RV Awnings - Yuck

[Mojo]

I am half way through replacing the awnings on my coach ( it is the test bed for my work ) and I can honestly say I do not mind sewing them but HATE installing them. Thankfully my son worked with me on this project and has prior knowledge on how to install them.

What a royal PITA. I caution anyone who does awning replacements on RV's, especially the slide out toppers which are the worse,  be sure and read the manufacturers step by step procedure. You can easily break that spring inside the tube ( big bucks ) if you lose tension and some have lost tension, snapped, broke and came out the side of the tube, destroying the tube and injuring the worker.

There are alot of adjustments on these things as well so if you go into a project which requires installing them be sure and read the manual and take your time.

I think the next two days will be Celebrex day's. My body is killing me from going up and down ladders, climbing the back of the coach several times, working off the roof ( about 12 - 13 ft tall ) on my knees and also stomach ( lying down while reaching out over the side of the coach ). I am plain and simple to old for this crap. :)

The awning cording I bought worked out perfect BUT it turns out the cording on the tube side is smaller yet ( 1/8th inch ). Thankfully the old cording was all in excellent condition so I could re-use it But I ill need to re-order some.

Here is another kicker. These slide out awnings have different manufacturers requiring different techniques and procedures for each. Some manufacturers also have different models requiring different installation procedures. I thought I was in tall cotton after learning this procedure, only to be informed that is just one type of awning. :)

I decided I am not going to offer installation services but will rather focus on providing the fabric / material. The large slide out awnings cannot be done alone so your paying a side kick to help you which reduces the money your going to make. There is too much work and liability in installing these awnings on RV's to make it worth my while. I will stick to sewing them and let them hire an RV Tech to install them ( about $ 100 - 150 per awning ).

Chris

[Mike8560]

not fun hey? the other day I had to lay on the bow of a boat to pattern the hull side, hurt my chest laying on a small railing. souunds like  GOOD IDEA TO  just make the awnings Chris. you can robly just ship them around the county anyway right?  btw did that lady ever get back to you on thoose slide out awnings I never heard back myself.

[JuneC]

Sounds like fun 8)    NOT   >:(  Welcome to the world of installation.  Every time I encounter a new boat/year/make/model I wonder what's in front of me.  Just when you think you've seen it all....  Like the other day, replacing coaming bolsters on the inside of a Marlin open - typical padded strips along the inside of the hull, center console.  HAD to be hung on "Z" clips.  Not at all.  Found out, that they were through-bolted all along the inside -  but you couldn't FIT in there.  A 2 year old could not FIT in there.  They had cut cutouts in the hull periodically - say every 20 inches or so, and you had to bend back the 1/2" -backed Starboard just enough to get your arm in, through the tiny hole, down the deck far enough to reach the next nut, repeat ad infinitum....   Man  :-X  So much for an easy job. 

Who'd have guessed the RV folks were taking lessons from boat manufacturers.  They should know better.  Nice you found out on your own before having completely underbid some customer's job on some manufacturer you weren't familiar with.  Who'd have guessed they wound the springs tight enough to cause injury???!!!!  I thought they only did that with garage door openers? 

June

[Mojo]

June, that is the same type of spring a garage door has - torsion spring. They are pretty big springs too for an awning ( about 1.5 inches thick and 3 ft long.

Got to the last awning of the day and like a mental midget I lost grip of the bolt the bolt and stay pin and it released the tension just enough to lose our starting point. Had to remove the fabric and take the entire assembly down, release all the tension which made a helluva bang so we had to drill out the end cap and remove everything to inspect the spring. It was fine ( I really lucked out on that as one spring is over a 100 bucks ) but we had to reinstall everything and then go back and reset the tension to factory specs from scratch ( 20 turns on that big spring using nothing but your hands ). What a pain.

After we finished the smaller awning I went back and looked at the first awning ( huge one - 12 ft ) and  didn't like the amount of sag in the fabric ( read more tension here ). Had to go back, remove the cover, release tension, run the slide in and out 10 times, reset the tension and put everything back together and cap off the awning.

One whole day on two bloody awnings. I have two more to install both larger then the first two. After they are done I can yell to the mountains so I can hear that echo back saying - Never again........

I made another 5 trips to the top of the coach tonight on top of the 20 I already made plus the 5 minute trips up and down the ladder.  I Told my son " Damn it, I am to old for this stuff ". His comment was
" I am 32 and already to old for this stuff ).

Tomorrow will be a heavy pharmaceutical day. I can feel it already in every joint. :)

Mike. I never heard back from them either. I told them to order through you but when they said something about considering vinyl I wondered then if maybe they would go elsewhere. Oh well, there will be more.

Chris

[Mike8560]

I fel your pain chris today I installed some seats on a center console and installed a new t top canvas sewing the top was a snap then I stalling a out 100 gromets now that's a pia. Then installing the canvas lacing on the top my hands cramp
up my right hand turns I to a claw. Then you have to poke hole and install two outrigger mounts a anchor light througjt the canvas and gps desiring and VHF wiring and mounting.


Boy al day to install two awnings at $75 an hour would the customer pay that ontop of the covers
$600 labor and you still have 2 more bigger ones
once you get the swing of it you should be able
to shave some time off.

[Mojo]

The problem is after I get the swing of it I wont be able to put that to use as I have sworn off installation..........lol...

The RV Techs I spoke with charge $ 100 for small slide outs and $ 150 for the large ones to replace the fabric. Then of course materials are extra. I have arranged with a local RV tech to do the installs. I will send him business and he can send me the fabric work.

Why do those hands cramp up ? I have a terrible time with my right hand cramping after I have used it a little bit. My left hand is pretty worthless due to a stroke. I no longer have much dexterity in the left.

It is hell getting old like Darren. :)

Chris

[Darren Henry]

It is hell getting old like Darren.

You've got that right !!! I'd say you were picking on me; but I guess you knew I'd be all over this thread. [  8) I love it when people ask the right question; I get to sound like I know something  8) ]

On a conventional awning : we roll it out about 18" ,throw the lever to lock the cam at that end,  remove the screws in  the welt and the upper mounting hardware, then two people slide the entire assembly off the unit. Once on the ground we lock vice grips onto the head of the spring shaft , remove the arm, and CAREFULLY let the tension off the spring.  IF IT SLIPS--- JUST GET TO HELL OUT OF THE ROAD !! they will break fingers. Once the new awning is slid into the tube we re-tension ≈5 turns and re-secure the arms. With the fabric hand wound around the tube, that'll get you the correct tension. We then use 3 guys to re-install : One carrying each arm and one guy on a ladder feeding the welt into the channel.

Slide outs get even more involved as you say. If you can farm this work out-- do it!!

[JuneC]

Then installing the canvas lacing on the top my hands cramp
up my right hand turns I to a claw.

Mike, do you use cable ties to position and tension the top before lacing?  I've found that it really helps.  I haven't done a T-top in a while, though.  Thankfully.  My arthritis is giving me a lot of grief these days with stuff like that.  :-[

June

[Mojo]

My arthritis is giving me a lot of grief these days with stuff like that.  :-[

June

I know better then to make old age comments about women, which is why I like to make them about my buddy Darren instead. :) Besides, your close to me, he is thousands of miles away. :)

I never have had problems with my hands before but about three years ago my right hand started going numb while riding my motorcycle and the last year or two has been cramping up and aching.

I am finding geting old is not fun in the least. :)

Chris

[CKKC]

It is hell getting old like Darren.

You've got that right !!! I'd say you were picking on me; but I guess you knew I'd be all over this thread. [  8) I love it when people ask the right question; I get to sound like I know something  8) ]

On a conventional awning : we roll it out about 18" ,throw the lever to lock the cam at that end,  remove the screws in  the welt and the upper mounting hardware, then two people slide the entire assembly off the unit. Once on the ground we lock vice grips onto the head of the spring shaft , remove the arm, and CAREFULLY let the tension off the spring.  IF IT SLIPS--- JUST GET TO HELL OUT OF THE ROAD !! they will break fingers. Once the new awning is slid into the tube we re-tension ≈5 turns and re-secure the arms. With the fabric hand wound around the tube, that'll get you the correct tension. We then use 3 guys to re-install : One carrying each arm and one guy on a ladder feeding the welt into the channel.

Slide outs get even more involved as you say. If you can farm this work out-- do it!!

Y'all have me totally freaked out now!   We have a class A that needs new awnings on the
windows, thank heaven it doesn't need the big awning replaced yet.
I was wondering if the window awnings are that difficult to replace the fabric?  These awnings just have a pull strap that you pull down and fasten to a hook to keep them in place.   I was not going to attack that job until next year but it looks like I should learn a bit more about this spring thingy!

[mike802]

Chris:  Thanks for the heads up, I was thinking about doing something really cool with the fabric on my travel trailer's awning when I transferred it onto the bus, it's about 20 feet long.  I think I will just leave it as is, all the sudden it looks really good as is ;)

[Mojo]

Y'all have me totally freaked out now!   We have a class A that needs new awnings on the
windows, thank heaven it doesn't need the big awning replaced yet.
I was wondering if the window awnings are that difficult to replace the fabric?  These awnings just have a pull strap that you pull down and fasten to a hook to keep them in place.   I was not going to attack that job until next year but it looks like I should learn a bit more about this spring thingy!

Well Ma'am. The ones over the awnings have springs too but are a little easier to do as you do not have a slide out involved and they are also closer to the ground.

Search out the manual from the manufacturers site and read it well before proceeding. Let me know how you make out.

BTW, I used Recacril fabric on my awnings and loved the way it sewed, looks and goes on. I used a color that matched some of the color on the coach. Looks sharp.

Check with Miami Mike as he has good prices on this stuff. Also Recacril will not stretch or fade. I am pretty sold on this fabric over Sunbrella but am waiting for June and Mike to do a couple marine jobs with it to see what they think.   

Chris

[CKKC]

Thanks for the information Mojo.  I'm still too green to even know what fabrics are used for what!
I probably won't do it till next spring but will keep this post for reference. 
I do appreciate every tidbit of info I can get!
Carol

[Rich]

Wow! after reading these posts, I've gotten a new perspective on this. I have a travel trailer with a good awning, I just don't like the color too much. I wanted to change it, but couldn't find fabric wide enough and wanting to go with vinyl, it would have had to have been heat sealed which meant I'd have to buy a ready made awning. I had more pressing things to do, so I left it alone. Now, I think I'll make that a permanent decision.
Thanks,
Rich

[Mojo]

Rich:

If you change your mind, the Recacril comes in 48, 60 and 98 widths.

I hate to make these awnings sound like they are a nightmare. Maybe I should have said it all differently. :)

The truth is that if you read the instructions and follow them carefully, they are not real hard to do. The problems come in when its your first awning, you have no idea how the guts of the tube is constructed and you miss a step.

Let me also say I suffer from severe OCD. The tension had to be perfect for me, the alignment perfect so this made the job a little more time consuming.

If you pin that spring to hold the tension, it is not a problem. If you do not pin that spring or lose your pin then the thing rapidly unwinds with a huge bang. That is the time to drop it and run like hell. :)
If the spring does not break ( most do ) then you are back to square one and have to start rewinding and pin it again, all done to the manufacturers prescribed winding procedures.

They are not real difficult to do so I do not want to scare anyone off. But from a business standpoint I cannot justify the added liability of dong the replacement of these things in the event I slip and make a small mistake. It can cost you a of of money, time and aggravation.

One other thing that has influenced my decision - I am old and feel the pain at the days end when doing jobs like this. There is only so much Loritabs and Celebrex can fix. :)

Chris