Awnings

[mike hatton]

I made friends with a tent maker and we made one for the back of my pickup.
Awning rail rivited to the truckman top, back door holds the tent up (assisted by an adjustable pole) no guy lines needed even in high winds. I lined the roof of the truckman and fitted lights and a sectional bed. Takes 5 mins to setup shelter and another 5 to make the bed but it'll sleep 4 and there's somewhere to hide from the rain, remove muddy clothes and dry off before getting into bed. Very popular with the ladies... when they need the loo and a place to hide from the rain. Biggest plus is the weight isn't on the roof and no worries with low branches. Should be possible on an LC, could sleep in the boot?
Would still like a terrain awning though, save roping a tarp between vehicles.

Some pics on here p1 and 2

viewtopic.php?f=69&t=11747

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

Fox Wing was handy on the beach recently - quite high winds and not a great day for the beach really but in the shelter of the Fox Wing it was perfect beach weather, nice and warm with a gentle breeze

 

[AndyCook]

very nice - my foxwing order has been delayed by 2wks... I was hoping to get it on Monday, ready in time for a laning/camping trip to Yorkshire Dales a week on Friday... no such luck

 

[fridayman]

Jon - what type of pegs do you use in soft sand?

 

[warrenpfo]

Where are you allowed to drive on the beach is what I would like to know?

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

Jon - what type of pegs do you use in soft sand?

It was reasonably firm sand so single BOAB rock pegs were more than enough. For really soft ground I'd either double them up or use the pins from my ground anchor The BOAB pegs are just rolled T section steel with a ring set into the top for guy ropes and have worked well in all the ground conditions I've tried. I use a bar through the ring to lever them out of firm ground

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

Where are you allowed to drive on the beach is what I would like to know?

You can park on the beach at Berrow, just south of Weston. The beach itself is ok but most of the time there are mud flats between the beach and the sea so if you like to splash about in the sea as well then it's probably a bit rubbish.

 

[AndyCook]

got my awning now - just in time for this weekends trip to dales

 

[Gav Peter]

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

Good timing then I need to make some drainage holes in the boots on the bottom of the upright poles on mine. I dry the awning out if it goes away wet but never thought to do that for the poles and they have ended up with the inner pole being quite wet for a long time leading to a few spots of surface oxidization on them so they were a bit stiff and still wet when I extended them time before last.

 

[AndyCook]

yes = good timing given forecast...

whats the point of the "drainpipe" ? if the awning is angled down, cant see it helping much

my awning seems quite high on roof, compared to your custom mounts, but guess a consquence of my high thule bars

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

whats the point of the "drainpipe" ? if the awning is angled down, cant see it helping much

In case it's not angled down for some reason I guess ...

my awning seems quite high on roof, compared to your custom mounts, but guess a consquence of my high thule bars

I did think it looked a bit high but that's only a problem if it's a bit of a stretch to put it away really.

 

[PeterT]

How well do most of these awnings hold up in a slight wind? I guess you could anchor the awning poles really well. But if it's set up on sand or pavement, has anyone had them blow up or off the ground?

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

Mine has been up in strong winds, just need to make sure you've used appropriate restraints. Their construction is fairly simple though so if it does break free there's no reason it should be scrap.

 

[fridayman]

My Fowing arrived this week. Best deal I could find was £650 for the wing and extension.

Now looking for locks for my roof bars (Toyota bars) and a way to secure the wing to the bars so that it can't be nicked. I was wondering if I should try and lock the awning to the bars (and the brackets...), or if I should replace all the bolts with torx (or similar) type bolts..? I could use sheer bolts for the brackets on the awning, but they aren't really practical to secure the brackets to the roof bars.

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

I use some security nuts to hold the fox wing to the brackets, some security bolts to hold the brackets to the Rhino bars and the bars were supplied with security bolts. The nuts just need a special socket so they're multiple use and the bolts are just the allen key type with a pin in the middle, not super high security but a bit harder to pinch than if it had normal nuts and bolts. Also, when my roof tent is mounted you can't get at any of those anyway

 

[fridayman]

I use some security nuts to hold the fox wing to the brackets, some security bolts to hold the brackets to the Rhino bars and the bars were supplied with security bolts. The nuts just need a special socket so they're multiple use and the bolts are just the allen key type with a pin in the middle, not super high security but a bit harder to pinch than if it had normal nuts and bolts. Also, when my roof tent is mounted you can't get at any of those anyway

What do those security nuts look like?

Looks like I will have to find alternate roof bar locks - Toyota discontinued them.

 

[Gav Peter]

Wouldn't any ordinary guttermount roof bars be suitable ET??

 

[fridayman]

Wouldn't any ordinary guttermount roof bars be suitable ET??

Probably, but I already have these bars. I should be able to find some other locks that work. Hopefully they are just regular barrel locks like many roof bars use.

 

[AndyCook]

just to update - the awning was a brilliant addition for the dales trip - kept us nice and dry when i rained.
quick to setup and stow away.
worth the £££