even more but it is a compromise to be able to roll up such a large shade and store it in a small space.

MCD was helpful with my questions and getting proper measurements and shade configuration. The last step was to alter the wiring a bit. You use the existing up and down wiring from the drivers visor switch but remove a wire from the passenger switch and use that wire as a power on and off with ignition. The shade needs that input so it is limited with a user set programmed down limit for visor operation while driving.

Later Ed

[Tim Westman]

Jerry,

We put MCD electric shades in our '05 Monterey and it required some major modifications including new wood work, ceiling and "A" posts.  We had MCD in McKinney, TX install...they did a great job including the wood match.