Awning issue

[PAAK]

Ok, had a great weekend camping at the Russian River here in Alaska, then things went south on the pack out to leave. I did a walk around before pulling foward on a rainy sunday morning and then got in the truck and started to pull forward and wack,the awning was still out. It only hit a couple of pine tree branches and it isnt all that bad. The only problem is that it bent the arms about 3 inches to the rear, and that keeps it from folding up all the way. Is it possible to bend them back, or should I replace them? thank you for any advice.

[shenandoahvalle]

I have managed to bend two awning arms. First one was a manual awning that I attempted to put up with one of the brace pieces in place and it slightly bent the main support. I was able to bend the arm enough so that it worked but it always was in a slight bind. The other was on our current TT and it is an electric awning. I think it got hit by a campground worker on a lawnmower, I think he hit it with his rollover guard...couldn't prove it so the repair was on me. Not repairable and the new arm was about $700...yikes.

[PAAK]

Thanks for all of the advice. I will see if I can try and fix it, if not, I will then replace it.

[dadmomh]

DH had to replace the arm pieces on our HTT the first week we had it....left it opened up in our driveway - so proud of it - and a storm blew through and took one side of arm and hardware with it. He can fix or build most anything and this was not a bad job. Seems like the parts were around $75 - that was for a manual awning in '06. If you have the electric awning, that may be a whole different thing. Any damage to the roller? Do you think it's worth turning in to insurance?? You could end up with a whole new awning....or not.

[K_Charles]

It won't hurt anything to try to bend them back. The only thing you might wreck already needs replacing. Go for it. They don't hold much weight, the water is supposed to run off.

[hddecker]

Don't you just hate it when that happens. Like ford truck guy said.

Aluminum is not a very forgiving material, once it has been bent it can't be worked like steel. Many times the damage can't be seen until the piece breaks.

One suggestion for your walk around, don't just look at stuff, touch it. You'll find storage compartment latches that didn't catch properly and other assorted things that need attention. It's a good idea to do the same thing with your tires, you'll catch the tire that is starting the bulge on the sidewall long before it is a problem.

[Greydennyhawk]

I also had to replace one on a carefree , and it wasn't too expensive

[dockmasterdave]

I had to replace one on a Dometic. They were actually very helpful and not overly priced. That was a pleasant surprise.

You will need the model number and size though.

[ford_truck_guy]

In my own opinion , you have compromised the strength of the arms and they should be replaced.. The arms hold their fare share of weight with wind and rain... Something else to think about is with the fairly thin wall aluminum extrusions , they usually will not bend back the best , resulting in hair line cracks...

[Bucky_Badger]

PAAK wrote:
Ok, had a great weekend camping at the Russian River here in Alaska, then things went south on the pack out to leave. I did a walk around before pulling foward on a rainy sunday morning and then got in the truck and started to pull forward and wack,the awning was still out. It only hit a couple of pine tree branches and it isnt all that bad. The only problem is that it bent the arms about 3 inches to the rear, and that keeps it from folding up all the way. Is it possible to bend them back, or should I replace them? thank you for any advice.

Doubt you can bent it good enough to get it to work properly.
I would rethink your walk around method;)