See what the inside of your awning tube looks like

[Gina D.]

you just HAD to look, didn'tcha?





OK, now that your curiosity is satisfied (Tho I don't know why anyone would be curious :-P)...

My awning now actually rolls back up without me having to stand on a table, precariously balanced while I roll the canvas back onto the tube in an un natural backwards twist and contortionist act. Many have seen this feat... many have laughed heartily.

We wont talk about the underwear party in Quartzite two years ago, at 3 am, when the wind kicked up and threatened to turn the Burro into a sail plane.. I had a herd of semi clothed men all around, whose first interest was to help me get the awning stowed ... and second interest was to laugh at my jammies with the teddy bears and machine guns on them. (At least, I HOPE thats what they were laughing at)

I knew there was a spring issue, the awning rolled DOWN with the proper tension, but going back up, there was barely enuff tension left in it to where I could do this odd dance without supporting the full weight of tube and canvas. Again in Quartzite this year, the spring finally fully sprung when I went to pull it down, there was a loud "SPROING.. whack whack, sputter putter, scrape.. then the whole awning tube bonked me on the head as it fell forward. ouch.

I had no manly men in their skivies to help.. I toughed it out and got it safe to drive home with.

[Gina D.]

Knowing the springs would need replacing... I looked up the repair in the carefree manual. It looked simple enough until I got to the part where it said something about a a painful bloody death if the spring got loose while tensioning it, and that you had to be the size of an elephant to even try..

SO...I gave up the home fix idea. We have an RV tech here in the campground I am working at, and he did it for me. I got the "sweat equity" rate...I ordered and paid for the parts and assisted him with the fix.. it takes two in the field.. one to hold things, the other to face the death sproing and muscle mangling tensioning.

I could not take pics during the tear down as I had to hold the awning tube and brace it for him.. but here is the general idea..

Remove the the two screws from the end cap (On the tube) and arm socket and pull out the spring.. it's just a long assembly that slides into the tube, with a three pronged stopper on the end that grip the inside ridges when tensioned.




You can see half of the rusty old spring next to it. This was flopping around inside the tube. It was actually the OTHER spring that broke.. here is whats left of it

[Gina D.]

I guess thats what happens when an awning sits unopened, under the snow, for 7 years. I remember getting a foul smelling shower/bath of rusty water dumped on me the first time I deployed the awning after I bought the trailer.. buckets full. Not like the titanic, is it?

Anyway, this part I could not photograph, but the new spring is simply slid into the tube with no particular precision, secured to the tube end.. then the fun starts... the tech didn't use any special tools, just vice grips. He grasped the cap for the arm, turned it 10 times away from him to tension the spring, thenwith the two of us, I had to guide the arm into the cap while he held tension on it until it was securely slipped over the arm end

Naked arm:

[Gina D.]

He was sweating and you could tell from the veins bulging in his face that this was REALLY hard to do and took all his power to do and still keep us both safe. Had he lost his grip midway, the spring would have shot out the side of the tube, impaled 4 cows, a van, someones tractor and eventually landed in Las Vegas....not to mention ripping his hand off from the vice grips spinning at light speed.

Anyway, here is the end result.. nice new white powder coated caps to replace the grungy scratched black ones that clashed with the coach. I will be painting the old still attached hardware to match.

btw, I opted to replace both springs for consistency, tho the old right hand spring is still good. eBay fodder, I am thinking...





so gents, I am sorry, but no more awning parties in the wee hours are required.... it stows nice and smooth, (Like buttah!) and QUICK now.

[Frederick L. Simson]

I see you have it made in the shade!

[Gina D.]

go to your screen room!!!!

[peterh]

Sounds like a new garage band: Gina and the Death Springs.

Can someone who full-times in a trailer even have a garage band?

[Frederick L. Simson]

Sounds like a new garage band: Gina and the Death Springs.

Can someone who full-times in a trailer even have a garage band?

An Awning Band doesn't have the same ring to it...

[pjanits]

Nice job Gina!
Hmmm which carefree awning has those nice curvy arms for a 17' Burro?

[Gina D.]

it's a Fiesta, rather old. Call Carefree and see if they still make the arms. When I called they seemed confused about these particular ones.

[Andrew Gibbens]

you just HAD to look, didn'tcha?

But shouldn't there be a spider living in there?

I believe a minimum of one spider plus associated webs is essential to the smooth and safe operation of any outdoor equipment......

Andrew

[Frederick L. Simson]

it's a Fiesta, rather old. Call Carefree and see if they still make the arms. [b]When I called they seemed confused about these particular ones.

I think your awning is a "Simplicity" and not a "Fiesta".
That would explain why the Carefree people were confused about your arms.

A Carefree Fiesta awning cannot have curved arms. They have a "remote lock" lever in the front arm, operating the OPEN/CLOSE latch from a handle half way down the arm, like a [b]built-in "Pull Wand" to operate the latch on the end of the roller tube. It also has solid plastic "Travel Locks" that replace the "Travel Straps" that the Simplicity awning uses to hold the arms closed. Since I am tall enough to reach the "pull strap" when the awning is closed, and I have a Fiesta awning with a "remote lock" lever, I threw my "pull wand" away.

If I were looking for curved arms for a Burro, I'd tell the Carefree folk that the trailer has a similar shape to a classic Airstream.

[Gina D.]

uhm.. it's a Fiesta.. says so right on it, and thats how the Springs were ordered.

[Frederick L. Simson]

uhm.. it's a Fiesta.. says so right on it

I was assuming the difference because your awning has "Travel Straps" and you need the "Pull Wand" to operate the latch on the end of your roller tube.

All mine says is "Carefree". I originally ordered a "Simplicity", but they couldn't install the first one because the arms were too long and they had to re-order it.

[Gina D.]

mine does not have the travel straps... unless you count the velcro ones I put on there myself.