Removing wind-out canopy from ‘van......

[AndyPK]

We’ve had the ‘van for a year now, and used the wind-out canopy/awning only a couple of times, so I’m thinking about removing it and having a caravan-style awning rail fitted. This will allow us to attach a standard porch awning or whatever if we’re pitched for a couple of days or more. The ‘van was new (19 plate), so I’m going to ask Marquis (the dealer) how much it will cost for them to carry-out the work - I don’t want to void the warranty! If nothing else, the weight reduction with the canopy off will be about 40kg - and every little helps!
Have any other a Funsters done this, and was it worth it?

 

[kevenh]

Lots keep the fixed canopy even if later buy a drive away awning.

Then they can leave the awning behind for shorter trips or when they know they're going to be static.

Edit: My fixed canopy is held on to a bracket by three screws: front, middle & back.
I wouldn't pay someone else to take it off. But I'd get a tall mate to help me take the weight if I removed it.

 

[DuxDeluxe]

If you have a Fiamma awning then your awning rail is already there. Leave it in place would be my suggestion

 

[M-J]

Doesn’t the canopy have an awning rail along the front or underside?

 

[Lenny HB]

If its been fitted properly it will leave a right mess if you take it off.
You can slide the bead from a porch awning in the channel along the front of the wind out awning.

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[Stealaway]

If nothing else, the weight reduction with the canopy off will be about 40kg

I want to take mine off for the same reason. We never have and never will use it.
Let me know how it goes.

 

[Stealaway]

If its been fitted properly it will leave a right mess if you take it off.

Oh dear mine was factory fitted

 

[Lenny HB]

The mounting rail is normally bedded on PU (Sikaflex) plus 4 or 6 bolts through the body and about 20 self tappers.

 

[kevenh]

I’m thinking about removing it and having a caravan-style awning rail fitted

Sorry. This bit I left is key & I didn't address it in my 1st post.
If you're not thinking of switching to a drive away awning, but some other "mounted to vehicle" awning, you should check the addon sides & rooms your current fittings have.

 

[GWAYGWAY]

Unless you are weight limited then I would leave it there, might end up a right mess with holes and immoveable scratches under the old adhesive..

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[irnbru]

I would leave it on too BUT if you do decide to take it off gives a shout and I might buy it from you depending length and £££££

 

[AndyPK]

Thanks for the replies so far - food for thought! One other thing I didn’t mention was that, on our first ‘van (AS Clubman GL), I removed the wind-out, held on with three brackets, and the difference it made to the ‘van handling was very noticeable. It seems that the weight being mounted at roof height on the near side caused a definite feeling of ‘imbalance’.......or perhaps I imagined it! Of course, the Clubman was a much smaller vehicle (5.4m as opposed to 7m for our current ‘van), with a monocock body, so it may not make that much difference.......?

 

[Gellyneck]

Remember you'll need to adjust your 40kg weight saving by the weight of the porch awning. You'll also need to think about somewhere to store it.

 

[AndyPK]

Remember you'll need to adjust your 40kg weight saving by the weight of the porch awning. You'll also need to think about somewhere to store it.

The porch awning we have is about 9kg, and goes under the fixed bed - we have used it attached to the wind-out rail using Keder and figure of 8, but the fit against the ‘van is poor owing to the stand-off caused by the wind-out canopy, another reason I’m considering fitting a ‘proper’ awning rail.

 

[Manic]

If it’s a Fiamma awning and for example it’s 350cm long it weighs 24kg.
when I had to replace mine, the fixing plate stayed on the van and awning was fixed to that by 3 self tappers.

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[bobnick]

Interesting. We have just had a 4 mt Fiamma awning fitted to our van, 27Kgs.
Over the years the rentals we have had (admittedly more overseas) we have used and benefited almost daily.
Our needs and requirements don't need/want a house type awning fixed to the side of the van.
Of course each to their own..

 

[Minxy]

The porch awning we have is about 9kg, and goes under the fixed bed - we have used it attached to the wind-out rail using Keder and figure of 8, but the fit against the ‘van is poor owing to the stand-off caused by the wind-out canopy, another reason I’m considering fitting a ‘proper’ awning rail.

Why not simply fit a rail to the underside of the awning 'box'* or the MH side just below it, that way you can use the rail for the drive away but still have the benefit of the Fiamma if you just want a bit of shade for a while when putting up the driveaway wouldn't be sensible.

* this wouldn't have any affect on the MH warranty at all.

 

[Lenny HB]

If it’s a Fiamma awning and for example it’s 350cm long it weighs 24kg.
when I had to replace mine, the fixing plate stayed on the van and awning was fixed to that by 3 self tappers.

They are light Thule's are around 10kg per metre.

 

[AndyPK]

Why not simply fit a rail to the underside of the awning 'box'* or the MH side just below it, that way you can use the rail for the drive away but still have the benefit of the Fiamma if you just want a bit of shade for a while when putting up the driveaway wouldn't be sensible.

* this wouldn't have any affect on the MH warranty at all.

Did look at doing that....but the ‘van door would then catch on the porch awning itself - not enough clearance unfortunately.

 

[PeteH]

The porch awning we have is about 9kg, and goes under the fixed bed - we have used it attached to the wind-out rail using Keder and figure of 8, but the fit against the ‘van is poor owing to the stand-off caused by the wind-out canopy, another reason I’m considering fitting a ‘proper’ awning rail.

Funny you should say that, we used a "caravan" porch awning a few times on the last Rapido. and had the gap experience too. I stitched two tags inside and a drawstring to pull it into the van side held there by the two poles and soft pads. It was too short for the New `van so we now have a drive-a-way air awning from Vango.

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[63720]

Our van came with one fitted but if it hadn't I would not have put one on. We don't plan to stay anywhere long enough to use a proper awning, it's just wasted payload for us.

 

[AndyPK]

Why not simply fit a rail to the underside of the awning 'box'* or the MH side just below it, that way you can use the rail for the drive away but still have the benefit of the Fiamma if you just want a bit of shade for a while when putting up the driveaway wouldn't be sensible.

* this wouldn't have any affect on the MH warranty at all.

After a bit of a rethink and re measure......Minxy Girl’s suggestion of attaching a rail to the underside of the awning box seems like it should work (thanks, Minxy)- I hadn’t taken into account the ‘drop’ caused by using a keder strip and figure-of-eight extrusion, which will not be required if the canopy is attached directly to the new rail. I’ve ordered 5m of C channel which I’ll cut to fit, and then screw and glue it to the underside of the Dometic awning box - need to ensure that the screws do not foul the existing awning legs when they are folded up. Any suggestions for the best adhesive to use to attach the aluminium C channel to the Dometic underside gratefully received..........

 

[mitzimad]

After a bit of a rethink and re measure......Minxy Girl’s suggestion of attaching a rail to the underside of the awning box seems like it should work (thanks, Minxy)- I hadn’t taken into account the ‘drop’ caused by using a keder strip and figure-of-eight extrusion, which will not be required if the canopy is attached directly to the new rail. I’ve ordered 5m of C channel which I’ll cut to fit, and then screw and glue it to the underside of the Dometic awning box - need to ensure that the screws do not foul the existing awning legs when they are folded up. Any suggestions for the best adhesive to use to attach the aluminium C channel to the Dometic underside gratefully received..........

stixal is my adhesive of choice its held at least three solar panel on over the last ten years

 

[Minxy]

After a bit of a rethink and re measure......Minxy Girl’s suggestion of attaching a rail to the underside of the awning box seems like it should work (thanks, Minxy)- I hadn’t taken into account the ‘drop’ caused by using a keder strip and figure-of-eight extrusion, which will not be required if the canopy is attached directly to the new rail. I’ve ordered 5m of C channel which I’ll cut to fit, and then screw and glue it to the underside of the Dometic awning box - need to ensure that the screws do not foul the existing awning legs when they are folded up. Any suggestions for the best adhesive to use to attach the aluminium C channel to the Dometic underside gratefully received..........

Bolts might be better than screws as there's then no danger of the fabric getting caught on the screw ends if it 'sags' a little in the housing, however saying that you might not need anything except the adhesive anyway.

 

[AndyPK]

After further deliberation (and a couple of trips away!), I decided to use 3M VHB 5952F double-sided tape to attach the C channel to the underside of the awning box, without any further mechanical fixings (bolts or screws), as the tape has excellent adhesive/bonding properties, and will not involve drilling the awning box itself. The tape itself is 19mm wide which is the same as the C channel flat side.

I cleaned the awning and C channel before attaching the tape to the awning and, a couple of days later (giving the tape time to form a proper bond with the awning box) I attached the C channel to the tape, and held it in place with groundsheet clips (see photo above) which I kept in place for 24 hours to allow ‘bonding’.

So, here it is with the awning attached to the ‘new’ rail.......
There is a better ‘fit’ to the side of the ‘van, and it saves messing about with keder strips too!

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