Awning Replacement Fabric Width

[subcamper]

We have a 2004 Rockwood with a 14' awning.

The fabric has delaminated badly and needs to be replaced this year before any outing with the TT. I will be doing it myself, and have been checking online for prices.

The best price so far is $154 + $19 shipping = $173 at rvawningsmart.com.

I measured the actual fabric width on the awning now and it is about 12'7".

The new awning fabric says it is about 13'2" wide.

The tube is about 13'7" long, so there is plenty of slot for the additional 7" of width.

Is there any problem with the extra width? I suspect the original awning fabric has shrunk a little from weathering because I use the awning de-flappers which attach to the rafters. Over the years the de-flappers had to be stretched more and more to reach the fabric. So it may be that the original fabric width was more than the current 12'7".

Any comments?

Steve

[1ofmany]

korbe wrote:

SoundGuy wrote:

SoundGuy wrote:
There's really no debate here - the size of a roller tube awning is defined by the manufacturers as the distance between the centre of one support arm to the centre of the other and has nothing to do with the length of the material itself nor the length of the roller tube.

1ofmany wrote:
Well, there is always room for debate!

Not when it comes to correctly sizing an awning. There's one method and only one method, just as I described. No debate. :R

What? No debate? Are we now debating that there is no room for a debate?:)

Guess so:-)

[aguablanco]

It seems to me you can measure your awning for fabric replacement any way you want, it's your awning. It just may not fit if it is not measured how the manufacturer requires. The room for debate, at least on this issue, seems limited at best. Having just replaced my fabric Saturday I decided it was best not to debate with the manufacturer and, believe it or not, it fits perfectly. And before this goes any deeper one must realize that the manufacturers generally don't do custom sizes, you buy one of the sizes they make.
RichH

[korbe]

SoundGuy wrote:

SoundGuy wrote:
There's really no debate here - the size of a roller tube awning is defined by the manufacturers as the distance between the centre of one support arm to the centre of the other and has nothing to do with the length of the material itself nor the length of the roller tube.

1ofmany wrote:
Well, there is always room for debate!

Not when it comes to correctly sizing an awning. There's one method and only one method, just as I described. No debate. :R

What? No debate? Are we now debating that there is no room for a debate?:)

[SoundGuy]

SoundGuy wrote:
There's really no debate here - the size of a roller tube awning is defined by the manufacturers as the distance between the centre of one support arm to the centre of the other and has nothing to do with the length of the material itself nor the length of the roller tube.

1ofmany wrote:
Well, there is always room for debate!

Not when it comes to correctly sizing an awning. There's one method and only one method, just as I described. No debate. :R

[1ofmany]

SoundGuy wrote:
There's really no debate here - the size of a roller tube awning is defined by the manufacturers as the distance between the centre of one support arm to the centre of the other and has nothing to do with the length of the material itself nor the length of the roller tube. This measurement won't necessarily be exactly on the foot but it will be close ... let's say you measure 13' 10" then that awning would be defined as a 14' awning and you would then replace the material with that for a 14' awning. Although there may be 3rd party vendors for awning fabric I'd always replace parts for a Dometic awning from Dometic, parts for a Carefree of Colorado from that manufacturer, etc.

Well, there is always room for debate!

[subcamper]

I contacted the replacement fabric vendor.

They said that the original fabric shrinks from exposure to the sun and that is why my original is now only 12'7" wide, while the replacement is 13'2" wide. My original is 12 years old, so a lot of exposure to the sun.

Steve

[SoundGuy]

There's really no debate here - the size of a roller tube awning is defined by the manufacturers as the distance between the centre of one support arm to the centre of the other and has nothing to do with the length of the material itself nor the length of the roller tube. This measurement won't necessarily be exactly on the foot but it will be close ... let's say you measure 13' 10" then that awning would be defined as a 14' awning and you would then replace the material with that for a 14' awning. Although there may be 3rd party vendors for awning fabric I'd always replace parts for a Dometic awning from Dometic, parts for a Carefree of Colorado from that manufacturer, etc.

[GrandpaKip]

When I researched replacing the awning fabric on our previous camper, I found prices all over the lot. After looking into quite a few of the cheaper ones, I found that's what they were: cheap, Chinese, replacements. I ended up going with a replacement from the original manufacturer for not a whole lot more, and I feel I got a lot better product.

[aguablanco]

I just bought and installed an 18' fabric from the same company this past weekend. Measure as they say and it will fit. I had about 2" of roller bar showing on each side. They make a great product for a really good price.
RichH

[1ofmany]

You might consider checking your awning roller for any specific data on make/model and then contact the manufacturer for what they think the fabric measurements are...we just went through an interesting adventure with CW when we had our awning fabric replaced. Bottom line, is to make sure you are ordering the right size.

[subcamper]

There was a link on the vendor web site on measuring awnings.

The arm-center-to-arm-center is in even increments of 1 foot. My awning measurement is 14 feet wide. They say the fabric is approximately 10" less than this measurement, which in my case is 13'2" wide fabric. That is the width they quoted on their site for the fabric for a 14' awning.

My question concerned the difference between the replacement fabric width (13'2") and the current fabric width (12'7"). It looks like A&E made the original fabric narrower than the replacement fabric for the same size awning.

The link for the fabric is:

14' replacement Awning Fabric

Steve

[RavensFan24]

Wehn I replaced the awning on my old Keystone, I was told to measure from center of support arm to center of support arm to get the replacement length. I would think some manufacturers may have slight variations of the actual width, but if you're replacing a 14' awning, the description on the replacement item should (in my opinion) be 14'. The actual item will be a slight variation from there.

[valhalla360]

I wouldn't think so but asking the vendor is your best bet. If we tell you it's fine and it doesn't work...we aren't out the money.

I would ask a follow up question: Is anyone familiar with the website you listed? That's less than half what I've found on other sites. Do they provide a good product? (We are also looking to replace the awning fabric this summer).

[korbe]

While researching on-line myself this past winter for replacement fabric, it was often noted explicitly that you are to measure the distance or length of the roller.... or was it the distance from the center of each arm. And that the fabric was normally smaller than the width given. So naturally I was able to get confused by the descriptions. 🙂 I ended up measuring what I had and what the roller gap was and went from there. I should also have about 3" of gap on either sides.