Calling Awning Experts...

[NO David!]

Well ok, mostly flboy...

We have a 7x16 with a curved roof top, and standard leaf spring axles. Our current setup uses a 10 x 10 first up shelter that fits nicely between the door and the trailer. When properly tied and staked, it does reasonably well even in bad weather. The canopy top is vented so that reduces the kite effect somewhat.

Anyhow, we setup the outdoor kitchen next to the trailer fender, and of course the rain runs off the canopy, and down the side of the trailer, right onto the kitchen table. We really like the shade of the 10 x 10, and the relative ease of access in/out of the canopy area due to the straight legs.


I've searched and read post after post, now somewhat confused. I really like Don's (flboy) Aleko RV awning, but believe it or not, have a bit of concern about the support arms being deployed at an angle from the trailer to the edge of the awning. I wonder if we'd keep bumping into them, being used to a canopy type shelter? We would also lose about 20' of coverage on the outer edge, since the awning is about 8' out when deployed (vs. 10' canopy). I suppose for shade, when you drop the outer edge, you increase the effective shade over a canopy anyway.

But wait! flboy has some wind tie downs in one of his pictures. Is it possible to deploy this RV awning in a "carport" style? Outer legs straight down, and tied off for wind resistance? (Why would anybody want to do that anyhow?). Well, I might, if it worked out right. Slide the ol' state park picnic table under, setup the kitchen, enjoy an awning mounted to a rail that would sheet the rain out to the edge.

With all that said, maybe I'm worried about nothing, maybe the angle or patio deployment, legs anchored to trailer bottom wall is best? Hence the reason for the post. What do you folks think?

I envision mounting the rail just above the rear window, below the drip rail. A 10' awning would stop just before the RV door. This would meet our needs, and as you can tell, I doubt I'd be able to mount one long enough to cover the RV door, and still have opening clearance. Bottom of trailer is about 16" off the ground, drip rail about 92" off the ground. There's about 4-1/2" between the top of the rear window and the drip rail.


Any thoughts about "how high is too high" for the awning rail. My trailer has 6" additional wall height, (6' 6" + 16" high floor already) Anybody know how long the legs are for the Aleko?

Thanks again for any thoughts, long post, but wanted to get enough ideas out there to "paint a picture" of my quest..

[flboy]

Well ok, mostly flboy...

But wait! flboy has some wind tie downs in one of his pictures. Is it possible to deploy this RV awning in a "carport" style? Outer legs straight down, and tied off for wind resistance? (Why would anybody want to do that anyhow?). Well, I might, if it worked out right. Slide the ol' state park picnic table under, setup the kitchen, enjoy an awning mounted to a rail that would sheet the rain out to the edge.

With all that said, maybe I'm worried about nothing, maybe the angle or patio deployment, legs anchored to trailer bottom wall is best? Hence the reason for the post. What do you folks think?

Hi NO David. The Aleko awning I have (like most RV Awnings , I believe) also allows you to un-latch the arms from the bottom of the trailer where they connect for the angled approach and use them as straight down legs that can be staked down and also use the tie downs like I use. So, the answer is yes.. can use carport style. That will help if you are worried about running into the Arms. I have not had any trouble with the that yet and I am very clumsy for the most part. :-)

In any case, you would have the option for either with the Aleko RV awning or the Dometic and others I have seen. Good luck.


BTW... for what you are describing, they also make inexpensive bag awnings that you deploy carport style. One thing is they are best put up with two people (can be done by one, but harder) and you must stake them down well for the wind and then you can trip on tie downs. I had one on my first CTC and liked it. I like the RV Awning better for setup and when staked down also, is very robust in the wind.. I will edit this and add some pics.



Pic of the Bag with awning and poles inside. It literally hangs from the rail (no other mounts) and this one was installed short of the door as you are describing. Bag awnings are used on Pup Ups almost exclusively as they have no high sides to accommodate the vertical rails when retracted. You can find a 10" for about $300 if you shop around. I got mine of a Veteran owned company on E-Bay when I bought it.




Works well for Carport and no water down side of CTC.

[NO David!]

Thanks Don. Perfect. I had the Shademaker Supreme bag awning on my list, but saw a single picture of the Aleko in carport style, and thought hey! (The pricing on the Aleko isn't much more, they are showing $ 429 delivered when purchased direct from them.

I think the RV style is worth the little bit extra, and I like the versatility of being able to change the angle for the weather. I just had a blind spot on the leg deployment options. I expect I'll get over the carport deployment idea pretty soon in real life application. Now, to get my mind set to tear apart the inside of the trailer to install bracket blocking....

[McDave]

I have one of these on my 6 x 12

https://www.vidaxl.com/e/8718475923367/ ... 8475923367

McDave

[NO David!]

Thanks McDave, that Vida XL awning looks like a great value.

One of the features I'm looking for is a relatively watertight attachment to the trailer, so I think I'd need an awning rail attachment setup. Otherwise, I'd probably just upgrade my current 10x10 shelter. I stake the outer legs, and tie off the inner legs to the trailer, and it handles the wind reasonably well. The rain runoff down to the trailer wall, requires us to move the kitchen, etc. away from its normal spot anytime rain threatens.

The Aleko RV style awning Don (flboy) has isn't much more than a quality bag awning (Shademaker Supreme), so I'm leaning in that direction,and even now trying to determine if I can cover the RV door with a longer than 10' awning, mounting the awning a bit higher, and adding the roller wheel to the door edge. Hate to bust that piggy bank again. It was nice to discover I had the option of setting the RV awning up in carport (straight leg) fashion if I desired. Learn something new everyday around here, what a great forum and exchange of ideas.

[dirtsailor2003]

I have the ARB unit on mine. I really like it. I can set it up and take it down by myself with a bit of planning. I do have to use a step ladder as I'm not tall enough to reach it. ARB also makes a tent room and a screened room that zips to it.

I've had the awning up in 25-30 MPH winds and had no issues.

If I was to do it again, I'd probably go with the batwing awning from Rhino Rack as I now want to add an awning off the back of the trailer too.

[NO David!]

I like those batwing style awnings too. Thought about one for my Montero SUV, but I so often have the trailer along...

This fellow outfitted his IntechRV Flyer with two Foxwing awnings:

[McDave]

Hey NO David!,
The awning I have is called a fold up but it is on a roller with a gear case. There are 2 spring loaded arms that extend and keep the fabric taught. It is basically a cassette awning without the motor and the outer case. You just use a crank handle to wind it in or out. I used a section of vinyl rain gutter for a case. I had to fab some mounts because the trailer has the radius corners from the roof to the wall, so there is nothing flat to mount to over the door. Also, I wanted to be able to fully extend the awning 8ft and have the low edge over 6' 6" so I wouldn't walk into it, repeatedly. And it would still have the correct angle for drainage etc. It sits about an inch and a half higher than the radius, but it is about the same as the roof height before the radius starts. It does not affect the roof drainage at all. But any water that hits the awning is drained 8 ft away. The side door clears the awning with plenty of room to spare and you don't have to put legs under it so you won't walk into those either. I mounted into the wall studs and it travels real nice, and the best part.. It cannot, I repeat, cannot deploy accidently! My Dad had one deploy at speed on his Peirce Arrow class A RV and it basically totalled the RV. The entire side was shredded, windows and doors and cargo doors. He said he didn't even notice it was hanging out there and it hit an abutment as he was crossing a bridge. So all those long pieces of metal were grinding it out between the RV and the guard rail on the bridge. It was a mess.
I used the 10' on my 12' and just centered it so the door is covered and there is about a foot of wall fore and aft that is not covered. A 12' awning would hang over because of the rounded wall corners and the studs would be further from the end of the awning than I would like. It only weighs about 40 pounds. Customer service was amazing. There was some shipping damage, nothing major but they were so nice about it I almost have enough parts to build another one! Really, the best service I've ever had by far. It is also made by Aleko. Here are some pics. Deployed at Sturgis, and in the driveway, and one of the vinyl gutter. It completely encases the awning when retracted.






McDave

PS. It was even cheaper when I got it a couple years ago.... $146.00 shipped!

[jjvw]

Takes a while to set up this 8x20, but it has survived camping on an ocean front beach in a 60 mph wind.
frame is 1" conduit with fittings from a flea market also available on line
http://www.canopymart.com/

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