Gidday Hey Jim, personal opinion only, but it really depends on type of travelling you do, and how long you stay in 1 place, IMHO not worth putting up an annexe for anything less than 7 - 10 days Most regular travellers i know just have the shade cloth type Privacy screens for Front and sides, you can put up one or all depending on weather or wind, You can easily put it up by yourself if you decide on a Annexe, however two does make it a little easier, But as i say, depending on your style of travel, and length of stay, only you will know if it suits, !! I would often read for sale ads for Vans 8 -10 years old and they would also add C/W As New Annexe, as it had only been used a couple of times over the 10 years, !! so think about it, ?? and good luck with your decision ?
Another thing to think about. I'm pretty sure a new law has come in that prohibits an annex to be installed where there are gas powered appliance's, venting out into the annex. This came to my mind after thinking about a GN fridge problem, and the realised the fridge in the van I have ordered vents out into the awning area. I have changed it to a 12v only fridge so it won't effect me, but what about all the others how have brought 3 way fridges? If you have any appliances venting on the side of the awning it would pay to look into this further.
-- Edited by iana on Tuesday 15th of September 2015 09:07:11 AM
Unless you are living in the van full time and staying put for more than a couple of weeks I'd just get 1 solid end that can go either end depending on the weather and where your door is situated and one shade mesh end. A full annex is heavy and takes up a lot of space (ours lived under the bed).
Having had both zip fasteners and Velcro we also prefer Velcro.
The best and easiest wall we had was one that had a separate strip about 4 inches wide and 8 foot long with wide Velcro the full 8 feet. This was slid into the wall track first, the end wall also had a long strip of corresponding Velcro. So after the top of the wall was put in place (threaded through the end rafter) and secured the wall was joined to the van with the 2 Velcro strips. Easy for one person to manage and very quick.
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Jenny and Barry
2009 Roma Elegance / 2013 Colorado. Permanent travellers 2011-2015 now just travel for 4-6 mths
Just for now The Annexe is on hold, till we see how we get on with just the rollout awning and a blind and shade cloth as we will only say mostly one to three nights in any given spot unless the fishing is good that is.
Q. Do the annexe people supply these fixed ends for shade or can we get one from the caravan RV outlets.
Q. How do you attach the shade cloth to the awning tube. have seen a few in our travels but never needed to investigate until now.
RV stores sell screens in varying sizes for sides and ends. The side ones fit into the track in the awning barrel and the end ones connect to the awning arms with Velcro tabs. You can also get full length anti flappers that attach to the end of the awning, these have a track in the to slide the shade screen into (they are not cheap).
RV stores sell screens in varying sizes for sides and ends. The side ones fit into the track in the awning barrel and the end ones connect to the awning arms with Velcro tabs. You can also get full length anti flappers that attach to the end of the awning, these have a track in the to slide the shade screen into (they are not cheap).
the expanding tracks for awning ends are not cheap but they are worth it. They come with a bracket to fit one end onto the van and you drill a hole in the awning barrel for the other end. There are 2 tracks on the one arm- 1 for the awning and one for the end wall regardless of whether its a solid or mesh end.
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Jenny and Barry
2009 Roma Elegance / 2013 Colorado. Permanent travellers 2011-2015 now just travel for 4-6 mths
for our first Jayco 17.55 outback journey.
