I bought an awning from Interwest Sports like others on this forum have done Interwest Sports
I got an 8' Supreme model. After purchasing it I realized I probably could have done a 9' as my rail is 8' long and the actual awning ends up being 7' due to the way it's constructed.
Booker - do you have any pictures of what you describe or can you explain the measurements more?
Quote:
I got an 8' Supreme model. After purchasing it I realized I probably could have done a 9' as my rail is 8' long and the actual awning ends up being 7' due to the way it's constructed.
I'm about to order the same awning from Interwest and I have a 13' Trillium as well - hoping to order the right size the first time out. My awning rail appears to be original and measures out at 8'.
Thanks!
Ok, I didn't get a chance to put up the awning for close ups with it extended so the shots and descriptions are a mixture.
My awning rail is 8' long. At the end of my awning rail a previous owner had added 2 small chunks of awning rail under the original. It had a few notches rounded out in it but I did not understand what this for until I installed this awning.
Below is my existing rail and subrail
This is the attachment for the pole end that Interwest provides that you have to drill into your trailer. Because of the subrail on my current rail I could use that instead
Here I show how far in the awning is from the ends of the bag.
As mentioned the interwest supreme awning is actually 7' when deployed. I have a few shots that will hopefully show this. Because the awning is 7' and the rail is 8' I could have used a 9' bag awning and used the existing awning subrail or install Interwests awning rail ends. The rail ends may have ended up a bit inset but as there is only one velcro strap holding the top rail that would work fine.
For setup I can do it by myself but two people does make it easier, one person to hold the center of the awning after unrolling and the other to pop out the legs and rails. The legs and rails are held in place in the awning frame by velcro and they can be tough to pull out.
Hope that helps anyway out who is looking at Interwest awnings. I found my dealings with them very easy (considering this is a custom color awning).
Edit: one reason I mentioned the longer awning is because members like Doug Mager have used longer bag awnings which have 6" hanging out on either side. As the awning is sewn in 6" from the end the support is still there for the awning. I noticed that the new Outbacks have an awning that looks even smaller then mine so maybe it's a not a big deal, but when it's raining 4 chairs and the cooking area pretty much fill the area.
Thank you so much for all the detailed photos and information. Thanks too for mentioning the attachments that need to be mounted to the body of the trailer. I had been considering a rope and pole awning, but the bag option seemed a bit easier/self contained and no ropes to trip over. I'm not too excited about drilling more holes into the shell of our trailer though. I guess I'll think about it a bit longer. These little trailers come with a lot of decisions. Thanks again!
We were actually talking about trying to make the fall Ft Langley egg fest but we have decided to sell our house and move closer to town so I am working my a** off on finishing details and yard work.
I think we will try and do the spring egg fest - my relatives live in Vancouver so I can just extend the usual visit with them and camp out on the weekend. The ferry is over $160 now each way. The problem is the Trillium is 7'2 and 7' is over-height on the BC ferries. We pay the same as a 32' RV bus 'cause it's based on the length of the rig, not weight, width or height.
The cook area is working really well - we cooked for 8 for a few days and we had inside and outside stoves going and the BBQ. I have them all hooked up to the main propane tank now with Extend-A-Tee and Add-A-Tee's. I don't want to push our Subaru for weight so we got a folding table set from Crappy and a coleman stand and they are both quite light.
The fall Ft langley meet is pretty much booked up with only 48 HAPPY campers. Craig says he has a waiting list with NO ONE on it, and I think he can still arrange for more sites IF need be.
We too are in the throws of smallifing and moooving closer to town!! With the two shakers in the last few days I'd be looking to relocate to the mainland before the rock falls back into the ocean, LOL. We are entertaining some Islanders here this weekend who moved to Courtnay 2 years ago.
Know of a good deal? want to get rid of your slightly used awning...know a good place to order them online? let me know...Thank you Brandy
Hi, Brandy. If you're still thinking about a secondhand awning, we found a good one on Craig's List, so that might be worth a try. At first I had no luck in searching because I got tons of listings for RVs for sale that happened to have awnings. I finally figured out to use http://www.craigshelper.com/ (expands your search beyond Seattle) and limit the search to include the word "awning" in the title only. Good luck!
Thank you so much for all the detailed photos and information. Thanks too for mentioning the attachments that need to be mounted to the body of the trailer. I had been considering a rope and pole awning, but the bag option seemed a bit easier/self contained and no ropes to trip over. I'm not too excited about drilling more holes into the shell of our trailer though. I guess I'll think about it a bit longer. These little trailers come with a lot of decisions. Thanks again!
Hi Noah.....Just noticed your post.If you still have not decieded on the awning I can tell you I had the same misgivings about drilling holes in my Boler.I too ordered an awing from Interwest sports.Loved it when it came but was reluctant to drill the holes.Info.I got on this form suggested I use stanless steel bolts(instead of the screws provided) with stainless steel locking nuts.Bolts just long enough to go through the very thin fiberglass body and ensolite.The holes drilled were very small.I used butal tape under the pole holders.This would stop any water leakage where the bolts went through.However because the holders go directly under the bag the chance of any water seepage would be very slim.Love the awning and wish I haddn't wated so much time before installing
and enjoying it.....Pat.
I can't tell if your new-to-you Boler has an awning rail or not. Assuming it does the awning bag slides into the rail. Then you drill and insert a screw at each end of the rail and through the top of the awning rail and though the awning bag. This keeps the awning bag securely in place.
We will probably stick to the $263 supreme 9' Shademaker, simply because it looks sturdy. It's hard to want to spend more money on some of these extra items, but the fact remains that we would rather invest a little more money into something we plan to use a lot, and get the better quality than to save a few bucks now, and have to go buy new stuff when the cheaper things fall apart (and we would like to avoid adding to the waste of disposable things). I was under the impression our camper is a Scamp, but there are no markings, so I guess it could be a boler frame?? I thought it looked a lot like a boler, but the people who sold it called it a Scamp. How can I find this out?? The camper has been repainted, so I don't know if there will be a serial # visible. There is not any kind of track on the outside, only a rain guard around the door, so I guess we will have to install a track to have the awning fit?? Is that something we can buy through the awning website??
There should be serial on the trailer somewhere and other members who own scamp's would know where.
The awning that you show there has extender poles and guide lines to support it - the ones from interwest have built in expanding poles and require no guide lines. I actually gave away our awning that had poles/lines as it was such a hassle to set up.
Yes, you can purchase an awning rail - generally they come in 4' sections so you would need 2. You can let the bag awning hang out the ends without issue. When installing the rail make sure you have the distance from the top of the door to the rail so that the bag does not interfer with the door when it's installed.