By Jim Twamley
Jim’s writings were a favorite among our readers for many years. Jim’s health finally forced him to “hang up the keys,” but we like to dip into the archives and pull out pertinent “oldies” to share. Here’s one of them:
In my travels, I often wandered around various-size swap meets/flea markets in favorite snowbird hangouts. You can find plenty of vendors specializing in RV-related items. On one excursion while I was ambling down the aisles of tables festooned with tools, tube socks and Tupperware, I happened upon a vendor who specialized in RV awnings. They were having a sale on motorized visors/shades manufactured by Carefree of Colorado.
I’d been wanting some of these as I was frustrated with the lousy visors that came with my motorhome. We’re not usually traveling when the sun is in our eyes, but sometimes it happens and when it does, a nice set of visors comes in handy. These motorized visors are easy to install, and I purchased the remote control so I could mount the switch wherever I wanted. I placed it on the steering wheel for ease of use. The remote is radio frequency controlled so it can be installed behind a cabinet.
I put the control module behind the television cabinet. The control module is the small black box with wires coming out of its center. The visors will fully extend from the overhead mounting, clear down to the dash. This feature comes in handy when you are parked facing the sun, like at a rest stop.
I installed two visors, end to end, to allow for full coverage of my windshield and a single remote control operates each side independently. I removed the TV for access to the overhead cabinetry. Then I drilled a hole, allowing the wire from the shade/visor to be routed to an existing 12-volt power source. I did need to relocate my dash fans, so I moved them back about three inches.
Some RVers like to mount these visors/shades with an overlap, giving them more complete shade and privacy. If you choose this mounting configuration make sure you have enough room on the overhead. You can find this product online at the Carefree of Colorado website.
—Jim Twamley – Professor of RVing
##RVDT1774
Our Thor class A has factory 1 piece sunshield/blackout on the windshield. It works great but I have zero side shades.
I would like adjustable side shades of some kind but I don’t want spend $1000!
The link in the article is dead (understandable). That lead me on a search and I quickly found
https://arizonarvpartscenter.com/carefree-smartvisor-shades/
They have electric and non-electric shades from $86 to about $400.
I will be a customer!
Sorry, Tim. When I checked the link the other night it went right to the Carefree page. But when I checked it now, based on your comment, it didn’t work. 🙄 So I updated the link in the article. Thanks! Have a great day. 🙂 –Diane
I so enjoy these “blasts from the past;” thank you! Perhaps my enjoyment is partially because I was not RVing when many were writing about RVing. Such columns as this give me historical perspective and a better understanding of how, when things in the industry evolved. I hope that you can share some wisdom from Gaylord Maxwell, Joe and Vicki Keva, Bob Livingston, Gary Bunzer, and others that I don’t yet know in the future as well as more from Jim Twamley. Thank you!
Can’t agree more. But this information is a tad out of date. Today you can get one MCD roller visor, and a blackout shade as well, that will cover the entire windshield. I’ve got one on the toll window too, so I can make life easy with the sun in almost any position. Plus, the blackout shade is far easier to use than the usual drapery that pulls across the windshield.