I am researching the installation of an awning for my Uhaul 13'. I need to hear from someone who has done this, or has one already installed.

Hi Judith,

Are you looking at a bag awning system or something else?

A bag awning, I don't know if I want to afford a fancy one.

Judith,

I plan to set a old style awning track on with that super sticky tape. This track uses the heavy corded edge of the tarp to hold it in place. Then, I won't have drips over my door. My door leaked like mad. The water just came around the edge. I used an auto door gasket under my existing tired gasket and it works great!

Now that the season is over, try to get a used bag awning from a wrecking yard that has trailers. Or, find someone who is tearing down an old popup and see if you can buy some parts. I got a lot of stuff by tearing down a trailer for someone. I was a lot kinder to the trailer than a teenager..Good Luck.

Ha Bud,
http://home.comcast.net/~shademaker/ropnpol.htm

I have a 8' Awning for sale

I have not yet installed an awning on my Uhaul, but have done some research. (There have been past discussions on this subject somewhere in the forums.) Since we have 'double wall' trailers, it appears the best bet is to use either super sticky tape or butyl tape under the track, and then reinforce between the shells wherever you can reach it. The main area of access is inside the closet. You can get a wood reinforcement board between the shells there, and then screw through the outside shell to attach to it. It won't reach the whole length of the track, so you have to rely on just going through the shell on the rest (there are small plastic anchors that I use inside and I'll use them in these areas too.)
I'm still deciding on a bag awning (nice for a one person setup) or one of the cute retro awnings (but not sure if I can put that up by myself.) Good luck, and post photos when you're done!

the awnings on the escape campers sure look nice....I wonder how much work to install one of those........bruce

I throw this suggestion in every time someone asks this question. A FirstUp from Walmart will sit against the UHaul. The UHaul door will open under the edge of the screen house. The screen house gives you another room to sit it. It keeps the bugs down too.

CindyL

Awnings look very cool and serve a great purpose but for the ease of it I think I will try the FirstUp from Walmart.
I also hate to put more holes in the UHaul than it already has.

I think Pat's idea of the VHB (very high bond) tape on a conventional track is a good one.

Is the U-haul's outer shell is much thinner (or any thinner?) than, say, a Scamp or Boler shell. If not, well, many people install an awning track on just one shell of those, so there may not be any particular need to tie the inner and outer shell together since you are not using conventional fasteners (which would try to draw the two shells together). Either rivets or VHB would not do that, and would not require access to the back side.

Unless you had a major awning, I wouldn't think it would "tear" the outer shell (but correct me if I'm wrong since I don't have a U-haul to go poke at), and with just the VHB, there would be no holes. I don't know if it would hold an awning that sat on the side of the trailer all the time (it very well might though), but there are many that you take out of the track between uses. Putting one in the track (if you went that route) would probably be less work than putting up a First Up (not that there's anything wrong with a FU; just saying that to compare the work if you "reload" the track each time.

Once the track was in place, one might find it easily strong enough to hold a bag awning up there enroute.

If you felt you had to tie the shells together, then I would be thinking of making some thickened epoxy annuli between the shells. But I still think outer shell only might be viable. With rivets or VHB tape (the tape does sound appealing).

One note on the tape: Although it seems unbelievable, 30 years down the line, there is usually some contamination from mold-release wax on the outside of the trailer (gelcoat). Solvent and careful wiping will remove it (keep using fresh side of a towel, with no re-wiping, etc.) Interlux Solvent Wash 202 is one product, but I'm sure there are others. Acetone might work in a pinch. You would want to do this before sanding, or otherwise you can just grind the wax in.

By the way, if you make your own awning, there is some plastic "tape" that is basically the "cord" that goes through the awning track, with a flap attached to it. You sew the flap onto the cloth, and not around the "cord." That's kind of nice because it used to be that the fabric would always wear off where it wrapped around the rope (that you would sew into the fabric in ye olden dayes).

(I haven't sewn awnings for trailers, but there are a few different canvas awning-type things on boats that use the same ideas.)

Raya

PS: Whew, I guess my coffee kicked in!

Gary:

Here's pix:

that would remind me of a tent.....something i'm trying to get away from

Not this screen house. After we set it up, we equip it with laptop stands that we eat on and use for our laptops, drink holders on the chairs for drinks (The trailer has wine glasses with extras for guests.), exercise mats for morning yoga, and even a dresser for my clothes. I am a glamper, not a camper. This FirstUp even has a chandelier!!

CindyL

And orange LED light strings to light up the rope tie-downs. This really helps to stop people from tripping over the tie-downs in daylight or dark. Our FirstUp is really just an enclosed porch on our VT. We also have the wind screens for windy or rainy days, or to separate us from campers too close next door! Some privacy is nice!

I like the front neon sign! I just want to stop drips. I see that a modified first up might do the trick.....hmmmmm. I could just add the track, then a small arc of tarp to the easy up to solve the drip issue.