If RAIN is forecast, PULL IN your AWNING!

[TNTBaker]

We're back from our big trip, and that's a whole OTHER post <coming soon>! But for now, we went to breakfast this morning and this is what we found when we returned:


Words cannot describe the HORROR!

Well, we had a freak cloud burst roll in while we were gone, and our awning (which was NOT angled flat-out, but at a steep downward slant) apparently could not take it. It's so weird I almost suspect vandalism!

So we are waiting for the service guys to send us the quote to fix it. I will be chugging a few beers before I open the email. SO disappointing! We are so careful, can't believe this happened! Thank GOD the other awning was fine. Wow, what a bummer.

If this awning is typical, then your big 18 foot awning on the 38RL is a WIMP in the rain!

[Radio_Flyer]

Wow! Never seen one do that. Have seen them get pulled over the rig from wind. We have been getting some pretty bad downpours here, pull the awnings in when we head out. Good luck, hope no body damage.

[TNTBaker]

I have to say, I cannot believe it did this. Makes me want to think there was a problem with it... but it did downpour while we were gone. NO BODY DAMAGE, so it could have been much MUCH worse, thank goodness!! I know there is an "auto-dump" feature upgrade on this awning, which of course, we don't have. Wow, what a pain.

[Radio_Flyer]

I thought all of our awning did the auto-dump thing? The way that is pulled out looks like someone hung on it. You ought to look at getting the replacement with the awning cover and make it worth it if you didn't have them already.

[TNTBaker]

NO they do NOT auto-dump, as my experience clearly shows :-( SURE wish they did!!

[atom ant]

They do autodump by retracting against the gas shocks and sagging in the middle to let off the weight, but they can only take so much.

So sorry to see that happen! Lesson 1 is a hard one to learn that way - Awning up for bed, awning up when you leave.

[TNTBaker]

Amen. Thanks AA. That's what I said to Todd, "I bet we don't do that again..." We do put the awnings in MOST of the time. It's been sunny and in the 90's, and we got a spot of rain this morning. Just freaky. I blame myself, but wow, it was a spendy lesson. We will have awnings out MUCH LESS NOW! I hope others will learn from our experience. I used to feel bad putting them in and out all the time. I won't now!

[travelin' texans]

Might look closely as both of mine only had 2 screws per arm, one at the top & bottom with 2 holes in between, added screws to all holes. Looks to me like it of had help, something besides rain. Check with your insurance company, mine are insured.

[atom ant]

On that note:

This happened to mine for no reason other than to piss me off on a nice day under it. I too had only one bolt at the top (but I think that is all Carefree requires) but it was a self drilling head that barely reached the inside through the gelcoat with any threads because the drill head was too long and the bolt was too short, not to mention they installed it at an angle. I had to fix it in place with stainless lags I happened to have in stock for my "RV experiences bag of goodies".



I wonder if you had a similar fail, and when adding rain and maybe wind, it took it down. Mine certainly would have bent just like yours if it wasn't a calm day.

Not to make your day any worse - but I think you maybe had a bit of "poor install" mixed in the misfortune. See if you can find your old screw.

[trfield58]

OK, so I also have some experience with the smaller awning on our slide out. Right after taking delivery, my wife noticed that the smaller awning was out of level. Sure enough, it was installed with the side toward the door being 2 inches lower than the left side. What an eye sore. Anyhow, I decided to fix it myself after looking at it. I can tell you this, there is only (at least on mine) 2 short lags and 3M double-stick tape. I believe they are relying on the tape to provide a fair amount of holding power. Obviously with the weight of the water, it's NOT enough!!!!

Good luck guys

[Dave&Ginny]

Originally Posted by TNTBaker

We're back from our big trip, and that's a whole OTHER post <coming soon>! But for now, we went to breakfast this morning and this is what we found when we returned:


Words cannot describe the HORROR!

Well, we had a freak cloud burst roll in while we were gone, and our awning (which was NOT angled flat-out, but at a steep downward slant) apparently could not take it. It's so weird I almost suspect vandalism!

So we are waiting for the service guys to send us the quote to fix it. I will be chugging a few beers before I open the email. SO disappointing! We are so careful, can't believe this happened! Thank GOD the other awning was fine. Wow, what a bummer.

If this awning is typical, then your big 18 foot awning on the 38RL is a WIMP in the rain!

This happened to me in 1978....left for about 45 minutes and it started to rain hard. Never again! If my awning is out....I'm close by.

[TNTBaker]

Ok, hold on to your butts.
THIS is all that was holding our awning on:

YES that is only 1/2 inch of thread! The carefree installation instructions say this:
For installations without the rail extension: Use a 1/4 x 1 1/2 lag screw through the top mounting
hole for each arm.
18.2. For installations with the rail extension: Use two (2) 1/4 x 2 1/2 lag screws for each arm.

NOW we are dealing with a warranty issue, PERIOD. I THOUGHT it was odd that this happened. Just didn't seem possible. I cannot BELIEVE they expect a half inch of thread to hold an 18 foot awning!!!!

Yes, we too have the 3M tape. I don't think taping them on is supposed to work! CHECK YOUR AWNINGS!!!!!!

[atom ant]

There you go- a legitimate case!

[Diesel chaser]

Can't blame the awning , thats clearly RW's fault for not installing it right.

[travelin' texans]

Tim & Paula
I also had the slide awning mounted crooked, 2 1/2" lower on the rear, that's when I found how poorly they are mounted.

[ksaltman]

I fully support going to RW and asking for them to fix. Will be checking my awning tomorrow.

Thanks for the heads up. Hope the rest of the trip was enjoyable......

[TNTBaker]

Here is a picture of what the little sheet metal screws were attached to:

So all that was holding our awning on was two little #10 sheet metal screws on top and two on the bottom going through about 1/4" of fiberglass sheeting and 1/8" of aluminum frame tubing with no nut or washer or molly! LUDICROUS to think that is strong enough. Any 80 year-old man could likely reach up and yank them off. I no longer feel like I did something wrong. I didn't. They are supposed to be either molly-bolted on or riveted. So, if yours are the same, I would seriously think about beefing it up. It's nice to think that a puff of wind will never grab them or whatever, but we all know that is unrealistic. You don't want to find what we did when we came home today! Cheers!

[Don and Judith]

FYI.....About two hours ago, while we were inside, our whole front arm assembly turned into a twisted bunch of metal! We had the slope set at the halfway mark! (Wasn't even a hard rain)We've got the 2015 RL

[Foxfire]

I'm sorry but I don't understand from what I'm reading, we're the awnings in question arms slanted for the rain to run off? We're they in different holes on the arms to pitch the rain?

[Foxfire]

This is the way we set out our awnings, you can see the slant I'm asking about