Drive Away Awning

[Slinns]

Hi. Looking for some help re our new Outdoor Revolution drive away awning. The awning is for vans between 180 and 240cm - we have a Transit Custom poptop, so rail is at about 190cm. The tent part of the awning is fine but the tunnel roof is an awful fit - really baggy and flaps about in the wind, billowing and sagging. It not only looks awful but, when sagging, has a very low roof and rain water will definitely pool & lead to stretching & potentially tearing. Are we doing something wrong? And advice would be most welcome!

[tonyishuk]

We had an Outdoor Revolution awning on a taller mohome and it was not too successful. For much the same reason.

 

My view is that drive away awnings are fine in theory until the wind and rain approaches! Then wet flapping material brings home the fact that they do not work as were as intended. Much the same experience as windout awnings.

 

We tend to pitch our awning as a stand alone, used to the fact that we have to brave the elements in the journey from the mohome to the awning, but happy in the knowledge that we will not be woken in the early hours by flapping material trying to escape from its fixings on the mohome.

 

It maybe that mohome awnings are not as well fixed as a caravan awning, which seem better fixed and more stable. I have seen caravan type awnings fixed to larger mohomes, which do not move during their stay on site. Which rather defeats the drive away option.

 

Rgds

[Slinns]

Thank you so much for your answer :) We’ve spent the weekend trying different methods, distances from van, tightening of straps and have come to the conclusion that the tunnel cannot possibly work in rainy weather (it’s also pretty hopeless in good weather). I think we’ll return it as not fit for purpose. Shame as we were looking forward to having the extra space. We also had some issues with quality.

[whesco]

We also have an Outdoor Revolution drive away awning and it leaks like a sieve when it rains - when I questioned the supplier they said it was not rated for heavy rain!

[Ventura]

Saw this past thread and thought, for info of others, I'd add my experience with our inflatable 'Outdoor Revolution Movelite' midline awning, fitted to our 2.4m height motorhome.

Sorry if its a bit lengthy!

 

We bought this awning exactly one year ago when our traditional 'pole' drive-away awning self-destructed during a storm on the Isle of Man.

The main reason we chose an inflatable awning replacement was that despite the devastation around the campsite which we were on, the air awnings and tents were the few to be seemingly untouched and uneffected by the awful gale force winds experienced over a 24 hour period. An awful lot of 'pole' tents and awnings ended up in the skip!

 

The 'Outdoor Revolution' awnings are very easy to inflate and take less than 2 minutes of pumping with the supplied hand pump.

A few more minutes to peg it down and your done!

They are tho far more bulky and heavy when stowed in the bag which may be an issue for some.

As previously said, our van rail is 2.4m high and the 'midline' sized awning is spot on for this height. The awning erects nicely and the tunnel roof doesn't sag at all. These awnings come in three height sizes dependant on height of the van.

Interesting to know if the OP's 'baggy' awning was the correct 'lowline' size for their van?

 

The main issue I had with the OR awning was that after around 8 uses it developed a leak in the air tube frame rail.

This resulted in the awning only staying inflated for around two hours before it collapsed in a heap.

Not good when your half way thro a 1 week holiday where the awning is essential!

 

The 'Outdoor Revolution' awnings come with a 'Lifetime' guarantee on the airframe which is good, but obviously of no help at all in the middle of a field when on holiday!

A temporary repair, using the supplied repair kit, was attempted but not successful due to the location of the leak so in the end we had to take it down and do without. Luckily on this occasion the kids weren't sleeping in it! but a great inconvenience nonetheless.

 

I pursued a warrantee claim for replacement with 'Outdoor Revolution' immediately on the failure occurring.

This is where it started to get very frustrating!

Their 'customer service' turned out to be appalling in the extreme with little or no response to enquiries. On the phone they only state that the enquiry should be emailed to them. Then the email auto-response was that they're very busy and may take up to 3 days to reply, or if at all in my case!

Not good if you need a usable awning for another upcoming family holiday!!

 

Cutting a long story short, after a whole month of frustration and minimal/curt responses to enquiries, and with another pre-booked camping holiday looming, a replacement air-rail was finally received, three days before we were off again in the motorhome.

Due to my above experiences I also requested they supply a full set of spare air rails which are now taken with us on every trip.

This being the only way to be confident of an uneffected trip/holiday in the future, should similar happen again. Luckily they dont take up much room.

For peace of mind I would recommend that anyone who may have one of these awnings, or are thinking of purchasing one, does similar.

 

In short, air awnings are very convenient, can withstand heavy weather relatively uneffected and are easy to erect/pack away BUT are obviously susceptible to puncture and in my case frustratingly difficult to pursue a warrantee claim, against the makers agents in UK, for replacements.

 

Hope that helps.