ROON Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 Last year I bought a SMALL awning for on my motorhome and today took it to a friend's to try it out for the first time....... I believed it would take me about fifteen minutes to put up..... Three hours later, we managed to get to the stage where it looked like a small tent .... to realise we had put it up inside out.. :'( We then sorted it again and one hour later didn't bother finishing off because we were wasting a beautiful day...... On another thread I agreed that some people used too much space with their awnings, but I want to take it back ... if they have gone to half as much trouble as I did today, they deserve to have the entire field to themselves if they wish. *-) Any suggestions would be welcomed. Joy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 Hi Roon, Practice, practice, practice, and when have it all together and deem that it is all in the right places, put on a colour code to show what goes where. Colour permanent marker pens work very well. After a few times you will not need to follow the markings any more, but they are handy if you have some one helping you, it keeps them on the right track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROON Posted June 1, 2009 Author Share Posted June 1, 2009 Thanks Ranger, I left it standing in my friend's drive (!!) as we didn't feel up to taking it down, so I shall definitely take your advice. Joy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vindiboy Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 I hate awnings, my wife loves them, so of course we have one, we usually have words when putting the dam thing up, My argument is that if we can wild camp in Europe for 4 months without an awning, why must we put one up for weekends in England, but of course this falls on deaf ears, am I a wimp or what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 Joy - what is it? Assuming you have a metal pole type awning, rather than a bendy fibreglass one: Use different coloured tape to mark where each piece joins, if you haven't got enough colours, then double up - 2 bands of the same colour together, 1 band of 1 colour and 1 band of another matched up to another etc. If you have a paper sketch of the frame, you can also use felt-tip pens to colour code this too so you can refer to it when you get confused! Also, do NOT try to assemble it right next to your van ... a recipe for disaster!!! You can move your van near to it after it's up - you don't want any prangs in your van from your wielding poles!!! The first trick is to lay everything out in roughly the right place - all the central poles on the ground where they need to be, followed by the legs in each corner. Then assemble the centre section, in turn put in each leg leaving the it 'kneeling' (ie don't put it up totally), you will then have a half height frame. Now place the covering on making sure that it is totally zipped up first otherwise you'll end up with a weird shaped awning! Secure it in position on each corner with the ties or whatever is there and partially pull it down over the side, leaving the excess folded back up and over the top. Now put first both either the front or back legs up, followed by the others (it's best to do this with whichever is the shorter side first). Now pull down the covering and secure, pulling the legs towards the corners to match where they should be within the covering so they tighten the material and make the structure more rigid. Make sure the awning is where you want it on your pitch - if you intend to drive your van up to it make sure that none of the pegs and guy lines are in the way - then get your mallet out and give those pegs hell to vent your frustration!!! :D To put the awning away, undo the ties securing the covering and zip it up. Removed the pegs etc (put them away as you do so to avoid losing them and/or tripping over them etc). Make the structure kneel (reverse of what you did earlier) and carefully lift and fold the rear section, then the front section onto the top, in stages a bit like folding sheets, and lift off the frame - that way it can easily be placed in the right spot and unfolded when you next put it up to save a lot of tugging trying to get it where it needs to be. Place on the floor and fold and pack away neatly so you're not likely to stand on it, fall over it, or damage it with one of the poles. 8-) Dismantle the frame in the same way you put it up - ie 2 legs at a time so it drops down gently. Once you've done this you'll soon get the hang of it and will have it up from start to finish in about 10 minutes including pegging it out etc. :-> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vindiboy Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 Whoops I.ll try again :$ :$ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROON Posted June 2, 2009 Author Share Posted June 2, 2009 Thanks all. Can you tell me if there is a secret to actually attaching the awning (with the accessory bit) to the van awning bit? (Sorry not technical on this) :$ My awning is much smaller than those on the picture but I struggled stretching trying to slide the awning accessory bit (!) to the van awning bit.(!) *-) Joy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 Joy - the awning has a slot along its length for you to slide in the 'tape' on the top end of the freestanding awning into. Rather than struggle to reach, instead wind out the van awning and put it's legs down so that it is at an easy height for you to reach, then slot in the freestanding awning 'tape', put the legs back up and wind the awning back in ... voila, awning is attached to the van. As Tracker would say .... simples!!!! :-> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROON Posted June 3, 2009 Author Share Posted June 3, 2009 Thanks Mel :-) (WHO YOU CALLING SIMPLES????) ;-) jOY x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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