Comings and Goings

The curtains in my 2009 A’van Cruiser have three problems:

1. The tracks and curtain headers are cheap plastic rubbish.
2. They do not slide easily and tend to grab on the screws that attach the rail to the body of the van.
3. As a result of point 2 the plastic curtain header tears and the glides come adrift.

I decided to replace them and whilst visiting a caravan show I discovered everyone (except A’van) was using aluminium tracks, proper cloth headers with nylon gliders and nylon hooks; and they worked beautifully.

I quickly found an Ebay store Curtain Track Specialist that supplied everything including the track cut to length.

Here’s what I ordered for the Cruiser:

1. Low profile Mini Curtain Track (bendable RV, Marine, Caravan, …):
   • 4 x 750mm (two front windows)
   • 4 x 685mm (kitchen-side window)
   • 4 x 875mm (large rear window)
   • 1 x 740mm (left-hand side)
   • 1 x 375mm (door)
   • This included sufficient slides and hooks.
2. About 13m of 30mm curtain header tape.

Installation:

1. Remove the curtains, remove the plastic curtain headers and sew on the new curtain header. I sewed it flush with the curtain top/bottom.
2. Unscrew the old plastic track. Plug the screw holes with white filler. When dry, use a white paint pen to paint over the filled holes and any marks made in the process.
3. The new track comes with pre-drilled holes 300mm apart. I drilled extra holes in between (resulting in holes 150mm apart), plus holes about 20mm from the ends. I used 4 gauge 16mm screws to attach the tracks.
4. The new track is skinnier than the old track, so it won’t completely cover the old holes. The old track had screw holes at each end that held the clear plastic end-stops in place. I found that lining the new track up with these holes was just about right. Another way of doing it might be to install the top track, connect the curtains with the bottom track in place and mark where the bottom track should go to make the curtains sufficiently taut.
5. I ended up leaving a bit of slack in the curtains, which allows them to run smoothly.
6. The curtains might benefit from some sew-on Velcro spots to keep them properly closed.

Header tape with hook

End stop

Hook connected to runner

Curtain connected

Curtain open

Curtain closed