Awning fell off new 17' fiberglass unit-Advice

[Darwin Maring]

This is one of the reasons to be a Good Sam member. You write to them, give them the details and imclude names of the people at the company and they go to work to help. They publish this in their magazine that has a really wide distribution. You will be surprised at their success.

[stevebaz]

Originally Posted by redbarron55

Casita has just announced a $2000 price increase. I emailed and asked if that included bolting on the awning

Jonathan@casitatraveltrailers.com

I got an answer back saying if left out the wind would blow it off. I guess it is designed to be sacrificial to protect, well nothing.
I can see a wind damaging the awning, but not ripping the thing clean off.
As fragile as these awnings are having it pull off is inconceivable.

Email the guy and let him know what you think.

pretty good profit margin for 8 bolts.

[redbarron55]

Originally Posted by Civilguy

I emailed Jonathan Willis, attached the photos, and included a link to this thread.

Ultimately, the owner should be able to make an effective repair as it appears there is no significant damage to the fiberglass shell.

However it is also clear from the photographs that the awning was not adequately attached.

I believe that it is inappropriate that Casita is not stepping up the plate here.

I agree with you and I think that Casita should determine how many and when the started mounting with pop rivets and at least send drill bits and stainless steel hardware to replace them as this is unacceptable workmanship and design.
No wonder that a little wind blows the awning off. Any damaged in the departure should also be replaced.
Class action anyone? Recall?
What if the damned thing blows off while traveling down the road and someone is injured?
I can see liability when the manufacturer has a known defect that they do not address.
I don't know the cost for the addition, but I would guess at least $1000.00 and for that money it should be installed correctly and safely.
We as a community should insist and follow up.

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by redbarron55

...
Without a doubt this is not the first awning that has fallen off with the very poor engineering practice and workmanship evident from the pictures….

It might very well be the only one. In all of 43 posts to this thread only one Casita owner has checked his awning for rivets and instead found bolts. It seems likely that perhaps a new and untrained employee used rivets on OP’s trailer, and that error was corrected shortly thereafter. So it could be a very small number of awnings attached with rivets… even as few as one.

Originally Posted by John in Michigan

Odd that no other Casita owners have posted this problem. Other Casita owners, look at these photos. Is this how your awning is attached? ...

True.. only one other Casita owner commented on his or her awning and it was in fact bolted on. All Casita owners with awnings should check and report on this thread if bolts or rivets were used.

Originally Posted by redbarron55

...
Class action anyone? Recall?
What if the damned thing blows off while traveling down the road and someone is injured?
I can see liability when the manufacturer has a known defect that they do not address.
I don't know the cost for the addition, but I would guess at least $1000.00 and for that money it should be installed correctly and safely.
We as a community should insist and follow up.

Casita should indeed address this issue and assure the fiberglass RV community that they have or will take the appropriate steps. From issues of liability to reputation, its clearly the best business practice. But a Class action lawsuit for a single case with no personal injury is premature.

[Rockytop]

I can’t imagine that this is not a warranty issue. The trailer is less than 3 months old. Don’t let them push this off on you.

Originally Posted by flyrodjoe

Purchased new 17' egg in June 2020, direct from manufacturer. Took off for a long planned six to eight week trip across much of the country.


Three weeks into our trip, stopped for night at CG about 5:30 p.m. No wind, quiet evening. Put out awning carefully as explained in owner's manual. Partially out, I dropped the legs and went inside to get my long nails to hold down the legs. Crash, the awning fell completely off the roof. Immediately emailed manufacturer for help. Strapped the awning to the TV, cut the trip short and headed back to NC. No answer for two weeks. Finally I heard from the service department and told them my story. After several more days they got back to me to say " nobody here has ever seen this happen, yes winds have blown them off, rain has broken them and or ripped them however just sitting open this wold not have done that we have been installing these mounts and this system since the early 90s and never have experienced any problems of this nature" Contact your insurance company!
I did contact insurance company and was contacted by an adjuster. However he has been called to LA for hurricane assessment and will contact me to view the damage when he returns.In the meantime I am stuck with a great new trailer that I can't use due to the rivet holes in the roof. Need to leave them for adjuster to view.

Advice needed. I have photos of the awning bracket with the rivets showing. No indication the pop rivets ever expanded. Company would not pay for repair, even without viewing. Can't take the trailer back to Texas for their viewing. All I want is someone to repair and correctly reattach the awing. My wife and I have been camping and RVing for over 53 years and I have never run into this kind of treatment from a manufacturer on a product less that 6 weeks old. Your comments or suggestions greatly appreciated.

[computerspook]

Originally Posted by flyrodjoe

Purchased new 17' egg in June 2020, direct from manufacturer. Took off for a long planned six to eight week trip across much of the country.


Three weeks into our trip, stopped for night at CG about 5:30 p.m. No wind, quiet evening. Put out awning carefully as explained in owner's manual. Partially out, I dropped the legs and went inside to get my long nails to hold down the legs. Crash, the awning fell completely off the roof. Immediately emailed manufacturer for help. Strapped the awning to the TV, cut the trip short and headed back to NC. No answer for two weeks. Finally I heard from the service department and told them my story. After several more days they got back to me to say " nobody here has ever seen this happen, yes winds have blown them off, rain has broken them and or ripped them however just sitting open this wold not have done that we have been installing these mounts and this system since the early 90s and never have experienced any problems of this nature" Contact your insurance company!
I did contact insurance company and was contacted by an adjuster. However he has been called to LA for hurricane assessment and will contact me to view the damage when he returns.In the meantime I am stuck with a great new trailer that I can't use due to the rivet holes in the roof. Need to leave them for adjuster to view.

Advice needed. I have photos of the awning bracket with the rivets showing. No indication the pop rivets ever expanded. Company would not pay for repair, even without viewing. Can't take the trailer back to Texas for their viewing. All I want is someone to repair and correctly reattach the awing. My wife and I have been camping and RVing for over 53 years and I have never run into this kind of treatment from a manufacturer on a product less that 6 weeks old. Your comments or suggestions greatly appreciated.

As several people here have already commented, document it well. If you don't have a good DSLR someone you know does and knows how to use it. Buy them lunch and get a bunch of pictures of everything. Cell phones still don't do a good job at this. Save those for the vacation snaps.

Then I would contact a couple RV repair shops and get estimates on repair.



Then I would email the company all of this. I would also arrange to get all of the pictures printed out. Good chance they are still going to ignore you. But the "cost for repair" along with the implied statement that there is a problem that needs a repair can help a lot in getting attention. It also shows that you are trying to do something. But likely they will ignore all of this. That is why you would need the pictures. I would print everything out. Then include a USB stick of the pictures. And I would send all of this certified return receipt requested. That generally does get people's attention.

[MontclairBobbyB]

Picked up our 2020 SD17 June 22 in Rice. From my photos it's difficult to tell if the main fasteners on the awning are bolts or rivets (as they're buried under caulking). SOME rivets are used, and seem appropriate (in non-load-bearing places), but I would be aghast at the thought of rivets being used in the main load-bearing mounting plates. We have used the awning several times (with the support poles in the vertical position), with no issues. I'd imagine having the poles in the 45 degree position, inserted into the wall brackets on the Casita would significantly add to the load stress of the awning. Regardless, the mounting system MUST be able to easily accommodate either.

I will contact our sales person at Casita to inquire HOW ours was (or should have been) attached, how to confirm this, and to raise concerns based on the OP's unfortunate experience (sorry for your trouble!). Casita MUST stand by their manufacturing and quality standards. I will get back to the group. Thanks for raising this. BB

[redbarron55]

Casita themselves indicated that if the awning was extended the wind would blow it off, just saying...
Just repeating what Casita themselves had to say.

[Gypz]

How sad. I looked up Rice TX and see it is Casita that is the maker. I heard they were good rigs but will be interested is seeing how they handle this. If a company doesn’t stand good for their product let the consumers know. It certainly helps with the buying process as a big “CAUTION” proceed at your own risk shows what kind of company it is. Good luck.

[jn3521]

Like everyone else said. Stainless bolt nylon washer under the head since it looks like an aluminum housing and a large washer or stainless strip of metal to reinforce the glass and in the long run it would be better than any rivets. Put some dalops of Sikaflex 291 or 3M 4200 where the holes are and you will be fine. You could use butyl tape as well. Not any different than my boat. How I anchor my downriggers. Will take two people and 1/2 hour once you get the parts.

Oh don't forget to post it on social media if they are being poor in the customer service dept. Shouldn't have rivets like that without a backing plate of sometype. Too much pressure.

[Peder_y2k]

Possible the factory did not install enough fasteners. Fewer than necessary causes strain on the remaining resulting in failure.

[Cliff Hotchkiss]

Originally Posted by Peder_y2k

Possible the factory did not install enough fasteners. Fewer than necessary causes strain on the remaining resulting in failure.

His pictures show 4 holes and 4 rivets holding nothing. I question rivets at all , not the number used.

[Civilguy]

Originally Posted by gordon2

It might very well be the only one. In all of 43 posts to this thread only one Casita owner has checked his awning for rivets and instead found bolts. It seems likely that perhaps a new and untrained employee used rivets on OP’s trailer, and that error was corrected shortly thereafter. So it could be a very small number of awnings attached with rivets… even as few as one.

I agree. I mentioned this in my email to Jonathon which was sent late yesterday.

I owned a Casita for many years. It was a fine trailer. The awning was well-attached.

Please inquire within your organization to see what has changed in the process, or what was done incorrectly in this specific case.

I am currently involved in a project where something constructed by an experienced, reputable company had a significant failure due to one person assembling one small part incorrectly. Sadly, it happens. Generally, everyone feels bad when something goes so terribly wrong and then works to make it right.

I think that word will filter through there at Casita and they will realize this is something they bear responsibility for.

[Geronimo John]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

i’ve said this many time over many years and I still believe it to be true
“ The warranty on a FG trailer is mainly a useless piece of paper “

By the time you haul your trailer a thousand or more miles back to the factory and they do a guick ,sloppy, half a_s repair job that fails shortly after you leave the factory, you are probably better off just fixing it yourself .

.

I know that I can speak from personal experience, as well as the experiences of
hundreds of Oliver Travel Trailer owners when I say that OTT warranty is in fact a true warranty and that their Service Department is simply outstanding. If you have any doubt about this, just visit their Owner's Forum.

[thumper-tx]

You can forget Casita stepping up and taking care of the problem if that is where you bought your egg. Some years back we bought a new 17 Casita and two hours after pick up we had a brake problem with one wheel seriously overheating. I called the factory and they said “you are on your own, call Dexter axle if you have a brake problem . Yep, our trailer was two hours “old”.

[Peder_y2k]

Originally Posted by Cliff Hotchkiss

His pictures show 4 holes and 4 rivets holding nothing. I question rivets at all , not the number used.

Right, after seeing the pics the wrong fastening 'system' was used. A backing plate or special washers are required for either rivets or bolts which are preferred.

[redbarron55]

I have a 1985 16' Scamp and wanted the 12' Fiamma awning and searched for a good deal. The best I found was direct from Scamp and during our travels we arranged to have it installed.
They installed it for the sale price and did a great job with screws and nuts and three brackets (better support, distributed load.)
I was well pleased with the installation and the price.
Their system of mounting is far superior to the Casita's and had more brackets.
Very solid.

[stevebaz]

Get together your evidence and send the packet to the awning manufacturer for review. They are the only ones to approve installation. Then your choice to fix it properly or go after casita for repair or reinbursement. The awning manufacturer will also have installation instructions. Proving proper installation or disproving it. The repair is not a big deal for anyone handy but could have been if it fell off on the highway.

[Rodger7]

OP thanks for posting this, I was going to buy Casita soon. It's bad enough to actually mount an awning like this, but to set on their hands for two weeks and then blow you off is piss poor at best.

How much would have cost them to fix this issue right now? You mean to tell me a foreman or prototype guy couldn't take an hour out of their day to fix this? Or if that busy add an hour to their day? BS, they could have easily set it outside their shop and worked on it. I build prototypes for living (different industry) and we would do this for a customer right now. I've done it myself while eating lunch, happy to.

They simply don't give a **** about you, and are either too stupid or arrogant to run a business. This pisses me off. Obviously their off the list for me and anyone else I talk to.

[camden.mike]

Option 1. Clean and apply blue painters tape over hole 2 layers and you’ll be safe from rain for a while as long as it’s flat so you can still shoe adjuster.
Option 2. Get some outdoor caulking and squirt a little in the holes, it will be water right and easily removed (do not tool the hoop just leave it((tooling means wiping it to flatten it out)) that will allow you to still use your Scamp with out fear of leaks. If the entire awning is not removed yet then take it off for now.