Well I sustained carnage to my awning whilst free camped on the Tassie East Coast, awning should have been stored however trying to keep the dog dry it was left erected. My awning is the Dometic brand and the frame is constructed totally  of alloy.

The main roller axles are 19mm OD 2mm wall aluminium tube fastened by 6mm through bolts that are supported in pressed steel brackets. This is a recipe for failure as all the wind up roller tension is loading this area of the construction.

To improve the support in this area turn down 75mm long inserts that are a press fit into the aluminium tube, this then provides support for the attachment bolts for the full tubing diameter and not just the tubing walls.

Part of the damage I  sustained was the axle tubing tearing apart on one of the supporting bolts.

The other area for improvement is to replace the pop rivets securing the leg brackets with bolts that pass through the full section width of the leg. The leg brackets are only alloy and can crack in half, by securing with bolts they are then clamped to the aluminium leg by the tension the bolts. This was the other major point of failure on my awning, I managed to recover the cracked bracket taking this solution

Tony

Images as requested