Which awning?

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There is no awning and no awning rail on the 13' Trillium we are working on. We want to install an awning, we have seen some on the post and spoke to the local RV dealer. It seems that we have a 3 choices: 1- Rail and slip an awning; 2- Bagged awning like on tent trailers or 3- Fiamma (Westfalia type) boxed awning.
We would like the possibility of add a room and are told only with the bagged awning.
HELP!! What's the real deal? The boxed awning only comes out 6', bagged 7'... What are you using on a small 13' egg? Which is the best way to go? Considering we have no rail. Thanks, JD

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Hi: We mount an 8' Sidewinder II by Carefree of Colorado on our 13' Scamp which extends out 6'. We also have the same unit on our Tow vehicle which is a VW Vanagon Westfalia. We also have the side room that fits both both awnings. Both awning reguire special mounting brackets. For the VW tese brackets were supplied by Carefree and the ones on the Scamp I made from scratch. The 8' awning runs about $300 and the small for the side screen room.
You can check them out at <www.carefreeofcolorado.com>
Nevin
Someplace on this Website there are some photos of our Scamp with the awning extended but have no idea on how to find them. If you can't find them I will post one here if you desire.

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Nevin, thanks for the link. I am pretty sure we saw your rigs; a Westfalia pulling an egg with German flag stripes. But I don't think I saw either awning open in the photo I saw. Since seeing that I've been bugging my honey. Told her that when we sell the Motorhome, we should look into a nice used Westfalia to pull the Trillium for when we need to bring the kids or just get away from the site we're camped at... Just can't stay away from the toys; like kids at a playground: I'll trade you this big RV for these two little campers... JD

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Orginally posted by Nevin Lescher
Someplace on this Website there are some photos of our Scamp with the awning extended but have no idea on how to find them. If you can't find them I will post one here if you desire.

If you do a search you can type in your user name and get a list of everything you have ever posted. Maybe you can pick it out from the list.

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Good tip, Dene. And, if I may add, if you are looking for a picture, then type in ''[img'' and it will pull up just the pictures that you have posted.

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Joy Avila on the Yahoo Scamp group recently installed an awning on her 13 and I was very impressed with how easy iit was for one person to set up. I don't recall the brand, but it was NOT A&E.

Pete in the RatHaus

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well..our TRILL the Pistachio came with the rail installed..so i went on the hunt for material to create my own awning.....was very expensive at 30$ per metre..but it is fade,mold and water proof..sewed two pieces together to create 8 x 8...in the end to feed into the rail i sewed in irrigation tubing- small black stuff- REVY or Home Depot...on the other end i sewed a sleeve to house an extention pole (cut off the nipple part that sticks out at the end for a rope, but left the clamp in the middle so it still telescopes).....

sewed it so there is a four inch overhang on the three sides so i can attach the soon-to-be-made screen room...

work great,looks great and is light weight..also cleans up nicely..:cool

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Sounds good, Terrie and/or Steph. You wouldn't happen to have a picture of it, would you? (thanks)

:jump

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I have a rail on my Trailer. It is about 9' 10" in lenth. I use a 8' by 10' blue tarpaulin for awning. I just fold about 2" of it over a 10 feet 3/8" OD plastic plumbing pipe before inserting it in the rail. No need to fasten it in any way over the pipe. It is staying there nicely. I use tent posts at the other end. A ten minutes job at the most!

It is not so bad looking. In fact, I think that it is quite acceptable and the color of the tarpaulin is an almost perfect match for the blue line on my trailer.:)

This give me an 8' x 10' awning wich is an Ok size, but certainly not excessive. 8' out is not that much. Last weekend, my girlfriend told me that we should even use a larger size tarpaulin.

I went to Canadian Tire but I did not found a 10' x 10' tarpaulin wich I think would be a perfect size. I bought a 10' x 12' (just 7,61$ this week). Will see how it is fitting.
:umb

Alain

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Alain,

Couple of questions for you on your tarp awning setup. Do you leave it attached while travelling, or take it off completely? If leaving it attached, how do you secure it?

Thanks :wave

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Have recently installed an eight foot Fiamma box awning on our 13 foot Boler.Used Fiamma's "Universal" mounting bracket.Also have the screened add-a-room that comes as an option with this setup.Our experience with this type of awning and add-a room comes from a ten foot one we have on our "71" VW Camper-which is an excellent product and has served us well.

Installation was quite easy if you are not squimish about drilling in your fibreglass.If you have priced these you will note it is not a cheap option-but what is?

In that this installation is very recent and we have no miles on the Boler since the addition my only comment is-it looks pretty!Only time will tell if stress will be a factor.

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Lainey,

I just saw your question today. Sorry!

I remove the tarp every time. Quite easy job. Just a question of pulling it from the rail and fold it. The plastic tubing being very flexible, It is easy to store it anywhere.

Alain

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Thanks Alain :wave

I tried a mock up using 3/8 o.d. vinyl tubing, but it doesn't go in very easily at all - about 10 min. to do 4" (then gave up).
3/8" does seem the appropriate size, but would 1/4" work? What about a braided polypropylene rope type rope? What are other people using?

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Lainey, I think part of your problem may be the vinyl. It would not slide easily unless covered with your tarp or awning fabric which I think would then make it too thick. Our awning has the polypropylene rope sewen in.

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I did have the tarp wrapped around the tubing, just a single layer - so I'm not sure why it wasn't working.

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Lainey: I am in the process of experimenting with a tarp attachment on my van.
I cut a slot in an 8' piece of grey pvc tube (conduit) intended for electrical
wiring. I attached the tube to the roof rack with zip ties and string loops
threaded through the back of the tube.

More to the point, I intend to attach a blue poly tarp to the tube by folding
over a couple of inches along the edge of the tarp around a piece of 1/4" poly
rope, and sliding the folded tarp and rope into the slot in the tube. I
tested this, and the piece of rope held the tarp well. To remove the tarp,
just pull out the rope, and the tarp slides out of the slot in the tube.

Whether it works on the van as an awning I haven't yet tried, but using a
piece of rope to hold the tarp in the tube sure seems to work.

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Hi Lainey,
I have a Trillium 4500 that had a rail already installed. I use a 1/4 in. piece of vinyl covered cable that I have sewn a heavy duty silver tarp
around. Very easy to put up--held by tent stakes. Works very well for shade--not too sturdy in rain and wind. I have used a 3rd pole with a tennis ball on it to jack up the middle in the rain. Wind is a problem for this type of awning.

Bonnie B
Kingston, Wa.

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Thanks Everyone :)

I guess it was that extra 1/8" that was making it difficult. I will try the 1/4" instead of the 3/8" and should have better luck I hope. Sewing the casing sounds like a good idea - a quick job, but will save trouble later.

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Lainey,

This is the kind of tubing I am using for the awning. It is 1/4 inch I.D. and 3/8 O.D.

This tubing is about the same as the 3/8 plastic speedway sometimes used to connect the kitchen or bathroom faucets in homes.

You should be able to find this at Home Depot, in 10 feet lenght, but I am not sure if they carry this one. It is Canadian made. I found it at Reno Depot, wich is a competitor of Home Depot around here.

Just folding about 2 inches of the tarp over it and inserting in the rail is very easy on my trailer. Would take me 10 minutes top if I am alone and 3 or 4 if my girlfriend is there to help.

Once the tarp installed completely, with the tent post, after a few wind blows, the eyelets (is this the good word) of the tarp will contact the rail and lock it (the tarp) in place.

One thing I did prior to inserting the tarp the first time was to smooth round a little bit each end of the rail with a file. This help a lot, I am sure.

<img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3f2fb25d15fa2pipe.jpg/>

Alain