Replacing Interior Blinds Question

[tarheel]

I've had to restring 5 day/night blinds in my Tourmaster in the past year and now have 4 more that have frayed strings that look like they are getting ready to break. So, I just ordered 14 new dual roller day/night shades for the entire interior after seeing some new coaches with them factory installed. I looked at this type of blind at the Tampa RV show, but their prices were much more than I wanted to spend. I found another supplier that sold the same type of blind for less than half of what the supplier at the show was selling theirs for. I've not found a workable front window blind that fits due to the curve of the front dash in the Tourmaster. Does anyone know of a shade that will work in place of the front curtains that came from the factory?

[Kate P]

We have a 2009 Tourmaster and it came with MCD shades in the front window, the driver's window, the door and the passenger window. I am sure you can call Millie Birchfield at Gulfstream and she can give you the details on these shades. You could also try calling MCD in McKinney Texas but I don't think they have any information on what they sold to Gulfstream.

[tarheel]

Thanks, I'll try both of them.

[Kate P]

We had to restring all of the shades in the coach more than once. We finally bit the bullet and put MCD shades throughout the coach. When they removed all of the shades they showed us that the way the shade is constructed the strings from the blinds were rubbing against screws and we were going to be changing strings on shades forever. I highly recommend changing out the shades on any Tourmaster product!

[tarheel]

My new day/night roller shades arrived this week and I have all but two of them installed. What a difference in ease of operation, looks, etc. they make. Mine are from Irvine in Elkhart and are identical to the MCD's but less than half the cost. I had one roller blind in my Tourmaster that covered both the passenger window and door, and it never fit right due to the metal assist bar between the two. Being white, it stood out after dark as did the drivers window blind on an otherwise dark coach, so I bought seperate dual shades for each. Being able to have all the windows covered with a screen during the day is another plus.
Dick

[Kate P]

Great job and I wish I had known about the other company that supplies these shades as we have had problems with two shades from MCD and they had to ship us new shades. But, I will admit, they paid for all the shipping and got them out to us quickly. Our 2009 Tourmaster did have separate shades over the door and the passenger window - seems like they did see the folly of their ways and at least corrected that.

[Jeppo]

Hi,

I had the same problem with a few blinds in our Visa19RSD. They seem very cheap and I have looked in many places to find them but I was not able to see anything close to them. Do you know where I should be ordering them from? I also have a sort of kodel number since I took one of them off (P/I#BUA0935).

Thanks,

Jeppo

[Kate P]

We bought the MCD shades which is headquartered in McKinney, TX. They do have a list of dealers that can purchase and install these shades for you. I don't know where the cheaper shades were purchased so I can't help you with that.

[howermj]

Dick,
When you ordered your shades from Irvine, did you go direct to the factory or thru a dealer? We are looking to do the same thing on our 06 TM, and I'll be passing thru Elkhart in about a month.

[tarheel]

A friend of mine was able to order directly from Irvine after talking to a VP. I tried, but had to go through a distributor. I took all of my information, including the contact information for Irvine, names of their sales people, etc. from their web site, (Camping World told me they didn't know about Irvine) to the Camping World in Garner, NC for a special order. They sent Irvine a list of all of my sizes that I prepared for a price quote. I imagined I would have to pay substantially more than my friend that was able to order direct, but it wasn't much more. CW told me they put a 30% markup on the price they gave me. On one common size (72"W X36"H), my final price was $112 and he paid less than $100. On the MCD price list that I received at the Tampa show, their price is $320 for that size on their American Duo shade. There might be a difference in quality, I don't know, but looking at another friends coach that has MCDs, I can't tell any difference in quality. Shipping on my order was $256 for the 14 dual shades.

Irvine had the screens in either black or brown and three shades for the night blinds. They also have brackets that can be mounted to either the wall or overhead. If you need any additional information, send me a PM.

Dick

[howermj]

Thanks! I told my wife about your find and she is measuring everything right now.... I have a great relationship with our local parts supplier, so I'll drop by and see what he can do for me.

[tarheel]

Check your private messages. I just sent you one.

Dick

[Henry111]

Great fit, great color, and easy to assemble. These blinds (https://www.rvhometown.com/best-rv-blinds/) will block most of the "slime" lights around the RV at night, but they are not "opaque" shades. FedEx destroyed the box the blinds were shipped in and lost the brackets, but RecPro was replaced within days. I have ordered more since the first order to replace older blinds on a used RV I just bought and am renovating.

[Henry111]

I bought RecPro blinds to exchange the old blinds that came with my trailer. The valance allowed me to put in with only a few holes within the wall, and that is because these blinds (https://www.rvhometown.com/best-rv-blinds/) have optional screw holes. the color matches my other blinds perfectly. You look great! it is a nice upgrade from the first blinds. they are going up and down with no problem.