Awnings come loose while driving - RV-Dreams Community Forum

phyllen · RV-Dreams Family Member

Awnings come loose while driving

wmalefyt · RV-Dreams Family Member

I have never had this happen with the 3 motorhomes we have owned. As an extra measure I attach a Velcro strap around each awning arm when retracted for travel.

Judy · RV-Dreams Family Member

We also use the velcro strips and our awning has a metal cover over it.
southwestjudy& Bob&2blackdogs

Old Snipe · RV-Dreams Family Member

The velcro straps are nice to hold the arms in place, but WILL NOT prevent the awning from opening.

I have had it happen on my main pario awning on my former MH and several times on my slide topper awning on my current MH.

What happens is side winds can overwhelm the spring tension that rolls up the awning and blow it open between the roller tube and the motorhome side. If you don't catch it the awning can rip right off, while the velcroed arms are still tight and in place against the body.

To prevent this from happening, there are several fixes, the cheapest and easist is the hook one end of a bugee cord into any of the several holes in the awning tube end cap and stretch it down to a place on the awning arm and hook it on one of the bracket latches, that gives the awning spring additonal tension. This is the one I use, if I hit high side winds, I stop and hook up a bungee cord. Cheap, easy and effective.

There is a way to use your awning opening rod, too. Hook the "L" short end in one of the end cap holes, and velcro the long end to the awning arm. I don't like that idea, but in a pinch, I'd use it.

There are a couple of professionally made awning locks on the market for under $50, go to RV.Net forums and use the "Search" feature for "Awning Locks" for a link to dealers.

Again, don't think because you velcro the arms, the awning won't unroll, trust me, it CAN!!! Take preventive action ahead of time and save yourself all kinds of grief and money.

Best Regards!

-- Edited by Old Snipe at 20:34, 2007-04-18

Speedhitch · RV-Dreams Family Member

Your right about the side winds opening up that awning. You might want to check the spring tention on your tube from time to time. It can be tightened and this will help the awning roll tight to the roll.

ahoweth · RV-Dreams Family Member

Yes it can happen even with velcro straps on the arms.

The brakes on most awnings hold pretty well for normal conditions, however, there are times when strong gusts can hit you and snap goes the normal brakes. It happened to us with an A&E awning. To prevent this I did some research and found that Zip-Dee has some positive locks for their metal shrouded awnings. They are inexpensive and easily installed and lock the awnings metal shroud to the side of the RV. I found them on the Zip-Dee web site. The awnings on our RV ar Carfree of Colorado but the locks still work the same way. If your awnings aren't the metal shrouded type then something else will have to be done, but most awning manufacturers provide some type of lock down. You may just have to hunt for them.

Good hunting. smile

Judy · RV-Dreams Family Member

Also our Carefree awnings has a manual lock on the roller tube that I have to use the awning rod to unlock it to even get it down. I thought all awnings had a similer awning lock that locks the roller tube.
southwestjudy & Bob & 2blackdogs

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

We also had our main patio awning come loose on our previous motorhome and learned some things about them. With a manual awning the tube rotates back and forth a small amount against the brake while you drive from the wind. Over time this can crack the gear teeth and/or weaken the springs so the tube unrolls and the awning billows. Once it billows the wind has a very large sail and can break the arms loose from the force. As others said, Velcro on the arms help stop the damage from the arms breaking loose, but will not stop the billowing.
Their are locks, which some awnings have built-in, that lock the tube so it will not rotate. They are also available after market and are advertised in RV magazines in the little ads or you can search forums like others have indicated. We used one on our replacement A&E awning on our previous motorhome after the repairs. (Our new motorhome has a power awning, which supposedly makes it harder to billow and the tube doesn't rotate while driving.)

-- Edited by bjoyce at 11:45, 2007-04-19