Awning tie downs

[M_R_E_]

I have a Columbus 5th wheel with an electric awning that I tie down with ratchet straps. I was told you shouldn't do this because you can bend the tube unless you have a spring mounted on the end of the straps. Is this true ?

[Terryallan]

TXiceman wrote:
Awnings are meant to be rolled up before the wind damages them. With the advent of electric awnings, there is really no reason to NOT roll them up.

Ken

See i feel just the opposite. awnings are meant to sit under, and keep your stuff dry. We put our's out when we set up, and bring it in when we break camp. Inbetween. It only comes in if there is a hurricane passing by. We usually carport it, meaning we take the legs off the camper, and stake them to the ground, and tie them down to stakes. Believe it or not. I can still have it rolled up in less than a minute. Manual awning are a lot tougher than electric ones.

[Lynnmor]

laknox wrote:

TXiceman wrote:
Awnings are meant to be rolled up before the wind damages them. With the advent of electric awnings, there is really no reason to NOT roll them up.

Ken

I left the manual awning on my old Komfort out in some pretty strong winds and felt no real qualms leaving my rig unattended with the awning out. So, I come back and my rig's still cool. With the electric awning on my KZ, if it gets much above a breeze, I roll it up, and I =never= leave it out if we leave. So, when I get back now, rig's 10-15 degrees warmer because of the loss of shade. Even camping at 7,000+ feet, if you're in the sun, it gets =hot=. So, give me manuals any day.

Lyle

You and I have been on the same page for quite awhile, but then we have experience with manual awnings and aren't too lazy to operate them. One difference between us is that I simply don't use the piece of junk to avoid problems. A failure while traveling can mess up the trip.

[laknox]

TXiceman wrote:
Awnings are meant to be rolled up before the wind damages them. With the advent of electric awnings, there is really no reason to NOT roll them up.

Ken

I left the manual awning on my old Komfort out in some pretty strong winds and felt no real qualms leaving my rig unattended with the awning out. So, I come back and my rig's still cool. With the electric awning on my KZ, if it gets much above a breeze, I roll it up, and I =never= leave it out if we leave. So, when I get back now, rig's 10-15 degrees warmer because of the loss of shade. Even camping at 7,000+ feet, if you're in the sun, it gets =hot=. So, give me manuals any day.

Lyle

[M_R_E_]

I don't set and forget it. When they forecast strong winds, I roll it up. I have seen a gust flip a guy's awnings on the roof, mine didn't move.

[GDS-3950BH]

M.R.E. wrote:
I have a Columbus 5th wheel with an electric awning that I tie down with ratchet straps. I was told you shouldn't do this because you can bend the tube unless you have a spring mounted on the end of the straps. Is this true ?

Asking this question on this or other boards will get you a lot of posts from folks who have never tied down an awning telling you it can't be done, or it will get destroyed, or other foolishness. Its the same folks that tell you if your fridge is 1/2 of a degree out of level it will burn you rig down, or if you drive more than 1 mile on the OEM Chinese made tires on a new rig you'll trigger the apocalypse.



Facts speak otherwise. I have been tying down automatic awnings and leaving them up for weeks at a time for years on a few different rigs and despite being in some thunderstorms and winds up to 50 mph have yet to damage one. The trick is to make and install a pole system, which is super easy to do that connects to the end brackets, and gets staked to the ground. With this method no force from the ratchet strap is transferred to the awning arms.

I made my own which are self storing, and I also made self storing poles that run from awning rail to the end brackets, so de-flapper clips can also be used. Some folks even make and sell kits, brackets, and the poles, which you can find if you search around RV boards. Here is a link to one such thread. LINK

[Campinghoss]

Not a good idea if your awning rolls up automatically in wind gusts. I always roll mine up if I know a hard wind is coming. However at the coast wind springs up suddenly sometimes and the awning auto retracts.

[TXiceman]

Awnings are meant to be rolled up before the wind damages them. With the advent of electric awnings, there is really no reason to NOT roll them up.

Ken

[mtofell1]

I anchor mine down at each end but agree with some others that it's not just a set it and forget it. When it gets too windy I close it up.

fwiw, I also agree that I'd love to have my old manual awning back. Waaaaay easier to set the tilt where I want it (shield the sun, get rain to fall off the end I want, etc.) plus no electrical parts to break.

[ford_truck_guy]

Why tie it down >??? Just hit a button and retract it if leaving... If it's windy... whenever...

I used to tie my manual awning down, will not tie my electric awning down, it's just too easy to put it in.....

[cummins2014]

laknox wrote:

cummins2014 wrote:
Just not a good idea , things get bent in the wind. I never leave mine when it’s out , and if it starts to get a little windy we bring it in . Seen too many get ruined in the wind . Ju

Gimme manual awnings, any day!

Lyle

I’ve seen a couple pretty healthy men nearly lifted off their feet trying to get a manual awning in when the wind suddenly come up in Montana , when mine was already in pushing the electric switch . I’ve had both ,and I have to say I’ll stick with power awnings .

[rhagfo]

schlep1967 wrote:
Unless your ratchet strap is in the middle of the awning, and I have no idea how you would do that, you can't bend the tube. Now if you decide to go crazy ratcheting it tight with a strap attached to each end of the tube, you could literally pull the support arms off the trailer or bend the arms.
Or do like I did.... I ratchet strap from the ends of the tube back to the trailer frame on the front end and the trailer wheel on the back of the awning. My mistake was I did this before putting out the living/dining room slide. When the slide got put out it bent the arm on the awning.

Well not an electric awning, but 21’ manual awning and three ratchet straps one at each end and one in the middle. The one in the middle is attached using two of the straps in the link. All straps just snug, awning out almost 24/7/365 as we are full time park host. If wind gets too bad I will take it in, but not too often.
Link

[md_procouple]

I use the ratchet tie downs as well, and have springs attached to the screw ground anchors Have not had a problem in 12 years and have been thru a couple of wind storms

[laknox]

cummins2014 wrote:
Just not a good idea , things get bent in the wind. I never leave mine when it’s out , and if it starts to get a little windy we bring it in . Seen too many get ruined in the wind . Ju

Gimme manual awnings, any day!

Lyle

[cummins2014]

Just not a good idea , things get bent in the wind. I never leave mine when it’s out , and if it starts to get a little windy we bring it in . Seen too many get ruined in the wind . Ju