phantom Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 Hi looking into getting a drive away awning. We have a fiamma wind out awning and was unsure about getting sides for it to act as a cosy porch and extra room. Want something that can be versitile - open during the day or closed and curtained at night. However fancied the ability on longer holidays to leave outdoors stuff like chairs etc in a tent style structure while out and about. Can anyone recommend anything - seen such a variety on the net and a little perplexed. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
w1ntersun Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 Hi, We have a drive away awning. We prefer it to the safari for several reasons 1 as you say you can drive away and leave it erected 2 As it is effectivly a tent you can make it fully sealed against the wind and rain, so it is good for sleeping extra campers. 3 It is much more sturdy when erected Against They are not as roomy as safaris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GJH Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 We have a Khyam Motordome Excelsior. Excellent. Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 hi we have a royal harrison cant praise it high enough, not saying this specifit one is the only one to look at, but the drive away awning as made motorhoming in general so much more comfortable, its like putting a conservatory on a small house the extra room space makes a world of difference Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 Practicalities: When looking for a DAA, consider: 1) have you got room to store it? If so, what about when it's wet? 2) have you considered the extra weight, some can be a bit heavy so make sure you payload is sufficient. 3) Are you actually wanting to attach it to the van or not? If not then there are plenty of 'kitchen/storage' type awnings around that are generally cheaper. If you do want to attach it, make sure that the height of the awning is right for your van and that the 'tube' of material that you attach to your van can be attached without difficulty - some are a nightmare to secure. 4) How much do you want to pay? To some extent you do get better quality the more you pay but if you're only likely to use it for a few weeks a year then a cheaper one would probably do and still last a fair while, especially if you're likely to change your van and may then find that the awning will no longer fit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phantom Posted October 1, 2007 Author Share Posted October 1, 2007 anymore recommendations - when is the best time to shop for one? Sometimes miss the tent and loking forward to sitting out in the spring!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arzangees Posted October 1, 2007 Share Posted October 1, 2007 Hi, We have a Movelite XL Motorvan annexe, fits heights 230-290 at only £179. We've used it a few times this year and found it very successful.It can eithre be fitted by 'tube' to the van , but more fiddly to get exact place when returning, or has straps that are thrown over 'van and anchored on opposite side. We've found this best for us. One'wit' on the site thought we'd tied the van down in case of high winds.( he couldn't see tyhe annex from his pitch) Hope this helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enodreven Posted October 1, 2007 Share Posted October 1, 2007 Hi, We just purchased a Harrison Royal Hi Top Motor Annex used from our local Caravan & Camping dealers for £225, new £500-£600 and from what we can see i doubt if it has been put up more than a couple of times, so in answer to your question when to buy i would suggest now e.g. the end of season is probably as good a time as ever. and we have looked at the privacy/safari rooms etc and i really don't think they feel robust enough especially if you were going to use them for perhaps an extended stay in say Spain etc e.g. 3-4 months the Harrison weighs 30kg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayKay Posted October 1, 2007 Share Posted October 1, 2007 Hi We have an Apache Rimini 260, it is very easy to erect and extremely sturdy it withstood the 60mph winds in Northern France last week with no problems at all. We use 150mm screwpegs to hold it down, the tube is attached to the side of the van with braided cord on the tube and passed over the van and connected to bungie cords which clip to the valance/side skirts. The bottom of the tube is held down again by screwpegs, one either end, in line with the side of the van this makes it very easy to re-attach the tube when returning. A good bit of kit which we use all the time even for a long weekend, have to have somewhere for the coffee machine and the food warming device, yes the "O" word. John D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barrie w Posted October 1, 2007 Share Posted October 1, 2007 bought ours from towsure,really useful last year in spain.about £380. have found the easiest way to attach it for us was to pass the tunnel flap over our omnistore awning box & tuck around the ends.works well & it didn't blow away in some bad storms. usually loads advertised on this website buy & sell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted October 1, 2007 Share Posted October 1, 2007 I may be thick but Hubby is not I we have yet to see what it is that it attaches to over the door ?. We have looked at others and they seem to go right over the top. So far I have been soaked the best we can seem to do is butt it up to the door...what are we doing wrong . we can't see anything to attach it to. :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GJH Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 michele - 2007-10-01 11:19 PM I may be thick but Hubby is not I we have yet to see what it is that it attaches to over the door ?.( Our Khyam has a beading strip which can be threaded into the awning channel. Alternatively, supplied figure 8 bars can be slid onto the beading strip and clipped onto a J rail. We use the latter method. The awning can blow off the J rail in high winds but use of 6 foot bungee straps seems to have fixed that problem. Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phantom Posted October 2, 2007 Author Share Posted October 2, 2007 Hi thanks for the recommendations. I am probably being stupid but what is the difference between a beading strip and a J rail. We have a Elddis Autoquest 320 with a Fiamma F45 awning - will it get in the way? Thanks Phantom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 Graham, cheers for the info thats whats wrong we have not got this above on the roof beading strip is on the Safari room end but nothing on the roof . Other than the roof rails also nothing over the door and nothing to allow us to attach over the awning ? weird i knew we were missing something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GJH Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 phantom - 2007-10-02 2:55 PM what is the difference between a beading strip and a J rail. The beading strip is a thickened hem on the awning, more or less round, which slides into the awning channel if your van has one. A "J rail" is a piece of (normally) aluminium moulding fastened to the side of the van which looks like a capital J when viewed from the end. phantom - 2007-10-02 2:55 PM We have a Elddis Autoquest 320 with a Fiamma F45 awning - will it get in the way? Can't tell for certain without seeing a picture of the van. Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GJH Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 michele - 2007-10-02 3:00 PM Graham, cheers for the info thats whats wrong we have not got this above on the roof beading strip is on the Safari room end but nothing on the roof . Other than the roof rails also nothing over the door and nothing to allow us to attach over the awning ? weird i knew we were missing something. Hello Michele, We bought our Khyam after seeing one which some friends have. Their van had neither awning channel nor J rail but it did have rails on the roof. They used to attach the awning to the roof rails using bungee straps hooked onto the loops built into the Khyam. That might work for you. Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GJH Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 Thought it might help if I loaded a picture. The J rail is above where it says Elddis and the awning channel runs along the top of the wall and down the sides, following the Luton shape. Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 I haven't got one of them said in a whingy voice not have I any other . I hope it does work Graham because we have only used it once in Cornwall where it came in really handy especially to put the little ones wheelchair in save me folding it up & down also she managed to get a right good sleep on a sunny day one time in her cot inside it. Since then its been in the garage.. Will have to try what you suggest see if that works hopefully we wont get soaked. Cheers M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GJH Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 michele - 2007-10-02 4:51 PM Since then its been in the garage.. Will have to try what you suggest see if that works hopefully we wont get soaked. Cheers M Hope it works. Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exustrek Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 RE Fixing for Driveaway awning We bought a fixing kit from skyblueleisure.co.uk for our Khyam Motordome Excelsior which basically consists of a double edged beading tape (which we leave attached to the awning channel of our fiamma wind out) & 3 plastic figure of 8 sections. Takes less than 2 minutes to detach & drive away & same to refit. You can drop the wind out to a reasonable height, attach the tunnel & wind back in to take up the slack....... no need for steps. We've used this arrangement for the last 8 months or so & it's coped very well with some terrible weather conditions, i've yet to see anything that gives a more secure fixing for a Driveaway. Useless information for those that don't have an awning channel on their wind out.............. but many do. I've tried to attach a diagram / picture but not too sure if i got it right. Bryan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GJH Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 Exustrek - 2007-10-03 8:58 PM We bought a fixing kit from skyblueleisure.co.uk for our Khyam Motordome Excelsior which basically consists of a double edged beading tape (which we leave attached to the awning channel of our fiamma wind out) & 3 plastic figure of 8 sections. I reckon you've come up with the best yet Bryan. Pity our Khyam won't reach as high as the awning channel or I'd buy some of that double edged tape. We manage OK with the figure 8 clipped to the J rail and the bungees to tension it though. Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ajd3 Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 We bought this one from Just Kampers, really good quality, comes with an inner room that we haven't actually used yet but I'm sure it will be as good quality as the rest of the awning. Only £229 and if you order online, delivery is only £5 no matter how much you order (at least that was the deal in June) http://shop.justkampers.com/product_info.php/cPath/5_4065_4400/products_id/12776 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 Bryan / Graham, Interested in getting a Khyam Excelsior so can I ask you a few questions? Is it as easy to put up as the ads suggest - 2 minutes? Have you used the inner tent with it? Is it wide enough to allow the sliding door of a transit van (approx 7 feet) to open? Hope you can help. I notice it is sold out everywhere so it must be popular. Col Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GJH Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 Col - 2007-10-05 10:21 PM Bryan / Graham, Interested in getting a Khyam Excelsior so can I ask you a few questions? Is it as easy to put up as the ads suggest - 2 minutes? Have you used the inner tent with it? Is it wide enough to allow the sliding door of a transit van (approx 7 feet) to open? Hope you can help. I notice it is sold out everywhere so it must be popular. Col To actually put it up to a standing position, with 2 people, easily within 2 minutes - a bit longer for someone on their own. Pegging down & attaching to the van obviously takes longer - but I should have thought that's the same for any awning. Better to have 2 people on hand if it's windy :-) We don't have the inner tent. The awning is 3 metres by 3 metres. We've only used it against the side of our coachbuilt van but, as 7 feet is only just over 2 metres and Transits aren't as tall as coachbuilts, I would say you should be OK. We got our awning from Outdoor Megastore. They are sold out at the moment but it might be worth asking them the sliding door question. Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exustrek Posted October 6, 2007 Share Posted October 6, 2007 Graham, thanks for the response. Col. The fixing kit we use is about 7.5ft long, the tunnel also flares out against the side of the van giving you a little extra width, this should cover your door opening easily & should be flexible enough for you to slide your door through the gap between the tunnel & the side of the van. Graham's account of putting the awning up is spot on. We've never used an inner tent or a ground sheet so can't help on that score, sorry. Khyam also do the 'Classic' model, not as tall as the Excelsior, it may be worth checking which model is most suited to the height of your van. Hope this helps................ Bryan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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