TheSamba.com :: View topic - Recomendations for a tough outdoor cover?

Sat Oct 31, 2009 8:03 pm

Hi,

Does anyone have any recomendations for a good car cover for a 71' Westfalia? It gets kind of windy around here and I want something tough to keep the dust off of the Westfalia, it comes out of the body shop soon!

It will be under a breeze-way so most of the elements will be minimal.

I saw a few on ebay and saw a coulpe from some of the more well known parts hoses. But does anyone have a good recomendation? I'd hate to buy a cover and only have it last for less that a year.

Dan

Sat Oct 31, 2009 8:14 pm

This has worked for me year after year, never done me wrong.

Sat Oct 31, 2009 8:19 pm

I bought the Superweave from California Car Cover company and its great.

http://www.calcarcover.com/default.aspx

Sat Oct 31, 2009 9:41 pm

for our Sable wagon we got a custom Weathershield HP cover made by Covercraft through AutoAnything. Shop the different online retailers because the market has some real sales from time to time. Some will include shipping too. We looked at marine sail covers first to see what lasted longest and then called the manufacture of that material. They refered us to the Weathershield HP material as it is the same but designed to be soft on a car finish. It has been outdoors in the sun and weather for a full year now and still looks new. Washes well and keeps moisture out. Also breathes so water on the car after washing it can evaporate. Water can sit on it in a puddle and it is dry underneath. On a scale of 1 to 10 we give it a 10.

Sun Nov 01, 2009 2:05 am

If you're seeking a cover for outside use, you've got high winds, blowing sand, and 12-hour days of intense sun to challenge any cover. Most will be quickly turned to shredded trash. My personal choice for durability would be have to be cotton canvas (then treated with Thompson's Waterseal), with a 2nd choice of a strong polyester fabric, like Sunbrella. (UV is roughly 6 times as destructive to nylon as it is to polyester)

The bad news: You'll probably need to have it custom-sewn as it's likely not available ready-made as a custom-fit heavy-duty unit. Make sure it has reinforced corners and lots of reinforcement stitching for the tie-downs.

Tip: Get a finish-protecting soft flannel cover to go under whichever H/D outer cover you select to cover your baywindow at J-Tree. The good news: You or someone else could then cut out a slightly-oversized cotton canvas cover, based on the dimensions/patterns of a fitted soft cotton flannel inner cover; last I checked those softies were still available from Covercraft. Their basic 68-71 baywindow pattern was C9932, but if your Westy is a pop-top, that won't work; hit 'em up. http://www.covercraft.com/

Nice as the Evolution III and Evo IV covers are, the non-woven nature of their outer layers adversely affects their longevity when your local climate includes frequent strong winds. Otherwise... killer covers, some with very soft inside layers, perfect for preserving good paint finish, if you can park out of the heavy winds.

That's my take on it, living here in the SoCal "windy corridor" and selling covers & tents, as well as renting tents for several years. Just be up front with the cover manufacturer about J-Tree's weather conditions, to get the best for your use. YMMV Best wishes.

Sun Nov 01, 2009 8:09 am

Mid America Motorworks sells fitted covers for Bays, that seem to be heavy duty. Check out their website at www.mamotorworks.com. I have one, but haven't had the need or opportunity to use it yet.

Tue Nov 03, 2009 5:15 pm

I ended up going with a waterproof breathable cover from Empire Car Covers I was going to go with cover king, but it looks like the same cover, but $100 bucks cheaper.

http://empirecovers-review.blogspot.com/

Thu Nov 05, 2009 2:50 pm

If you have the room, get one of these so-called portable garages ... you can find them on sale for about the same price as a good "car cover". I got one last fall and couldn't be happier.

Thu Nov 05, 2009 2:52 pm

Portable garage. i left a jeep under a TIGHT tarp one winter and the paint was rubbed off on the parts where the tarp flapped - not worth it

Thu Nov 05, 2009 7:28 pm

car covers are controversial.

A lot of people (myself included) are of the opinion that they are generally worse for your car than nothing at all. They scratch the paint, and trap moisture inside. Particularly since your car will be protected from direct rain under a breezeway, I would seriously consider that the best way to keep dust off your car is a good coat of wax and an occasional wash.

Fri Nov 06, 2009 9:20 am

Thanks all for the replies. I'm not to worried about moisture as I live in the California desert. As the bus will be parked uderneath a breeze way the cover will mostly be for dust protection. I live on a dirt road and am surrounded by miles of open desert. The dust around here can be a B$tch!

Fri Nov 06, 2009 1:00 pm

what do you guys think about this same question but for the pnw where it's going to sit under feet of snow for the winter?

Fri Nov 06, 2009 2:17 pm

Not to threadjack too much, has anyone modified a cover for a westy to also cover a frontmount spare tire?

Fri Nov 06, 2009 3:23 pm

theizzardking wrote: what do you guys think about this same question but for the pnw where it's going to sit under feet of snow for the winter?
I'm about 250 miles NE of you and we get a lot of snow but it's not very cold so the snow is often wet and heavy. The portable garage held up great last winter. I went out and cleared it off a couple of times after particular heavy dumps of the wet stuff though.