New Moonshade Canopy for 400

Jax0913

We just received our Moonshade canopy and got it up for a test run last night. Quality is on point! took maybe 2 minutes to set up. Really excited for this addition to our T@b400! 

qhumberd

Any comments on how it performs in wind and or rain conditions? And where did you acquire this?

Horigan

Found it on https://moonfab.com/products/moonshade/.  $325 plus $20 for Keder rail anchors.  Looks pretty slick.  Seems to be more of a shade awning as the material is not coated and it's not advertised to be a rain fly.  I think if you staked the legs down it would be pretty sturdy given the Keder rail anchors.

Jax0913

We just got it yesterday so haven't had a full run with it. The poles come with tie downs and stakes. We got the keder rail anchors for the basecamp, even though they said they would fit the 400 they don't. We are planning to use the suction cups that come with it this weekend to test it out. 

Homebodyatheart

@Jax0913 be careful that the suction cups don’t pull up the outer wall shell. Some in the ALiner group I wander in have had this problem. I’ve never used heavy duty suction cups on my Tab though. 

Jax0913

@Homebodyatheart thanks... Let's hope not, they aren't super heavy duty. They are also going right inside the rail on the top of the tab so there is support there as well. 

Denny16

The top skin on a TaB side panel is fiberglass bonded to the Azdel panel, which in turn is bonded to the foam, not likely it will delaminate from a suction cup.
cheers

Horigan

@Denny16 , I just drilled a large hole through my roof for a solar installation and the roof material was aluminum sheet; below which had insulation batting with a reflective cover.  Below that was 1/2" plywood, then the 3/16" ceiling panel.  This is on a 2019 400.  In a build video I saw they used a large roll of aluminum sheet for the roof.  So large suction cups should be fine.

I think they only use Azdel on the sides, and floor on some years.

Denny16

Yes Horigan, the roof is aluminum, the sides where the Keder rail is is Azdel composite, which is what I was referring to, in reply to Homebody...’s comment, “ suction cups don’t pull up the outer wall shell”.  The OP is using the suctions cups on the roof, again, should not be an issue, which as yiu pointed out is aluminum bonded over aa alum frame, with a foam infill.

cheers

Jax0913

Thanks! I wasn't worried about the suction cups at all then someone also mentioned them on the Facebook group. After I installed Solar two years ago I figured the roof was the best mount for those cups and since they are going just inside the roof rail I felt pretty good about it, and you just confirmed my thoughts as well. Going to powerwash today and then put the cups back on with some VHB tape and see how they hold. Since our flexible panels are mounted with VHB I feel pretty confident this will be a good semi permanent solution. This will make set up an even faster process, I'll time it, maybe less then 1 minute, 2 if I am more casual about it  

Jay_and_Kat

@Jax0913 we're looking at possibly getting one of these for our 400, since you last posted on this, how has yours worked out?  Are you still using the suction cup mounts, how do they hold and have you seen any issues with the roof of the T@B?  Or are you attaching the cups to the side of the camper, rather than the roof?

WayneW

Moonshade now offers keder rail anchors that fit the T@B (3/8”). Before they only had the 1/2” anchors that fit the base camp. 

We are seriously considering the moonshade but haven’t decided yet. We currently have an E-Z Up canopy and a Gazelle 5-sided bug shelter, but the moonshade is attractive because of the weight and ease of setup. But how many shelters does one trailer need??

Jax0913

@Jay_and_Kat Sorry for the delayed response for some reason I didn't get notifications on this post! Still love it. We are still just using the suction cup mounts. As much as I am intrigued by the keder rail anchors that @WayneW mentioned. I like putting the cups on the roof so the Moonshade mounts over the top rail and any rain runs down the natural slope of the tab. My only complaint is that they say they are heavy duty stakes but they are aluminum and bent easy. We just bought a pack of heavy duty stakes on Amazon and use those instead.

WayneW

We purchased the Moonshade for our 320 and we love it. We use the keder rail anchors but @Jax091 has a good point about rain running down the roof. We’ve only used the canopy in dry conditions so far, but if rain is in the forecast I will probably try the suction cups on the roof. The keder rail anchors can just stay in place all the time.  And the stock stakes are not “heavy duty”. We replaced ours with steel ones that hold up to the wind. 

Also, the 3/8” anchors sold by Moonshade were too big. I had to spend some time and file them down. I’d buy the 5/16 from Moonshade if I did it again. Or find some on Amazon.