Every worry about your awning opening when driving

[luberhill]

Saw a guy in Maine have his awning ripped off while driving
Somehow something broke and it came open
Is this an issue with the power ones ?

[mountainkowboy]

Never had my side awning open although my slide awnings in heavy winds used to come out and recoil all the time.

[ljr]

bob213 wrote:
Don't know about power awnings but they do sell these for manual ones.
awning lock

That’s what I got after the manual awning on my old TT opened on the interstate.

[RCMAN46]

I rebent the end of my awning rod so it is about 4 inches long.



Then after sticking the 4 inch section into the awning end I secure the rod to the arm with a cable tie. The awning rod is not going to come out.



As for the awning lock it is possible for the latch to be knocked to the open position as you are leaving a campground and have a tree limb knock it open. Plus they must also fail as I have even seen an awning on the side of the road and have two friends who have lost awnings in this manner.

[LarryJM]

Old-Biscuit wrote:

LarryJM wrote:

Old-Biscuit wrote:
I take my awning rod and use it to lock the roller

Stick the bent end of rod into hole on end cap of roller (opposite end of locking pawl lever or motor drive)
Rod hanging straight down place it behind the awning arms and strap it in place using velcro straps, bungee cords, zip ties etc)

Roller won't move...awning material can not unfurl

This is an modification I got from 'robsouth' that use to post here

The idea is good, but I would doubt that only the standard approx 1" bend at the end of the awning rod and the small diameter of the awning rod inserted into the awning tube would really hold if the awning started trying to unfurl and bang around at highway speeds.

Larry

Been using it for 10 yrs.....so far so good.
End cap hole/slot is only slightly larger diameter then awning rod
Hooked end of rod has never slipped out of end cap which is aligned with 1/4" grove in roller tube
Straight section of rod is slipped behind awning arm and held in place via velcro straps

Simple, free and it WORKS.

Well that statement is sort of like "I've never had an accident in the last 10 years so it means that I don't need Insurance". Also, all I can say is that there was a fairly detailed discussion of this over 7 years ago in THIS THREAD where many options including using the awing wand were discussed. While your awning wand might not have come out "YET" your luck was not the same as that reported by chuckster11 at 12/29/11 at 03:33pm in that thread above so it can happen and I believe using the wand is a poor way to secure the tube. The method I have described here that I am using which is the same as I posted in that thread back in 2011 is IMO probably the strongest one you can install. If the tube tries and rotate that 5/16 bolt I used which extends out past the awning arm will only allow the tube to rotate until that bolt "HITS" the tube and jams up against it and that tube is not "EVER" going to rotate any further.

Do what you want, but if you're not right something like those pics posted by Bill and Kate Posted at 12/27/11 08:14pm in that thread might await you and these awnings are not cheap nor would I want to be redesigning my awning system along side the road (AND PROBABLY AT NIGHT IN THE RAIN :E) and patching those holes from ripped out support brackets.

Larry

[Scottiemom]

LarryJM wrote:

1320Fastback wrote:
I use Velcro straps to hold the sliding support bars shut on ours. If the bars can't open, the awning can't open. Also leave the switch in Up position.

Unfortunately you don't really understand the issue. With the support bars in position and locked if the awning tube lock malfunctions the awning can unfurl with everything else in place and functioning. The awning support bars have nothing to do with this issue and your velco straps will do nothing to prevent what is being discussed here.

Larry

Larry is correct!

[LarryJM]

1320Fastback wrote:
I use Velcro straps to hold the sliding support bars shut on ours. If the bars can't open, the awning can't open. Also leave the switch in Up position.

Unfortunately you don't really understand the issue. With the support bars in position and locked if the awning tube lock malfunctions the awning can unfurl with everything else in place and functioning. The awning support bars have nothing to do with this issue and your velco straps will do nothing to prevent what is being discussed here.

Larry

[1320Fastback]

I use Velcro straps to hold the sliding support bars shut on ours. If the bars can't open, the awning can't open. Also leave the switch in Up position.

[luberhill]

Mine is a power type

[drsteve]

CavemanCharlie wrote:
I'm not sure how it could do it ???

On my awning there is a lever on the end that I have to flip with the rod to unroll it. Then when I roll it up I have to flip the lever the other way. Once it is rolled up and the lever is flipped the awning won't unroll. (I know because I have tried to pull it out without remembering to flip the lever)

Also, there are little plastic locks that you flip down and lock after rolling the awning back up. (I'm not sure what those do though) then I screw the knobs for the support braces down tight and drive away.

It can do it, if the locking mechanism that the lever operates breaks, or if you forget to flip the lever. Saw it happen to a guy driving a Class C across the Mackinac Bridge.

[CavemanCharlie]

I'm not sure how it could do it ???

On my awning there is a lever on the end that I have to flip with the rod to unroll it. Then when I roll it up I have to flip the lever the other way. Once it is rolled up and the lever is flipped the awning won't unroll. (I know because I have tried to pull it out without remembering to flip the lever)

Also, there are little plastic locks that you flip down and lock after rolling the awning back up. (I'm not sure what those do though) then I screw the knobs for the support braces down tight and drive away.

[phillyg]

It's not at the top of my worry list, but it's in there, somewhere.

[Old-Biscuit]

LarryJM wrote:

Old-Biscuit wrote:
I take my awning rod and use it to lock the roller

Stick the bent end of rod into hole on end cap of roller (opposite end of locking pawl lever or motor drive)
Rod hanging straight down place it behind the awning arms and strap it in place using velcro straps, bungee cords, zip ties etc)

Roller won't move...awning material can not unfurl

This is an modification I got from 'robsouth' that use to post here

The idea is good, but I would doubt that only the standard approx 1" bend at the end of the awning rod and the small diameter of the awning rod inserted into the awning tube would really hold if the awning started trying to unfurl and bang around at highway speeds.

Larry

Been using it for 10 yrs.....so far so good.
End cap hole/slot is only slightly larger diameter then awning rod
Hooked end of rod has never slipped out of end cap which is aligned with 1/4" grove in roller tube
Straight section of rod is slipped behind awning arm and held in place via velcro straps

Simple, free and it WORKS.

[ksg5000]

Old-Biscuit wrote:
I take my awning rod and use it to lock the roller

Stick the bent end of rod into hole on end cap of roller (opposite end of locking pawl lever or motor drive)
Rod hanging straight down place it behind the awning arms and strap it in place using velcro straps, bungee cords, zip ties etc)

Roller won't move...awning material can not unfurl

This is an modification I got from 'robsouth' that use to post here

x2

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

bob213 wrote:
Don't know about power awnings but they do sell these for manual ones.
awning lock

I've installed these on every RV we've had with an awning. Easy to install and guaranteed to work

[luberhill]

Most of the locks made were or are for manual ones correct