Thanks for the alert, Bill. By the replies, it would appear this is an issue with a certain era of Monterey's, including possibly mine. I'll have to examine my toppers.
As many know from my posts in the past, I'm no fan of Carefree either - product design, engineering, workmanship, and customer service are all seriously lacking. My most serious issue was also steel-aluminum related, with my patio awning where they have a steel drive motor shaft engaging an aluminum roller end sleeve. That's virtually all that keeps the thing from unrolling, as mine did at 60 mph on Canada 1 in the Rockies. When that steel shaft eventually wears the aluminum hole enough, the hole can slip on the shaft, making things worse, until it can freespin enough that a bump on the freeway lets the tube unroll.
Carefree won't sell just the aluminum tube end sleeve. No, you have to buy an entire motor assembly. BCS replaced mine, but though I trust them, I don't trust Carefree's products anymore. I'll likely sweat bullets on the road, fretting about whether that awning's gonna unfurl again, until I find and install a device that I know secures that roller in place, even if it means some inconvenience whenever I want to use the awning.
Joel
