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mosseater's avatar
mosseater
Explorer II
Apr 18, 2017

Awning fabric opinions

Seems like only yesterday we brought the trailer home and parked it in the driveway for Christmas, but it's been almost 10 years, and this weekend I realized the awning fabric has seen better days. So, to eliminate the possibility of a failure while camping the rest of the season, I'm electing to get it replaced before it ruins a camping trip.

I'm looking for any and all info and opinions on replacement fabric. I'm sure the OEM was
Dometic vinyl, and I think that's what Camping World quoted me today. Are the all pretty much serviceable or is one a standout "bang for the buck" product? Thanks for the help!
  • For a direct replacement.

    http://www.pplmotorhomes.com

    If you want to change the color scheme then the other options listed may be better.
  • I second the Sunbrella recommendation. this is used for Sailboat and motor boat covers, it is warranted not to fade for 10 years, is incredibly durable and comes in beautiful colors. It is not cheap however. But there are discount places on the web to get it.

    And I think it really wont be any more expensive than the horribly overpriced ones at RV shops.
  • Just last week I replaced my 11 year old Dometic awning and Carefree slide out topper material from RVawningsmart. For a 21' main and 88" Slide out the total bill shipped was $265. These are 15oz vinyl and the 18oz from Tough awnings would have been $300 just for the main awning. No doubt the 18oz non laminated would have been superior, but if these last 10 years then IMO that's a good service life at a decent price point for awning material. The material I got was by SunWave so only time will tell how well they hold up.

    I used the "alternative" replacement method where you don't have to remove the roller tube or mess with the spring. I also used two pulleys one each side of the replacement material tied to the far end awning secondary support with ropes attached to my deflappers attached to the new awning so I could slide the new material in while still feeding the new material into the tracks so it would not hang up as it was pulled into the channels. The only help I has was from my wife who manned one of the pulleys during installation. Very easy method of replacing the fabric and the quote for just the main awning from my local RV dealer was in excess of $650 which IMO was outrageous.

    I was able to replace my slide out material w/o any help by using one of my gutter sections that I use for my sewer hose support to hold the new slide out material with one end on the slide out and the other on a ladder so the material slide directly into the slide out channels.

    Larry
  • Stone Vos in Brooksville Florida is priced fairly and has good materials.....Stonevoss.com is their website!
  • there is a place in vancouver wa that makes awning material and is better than any OEM material. tough awning i think is the name of the company
  • jplante4 wrote:
    I had an awning on our back deck for 14 years and it was still intact, although faded. I believe the fabric was Sunbrella.

    Another rah rah rah for Sunbrella. Long-lasting with nice warranty (8 or 10 yrs), great color possibilities and patterns.
  • I had an awning on our back deck for 14 years and it was still intact, although faded. I believe the fabric was Sunbrella.

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