help with awning

the rocket · Guru

help with awning

The Bear · Veteran Member

We always tie ours down when in a similar situation

Bear

rockylizard · Guru

Gday...

I don't have a full annex off the awning and it is unusual for me to remove the lower 'arm' from the van and have the uprights 'on the ground' when using the awning.

However, when I do have the lower 'arms' off the van and upright on the ground, I use tent pegs through the holes provided to keep them secure. Additionally, I would ALWAYS have guy ropes on the corners at minimum to secure the awning/annex.

I appears you have the AussieTraveller Anti-Flap Kit bars on each end and a couple of rafters so, these, with the addition of guy ropes on each corner, would make it pretty secure in winds gusting to at least upto 55kph - from my experience.

Cheers - John

Cupie · Guru

Wow..

It looks very well tailored to fit. Wish my vinyl one was that good.

I always install guy ropes ... two at each end & double pegged EVERY time I roll out the awning irrespective of whether I fit the annex.

One guy rope is fitted at each end following the line of the rafter & the others at 90 degrees to it. The first peg is angled away from the van and the second again angled but at 90 degrees to the first. Always use strong springs on the guy ropes. One guy rope goes around the rafter & the other is attached to a stainless steel saddle bolted to the awning arm. I also use rubber bands made from inner tubes to peg down the annex walls. Twist them to fit. When ever possible I leave the awning 'legs' attached to the van walls. If not I use large angled pegs to pin them down.

A good habits to get into.

My mate 'The Awning Man' makes a good income from damaged awnings caught by un- expected gusts of wind.

ps... Make sure that you have a generous lowering of one end to facilitate water run off. Once water pools in the awning it will stretch the fabric & give you a problem for ever. A large pool of water can tear the awning too ... again a common occurrence.

-- Edited by Cupie on Sunday 15th of February 2015 10:38:00 AM

dazren · Guru

smile Should be very stable as is, ! However a Guyrope at each end Can only assist, ! and do no harm, However with the 2 centre rails, !! Maybe a good idea, to grab a small bit of Foam, and wedge between the rail and the awning, !! Many moons back, I found that the wind caused some rubbing friction, on the centre rail, which wore a hole onto my awning, hmm ,, In my travels, i have pointed this out to many travellers, who have checked and were on the way to same problem, hmm -- A small bit of foam or even a small bit of rag, is all that is needed, smile

Edit !! The rubbing occurs at the top closest to van Not the roller end smile

-- Edited by dazren on Sunday 15th of February 2015 11:37:49 AM

Bruce and Bev · Guru

I agree with Cupie. No matter how calm the wind conditions are, too often you go out for the day and the wind gets up in the afternoon. Seen a few awnings trashed through it.

I always do what Cupie does - seems to look over the top, but we've had some really strong, gusty winds without ripping our annexe or damaging the awning legs.

If it starts to suddenly blow strong and too strong to safely take the annexe down and roll up the awning, I ten tie the roller ends of the awning onto the the front and rear of my ute roo bar and tow bar (don't scratch all your vehicle paint). But always use springs somewhere on the tie ropes.

To stop others (and more importantly, me) from falling over the guy ropes I use those pool spaghetti floater things you can buy at KMart and the likes for about $2. Woolies sell them in a pack of 3. Split them lengthways and then just slip the cut edge over the rope and its easy to see these bright colours (unless youre really drunk). I carry 2 x full length ones and 2 x that are cut in half as they will "clip" onto the guy rope and you just put them at face height. Easy to pack and virtually weigh nothing

Aus-Kiwi · Guru

Have two angle irion pegs just for this .. Have almost the same.. In colour also.. On Motorhome..

Gerty Dancer · Guru

Hi Rocket! you must have missed that awning while waiting for it to be fixed.

To keep ants out, find their nests in the area of your van/annexe and use Ant Sand. (From the supermarket) It kills the nest. Better that than having to deal with the buggars when they get inside!
The only downside is that ant-sand is toxic to pets.

-- Edited by Gerty Dancer on Sunday 15th of February 2015 12:13:00 PM

madaboutled · Guru

For Ants, talcum powder they won't walk on it, so just sprinkle some around you're boundries.

Hope this helps
Regards Steve.

ken thomas · Guru

Cut a paint roller in half and use that to put between the rafter and awning roof
Ken

Long Weekend · Guru

Hi Rocket,

As others have mentioned, yes you do have to peg the annex down even for short stays. Whenever our awning legs are extended out, they are immediately screwed down.

I use 30cm long coach screws and screw them through the holes in the base of the upright legs. Two screws on each leg

So far the awning/annex hasn't moved, despite some strong winds over four days once that shredded our flag. On another occasion a large tent across from us had their fly ripped out of the ground with a loud 'whomp' - our annex didn't move. The advantage of using the screws is that; firstly using a cordless drill they go in easily and secondly they come out easier!

Elsewhere in the forum is a photo of someone who has pop riveted what are called 'deck eyes' onto the top of the legs. For myself I have fitted two of what are called 'lifting eye nuts' at the top of our legs. 8mm holes were drilled just down from the top and 8mm by 20mm long screws used to attach them. Both ways provide a handy loop to attach rope tie downs - with the 'nuts' being easier to put on. I bought the lifting eye nuts on Flea Bay quite cheaply, around $6 for two but I cannot remember exactly. The screws were off the shelf in Bunnings who also have a selection of lifting eye nuts. Both 'nuts' and screws are stainless steel.

(By the way, there are also what are called 'lifting eye bolts' - 'nuts' are threaded right through the base while the 'bolts' have threaded studs and require ordinary nuts to hold them on.)

Regarding ants, I haven't found a way to keep them out - they come up the chains, jockey wheel, power cord, water hose, drain hose, legs, the wheels/springs. Probably the easiest way for them would be when the skirt is used. The suggestion to find their nest and exterminate them is a bit hard as when we were recently in Hervey Bay we found that there seemed to be an ant's nest in every square metre - as evident by the little mounds.

Murray

Retired - A Long Weekend Lasts All Year

aussie_paul · Guru

Long Weekend wrote:
Hi Rocket,

As others have mentioned, yes you do have to peg the annex down even for short stays. Whenever our awning legs are extended out, they are immediately screwed down.

I use 30cm long coach screws and screw them through the holes in the base of the upright legs. Two screws on each leg

So far the awning/annex hasn't moved, despite some strong winds over four days once that shredded our flag. On another occasion a large tent across from us had their fly ripped out of the ground with a loud 'whomp' - our annex didn't move. The advantage of using the screws is that; firstly using a cordless drill they go in easily and secondly they come out easier!

Elsewhere in the forum is a photo of someone who has pop riveted what are called 'deck eyes' onto the top of the legs. For myself I have fitted two of what are called 'lifting eye nuts' at the top of our legs. 8mm holes were drilled just down from the top and 8mm by 20mm long screws used to attach them. Both ways provide a handy loop to attach rope tie downs - with the 'nuts' being easier to put on. I bought the lifting eye nuts on Flea Bay quite cheaply, around $6 for two but I cannot remember exactly. The screws were off the shelf in Bunnings who also have a selection of lifting eye nuts. Both 'nuts' and screws are stainless steel.

(By the way, there are also what are called 'lifting eye bolts' - 'nuts' are threaded right through the base while the 'bolts' have threaded studs and require ordinary nuts to hold them on.)

Regarding ants, I haven't found a way to keep them out - they come up the chains, jockey wheel, power cord, water hose, drain hose, legs, the wheels/springs. Probably the easiest way for them would be when the skirt is used. The suggestion to find their nest and exterminate them is a bit hard as when we were recently in Hervey Bay we found that there seemed to be an ant's nest in every square metre - as evident by the little mounds.

Murray

Retired - A Long Weekend Lasts All Year

I have not been able to find these 30cm length Coach screws as yet.

Aussie Paul. smile

Kendo · Senior Member

Hi Rocket,

Like the others I always bolt the corners down with double guy ropes. On a recent trip to Pt Hughs in South Oz we encountered probably the windiest weekend we've had. Rather than leave my spare guy ropes in the bag I opted to use them as well. 4 ropes on each corner looked like overkill, but nothing moved biggrin biggrin

2%20Guys.jpg

Long Weekend · Guru

Hi Aussie Paul,

I bought mine on Flea Bay from America - they are actually 3/8th inch by 12-inch 'lag' (being American for 'coach') screws. At the time I bought them just over a year ago the Ozzie dollar was high and a packet of 30 screws, despite the high postage cost, worked out to about $2.50 each. The seller I bought them from had reasonable postage charges - most of the American sellers have unbelievable shipping charges.

Afterwards I bought some 9-inch (225mm) long ones that I use in the tabs at the bottom of the annex walls.

The longest coach screws I have found in Australia were 200mm ones on the Masters web site but I haven't visited the store to see if they actually do have them. Bunnings only have 150mm long ones in their store.

There are a lot of long coach screws listed on British web sites but I wasn't able to see exactly how to place an order with them. Generally shipping costs from the UK are cheaper than from the US.

I imagine that this information only 'sorta' helps!

There are a couple of British web sites that may interest people. One is www.screwpegs.co.uk (I think - could be just .com) and www.peggypeg.co.uk (again could be .com) try searching for just the name. (I would have to exit out to locate the correct site name and start the posting all over again.) 'Peggypeg' sells a beautiful 30cm aluminium peg with wide flutes that would be perfect for sand and mud. There is a seller on Australian eBay selling them (I think his name is 'peggypegs-au' note the 's') but a pack of two works out at around $24 EACH!)

The British 'screwpegs' site is where I got the idea from to use coach screws - they have a nice video showing their pegs being used. Of course, nowadays others are using the coach screws.

Murray

Retired - A Long Weekend Lasts All Year

aussie_paul · Guru

Long Weekend wrote:

I imagine that this information only 'sorta' helps!

There are a couple of British web sites that may interest people. One is www.screwpegs.co.uk (I think - could be just .com) and www.peggypeg.co.uk (again could be .com) try searching for just the name. (I would have to exit out to locate the correct site name and start the posting all over again.) 'Peggypeg' sells a beautiful 30cm aluminium peg with wide flutes that would be perfect for sand and mud. There is a seller on Australian eBay selling them (I think his name is 'peggypegs-au' note the 's') but a pack of two works out at around $24 EACH!)

The British 'screwpegs' site is where I got the idea from to use coach screws - they have a nice video showing their pegs being used. Of course, nowadays others are using the coach screws.

Murray

Retired - A Long Weekend Lasts All Year

Ok, thanks Murray. I will see how I go.

Aussie Paul. smile

Cruising Cruze · Guru

you must be joking 39 dollars for 2 of them ridiculous

John

the rocket · Guru

hello everyone, thanks for all your help. Strop is onto it.

Gindi · Newbie

They get in any wish way, can not stop them.

but the best stuff to use to kill them IS

WINDEX

IT WORKS.

We had the little blacks ones in there but they all gone now.

Long Weekend · Guru

Long Weekend · Guru

Sorry for the large photo - I'm a beginner at this. Once the photo was attached I couldn't see how to add text!

Anyway, this is the 'lifting eye nut' I have fitted to my awning legs.

All three items are 8mm stainless steel. The snap shackle has been strong enough for everything that has hit us to date.

Murray

Retired - A Long Weekend Lasts All Year

Long Weekend · Guru

Long Weekend · Guru

My 30cm (12-inch) screws. The washer is 50mm outside and 10mm inside diameters. Just drill a 4mm hole in the edge, remove a center loop from the spring, thread the washer onto it and slide the loop back through the spring.

Simple to use, just drill the screws through the washer hole.

Note that the commercial screw peg businesses provide plastic clips which I wouldn't like to trust - particularly in Australia's harsh sunlight.

Murray

Retired - A Long Weekend Lasts All Year

Long Weekend · Guru

Long Weekend · Guru

The lifting eye nut fitted to the top of my awning leg.

(Yes, the roller has been removed for repairs.)

Had that blind nut you see at the top been 8mm then I would have used a lifting eye bolt, save drilling a hole.

Hope these photos help to understand what I have posted.

Murray

Retired - A Long Weekend Lasts All Year

the rocket · Guru

hi, thankslong weekend, Strop is looking into it. thanks for the photos. regards. rocket n strop

Johnty · Veteran Member

We use the double guy ropes on the awning and tent pegs through the legs as well. Recently spent 10 days in unbelievable wind and the awning was rock solid. I was given some great advice on how to attach the guy ropes to the roller. If you go to the pet section of the supermarket and buy small cat collars they fit perfectly around the end of the roller drum without impeding the roller. Slip the guy rope end through the collar and buckle that to your awning roller. Secure with your pegs. No need to drill holes in the arms.

Long Weekend · Guru

Hi Johnty,

Interesting about the cat collars. Obviously you have tested them for strength - after all, a cat isn't a very large animal. I also tried the 'C' clips sold on eBay that wrap around the roller with a tab keying into the slot but didn't like them as they applied a turning force on the roller when pulled down with guy ropes.

I have four guy ropes with the snap shackles fitted, that allows me to put two ropes on each eye.

By the way, while not evident in the photo the ropes I have been trialling are reflective. These ropes are available from both Bunnings and Masters in various colours - I bought yellow from Masters. So far I haven't had a failure - but I have kept the ordinary ropes on hand just in case.

Regards,

Murray

Retired - A Long Weekend Lasts All Year

Johnty · Veteran Member

Hi Murray,

The collars we got are made out of the same material as the tie down ratchet straps. So far no wear and tear or any effect on the roller. We were in 60 knot winds on and off for 10 days and the awning held strong.

Regards

Liz