installing awnings

[gbstewart]

just got a 16 ft awning great score $100.00 complete and great shape, anyway for those who have put awnings on how did you mount them with the rub rails in the way? did u cut out the rails to allow the legs to fit flush? or put it over them? I havent spent to much time on it yet , but just looking for advice before i start rubing my head trying to figure it out.

tks
gbstewart

 

[ol trunt]

Try not to cut the rub rails as they are structural on some bodies. Just fir out the side of the bus where you mount the awning to the fired out area. That will allow the support arms to lie flat against the rub rails and will also look better. Good catch on the awning.

 

[sdwarf36]

My mounting of an awning was tricky because the curvature of the side of my bus. What I had to do was make a mount that allowed the arms to sit when retracted. And the front mount actually is in front of the body. It works just fine. Only downside is you need a little extra tug to get the arms to come out when opening.


For the ribs-I'd just do the same kind of thing-make the mount on the body stick out 2'? or so.

 

[dirtygoat]

I didn't have any issues with the rub rails, the legs sit far enough away from the side of the bus when installed...

 

[gbstewart]

thank u for your replies, i just got some time to have a closer look, and the rubrails wont be a issue,the brackets stick out for enough to miss the rails. Its the long weekend here in canada, suppose to go camping but the weather man is calling for rain ,thunder lighting, and snow! only in canada( every may long weekend that iv been camping it always snows .

tks
gbstewart

 

[jkindt]

...Its the long weekend here in canada, suppose to go camping but the weather man is calling for rain ,thunder lighting, and snow! only in canada, every may long weekend that i've been camping it always snows...

Yup, welcome to Canada! This is the reason I needed to get my furnace installed and make sure my A/C works. Gotta be ready for anything! 8)

 

[The_Stuff]

if you are worried about the arms hitting the rub rails, my old neighbours had a couple tennis ball halfs shoved between the arm and the RV to keep them from rattling against it down the road.

 

[lornaschinske]

Didn't someone on here install one of those "sunsetter" patio awnings on there bus? I wonder how it held up while going down the road. RV awnings are terribly expensive.

 

[sdwarf36]

Mine is a Sunsetter-came off a house. Works perfect. One big help to me was a buddy who had an awning on his toy hauler trailer-knew the ins+ outs. Mine was "sprung" when I got it. The clock spring was unwound. (new they come with a pin in them having the spring set) He knew getting it set right the 1st time would make life easier. We took a couple of tries to made sure things would wrap up tight on retraction. I have no flapping at all.
About the only other advice i can give is its better to wrap it up dry.

 

[lornaschinske]

Thanks for the info. I wondered it if worked out. Seems I can't get a Sunsetter quote unless I commit. Right now just looking. Setting an awning out here in NM is an iffy proposition. We will most likely wait until we head to east TX. The prices on awnings at JC Whitney seem to be pretty decent for a complete unit. I can't decide if we would be better off with just putting up window awnings or a patio awning. We've been in so many parks where we could not deploy the patio awning on the Class C due to trees. Maybe I will just buy the awning track and make my own window awnings out of shade cloth.