Thanks doxiemom, hershey. It sounds like you may have been describing your experience with a manual awning and/or one that had been removed. In my case, the awning is still on the 5th wheel. I will have to replace it in about a year and I'd really like to wait until then to pull the whole thing down.
I want to, or at least think I need to, tighten the non-powered side by a couple of wraps so when the awning retracts both sides reach the sidewall at the same time. I'm hoping to get this done without ending up on the safety report.
klaw