averity
NE
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Joined: 03/19/2003
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My TT is 3 years old and the awning roller and fabric has started to stretch. In order for heavy rain downpours to not pool in the awning I have to drop one corner down quite a ways for drainage causing door opening problems. As said I can see that the roller has bowed inward somewhat, but not alot. Has anyone installed the center awning support unit; ie: Rafter VI support etc? Also, one local dealer said that such a support would not straighten out the bowed roller enough to stretch out the sagged awning fabric. He also said that if the center support had been used since the TT was new the roller would not have bowed; thanks for telling me now. Bottom line is I do not want to spend $150-200 for a fix that may not solve the problem and cause more setup/takedown problems. The easiest solution maybe to just drop an awning corner way down. Thanks for any helpful hints.
VT Wanderer
Northern VT
266RELL-GL Springdale TT
2007 Dodge Ram Laramie 5.7 Hemi Quad 4x4
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Jerrybo66
AZ
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Joined: 10/07/2003
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Dropping one side down is standard procedure. You might try raising the end by the door a little extra and dropping the opposite side.... I went to bed with the idea that "it's not gonna rain tonight" and woke up with a ton of water in the awning. The tube was bent and the awning had a huge bulge filled with water. All my ideas to straighten it didn't work but the fabric returned to original shape. It was a bit of a hassle rolling it up and down because of the "flop" of the bent tube but it worked.. I doubt if you will be able to fix anything other than replacing the whole deal. I'm not sure a post would prevent the pooling problem completely as the rain begins to back up the material will stretch and hold more water. Now that your tube is bent I doubt it would help at all. It's hard to stop the awning with the bow up.. Been there, done that..
Support the Country you live in or live in the Country you support
2003 Sierra SP 26'Toy Hauler
1997 F-350, PSD, 4X4, red Crew Cab, long bed.
2007 Arctic Cat Prowler, Arctic Cat 500
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tvman44
Southwest Louisiana
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Joined: 09/25/2007
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Even with a brand new rig you need to lower one corner to allow for drainage or it will pool. I'm afraid at the very least you will need a new roller tube if it is available, if not a whole new awning. 
Papa Bob
1* DW "Granny"
1* 2008 Brookside by Sunnybrook 32'
1* 2002 F250 Super Duty 7.3L PSD
Husky 16K hitch, Tekonsha P3,
Firestone Ride Rite Air Springs, Trailair Equa-Flex, Champion C46540
"A bad day camping is better than a good day at work!"
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LarryJM
NoVa
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Joined: 11/09/2007
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averity wrote:My TT is 3 years old and the awning roller and fabric has started to stretch. In order for heavy rain downpours to not pool in the awning I have to drop one corner down quite a ways for drainage causing door opening problems. As said I can see that the roller has bowed inward somewhat, but not alot. Has anyone installed the center awning support unit; ie: Rafter VI support etc? Also, one local dealer said that such a support would not straighten out the bowed roller enough to stretch out the sagged awning fabric. He also said that if the center support had been used since the TT was new the roller would not have bowed; thanks for telling me now. Bottom line is I do not want to spend $150-200 for a fix that may not solve the problem and cause more setup/takedown problems. The easiest solution maybe to just drop an awning corner way down. Thanks for any helpful hints.
My awning is 21' long and doesn't have any center support and I noticed as you did that the roller tube would bow in the middle, especially when it rained fairly hard. I bought a pole saw/pruner that had a telescoping handle on it and I remounted the saw/pruner on a longer telescoping handle and I modified the original pole saw/pruner handle to support my roller tube in the middle. The details are in the following pictures. Best part is the cost was zero since I had all the materials laying around in my extensive grab bag of junk I keep.
This pic is the attachment mechanism for my center awning support. The rod on the left goes into the aux awning rail and the bolt goes thru a expandable pole that I can adjust for just the right amount of support and lock it. In fact I can get the awning tube to bow out and straighten the awning tube where it is perfectly straight and even reverse the now slight bow in the awning tube.
This is the awning support installed. By getting a good angle on it I can lift and hold the tube and provide whatever amount of support needed much easier than I can with the stock end arms. This pic has the attached web too far out from the pole which lifts the valance. I now have it shortened so that isn't a problem and with the end of the support on the outside of the roller tube there is now way for it to accidently puncture the awning. Since the end of the expandable pole was hollow I install a wooden dowel to give it a solid area where the bold and thumb nut goes thru the pole.
Larry
2001 standard box 7.3L E-350 PSD Van with 4.10 rear and 2007 Holiday Rambler Aluma-Lite 8306S Been RV'ing since 1974.
ALL TRAILER MODS>>ETERNABOND INSTALL>>RAINKAP INSTALL
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Dutch_12078
Great Sacandaga Lake, NY
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Joined: 10/07/2008
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I replaced the fabric on my 14 year old 19' A&E awning a couple of weeks ago. While I had the tube off, I was able to straighten it, removing a 2-1/2" bow from the center well enough that there's barely a wobble now when retracting. All I did was support both ends of the tube on blocks, and then press down in the center with my hands spread a couple of feet apart. By "bouncing" my body weight gently on the tube, with frequent progress checking, I was able to accomplish the task in a few minutes. When running a string along the tube showed that it was less than an 1/8" off, I left it alone rather than press my luck.
Dutch
'95 Coachmen Catalina 322XL
F-53 chassis, 460 V8
Bigfoot EZE-Leveler jacks
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john2000
San Angelo, Texas
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Joined: 11/18/2000
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I have used this rafter/center support on two RVs successfully but that was before the roller was bent. I really liked the setup as it also gives an extra tie down point which have twice survived 70+ mph storms in the Texas Hill country. Don't quite know if it will help the bow but it does add upward support for the tube/roller.
John and Dottie/'06Teton Experience Sunrise/'03Dodge QC LWB CTD 6-Spd 4:10 DRW/Our Web Pages
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