What do you tie your awnings down with?

I have a couple of problems to deal with on my OFF-ROAD POPUP camper.

My front and back sides move a great deal in and out when I have the roof top up. I can stand at the entrance door push in at the top of the door a good 6-inches of play in and out. When some winds get going in the right direction it may move so much to knock off things I have sitting on my portable shelving I put up to hold things when setup. When my 22-inch HDTV went flying to floor one day I knew i had to get this problem solved haha...

To solve this I added one-inch eyebolts in the four corners of the POPUP roof that has its bolt going thru to the inside which is bolted down with a heavy washers on both sides of the wall.


Then I picked up a set of four 1/2-inch web ratchet Tie Down Straps 15-feet long so I could hook into the eyebolt


Then I picked up some of these 15-inch earth augers with the 3-inch blades on them and can easily screw these into the ground off the four corners. These leave no signs when removed and really hold up great in higher winds. Takes only a few minutes to install into the ground with just a long blade screwdriver.


This setup works wonders for my side to side sway of the POPUP roof.

When I deploy the awing where my awning setup goes to the ground with poles I can run two addition 1/2-inch tie downs from the extended awning side and attach to the 15-inch long earth augers. This holds down the awning as well.

These are really neat as being the ratchet type actions you can remove them real fast if you need to take all of this down with big wind storms coming up. Wish I had found these types of tie down straps in my tent camping days. It only takes a couple of minutes to totally break down my web straps when I need to.

NOTE: I forgot to add that on the inside of the trailer I can also install another eyebolt set using a coupler adapter with the bolt end and install a couple more eyebolts on the oposite wall of the trailer down on the bottom hard wall side. Then I can run two 1/2-inch web ratchet straps crisscross at the unused bed end entrance on the inside which will also keep the roof top from moving side to side in the wind. I will do this if I have to remove the outside 1/2-inch web straps because of bad wind storms coming up...

All of these parts were available from LOWES

My tie down story for my off-road POPUP...

Roy Ken

If you use it much the day will come when a unexpected straight line wind will come and your un-tied awning and it’s arms may end up on the roof before you can get out of your chair to try to save it…

40 pound pots and filled buckets can be hurled half way across the CG like BB”s from a sling shot… I have seen awnings tied to heavy picnic tables lift a table and in one instance and would have thrown it had the rope not broke…

If the awning is out it should be tied down but tied down adequately… it doesn’t matter if you choose to bring it in or leave it out… never had an automatic awning and I don’t want one…

We are seasonal campers, and never retract our awning. I unhooked the support arms and anchored them to the ground as well as used ratchet straps from the roller tube to the ground anchors. When I left for the week, I would lower the legs so the awning had a steep pitch.
Neighbor has been doing the same for 10+ yrs, and never lost a awning.

This spring, DW and I got a new camper, and it has a power awning...I hate this awning. anyone want to buy a 1 month old 21' power awning?.. I want a manual awning that I can leave out and anchor.

rjsurfer wrote:
Never use any type of strap or hold down for awning.

It just makes it harder to pull in the awning when a storm hits. Trying to hold it down is a waste of time and hold downs give you a false sense of security.

Ron W.

Same here. When we leave the camper, the awning goes up. Too many stories of wind gusts ripping them up or throwing them up on the roofs and doing significantly more damage than one would expect. The way I figure it, it takes about 2-3 minutes for me to deploy or retract my manual awning. I'd feel like the biggest dummy on the planet if I had a torn roof membrane, awning supports pulled out from the camper or damaged or bent awning because I was too lazy to spend the time to put it up before leaving the camper. And if I'm at the camper, I don't need it tied down because if it's windy, I'm putting it up.

I use flower pots filled with cement. They are about 40 lbs each. I used the same ones when I had a pop up. Worked for 10 years.

Never use any type of strap or hold down for awning.

It just makes it harder to pull in the awning when a storm hits. Trying to hold it down is a waste of time and hold downs give you a false sense of security, when you get up in the morning sure your awning frame will still be there but your awning won't.

Ron W.

karalyn wrote:
I am looking for a simple way of tieing my awning down so the wind won't take it. Any suggestions???
Thanks

I copied this mod.....works great.

http://www.wildcatcamperforum.com/t3254-power-awning-tie-down-system

I have always put up my awning at the 1st sign of a wind. Hubby does it before the wind starts to blow. If he knows a storm is coming the awning goes up. However last summer while putting up the awning (no wind!)the bottom of the awning brackets tore loose from the TT leaving the awning useless, and we had to take TT in for repair. Now we are afraid to put the awning out for fear of it coming loose again. That is the reason for asking about better protection for the awning. We want every precaution to keep the awning from coming loose from the TT again in the future.
It sounds like bungie cords and ratchet and doggie tie outs are what most are using. I searched E-Bay, Camping world, and other places but not seeing a complete set up that looks sturdy.
I appreciate all the replies. Just thinking there was a reason my awning tore off at the bottom and wanting that to never happen again. I am looking for safety measures to keep it from happening ever again.

It depends on the soil and how long I am staying (I don’t roll mine up unless bad storms are predicted)… I have homemade anchors made from 1 inch angle irons in several lengths up to 24 inches, the screw dog leash anchors, and I have expansion anchors, a couple of the claw type anchors, and some mobile home screw in anchors I can take if I think I will need them…
the claw
I usually use the carport option with 4 anchors and tent spikes in the awning arm cleats so the arm can’t move… I wouldn’t want the awning out and not tied down even when I am there, I have experienced unexpected high-speed straight line winds to often and I would never tie off to a movable object of any type (picnic table, bucket of something)… and I would never try to retract the awning after the wind or storm starts… that’s what insurance is for…

Instead of spikes I bought four cheap 14" screw drivers and cut off the flat blade (could not find long Phillips) drive them in at an angle through the awning patio feet. Handles make them easy to get out and if you set your angles right the handles are close to the awning feet and do not stick out.