Awning fabric pulled partway out of the track

[SlyCamperz]

We are just wrapping up our first year with our 2012 FR Wildwood. When we bought it,the awning was the only thing that hadn’t been well maintained. We noticed that the awning fabric (vinyl) has pulled out of the track at one end for about 12 inches, causing it to wrinkle a little when retracted. Is there a way to get it back in the track without taking the whole awning off the trailer? The cord in the vinyl fold is tightly pinched at the point where it is half in and half out of the track. I don’t think we could even slide it out of the roller bar with that pinch point. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Has anyone else had this problem? I’m assuming it was originally caused by a wind gust.

[SeaDog]

You can open the awning part way then lock the roller in place and bring the awning back toward the rig this will relieve the tension. Then take a heavy duty screen roller (or other blunt instrument) and see if you can't force the awning and cord back into the track I would check that end of the track and make sure it hasn't widened and when I got the cord in I would run a zip screw thru the track and cord to hold it in place. Good luck let the forum know how you correct the problem.

[SlyCamperz]

We have tried, and it just doesn’t seem to be possible to push the cord back in the track. We can’t even get the end without fabric around it in. I’ve thought about heating it up with a hair dryer to try to soften it, but doubt it will help. We may have to just live with it until we replace the fabric. We’re looking around and trying to decide which brand to go with. We prefer vinyl with a metal weather guard. Any input would be appreciated. There’s a wide range of prices out there.

[Phil Tessier]

I had this situation over our bedroom slide. Having read the advice here, I decided to try a different solution, which worked! (I purchased a heavy duty screen tool, as one poster suggested, but I didn't think it was going to do the job; I did try briefly...)
I used a piece of metal rod, about 3/16 inch in diameter, and a hammer. I aligned the rod so that about 1/2 inch of the rod overlapped with the pulled out section, and tapped sharply with a hammer. It worked. I repeated the process, 1/2 inch at a time, all the way to the edge where the pull out had started.
(Telling it again, with more details... My "pull out" was about three feet long, starting at the left edge. My rod was about 2 feet long, and between 1/8 and 3/16 inch in diameter. I rounded the end I was using with my Dremel tool, so that it wouldn't cut into the fabric. I started 3 feet from the left edge of the fabric, overlapped 1/2 inch, with the excess rod extending to the right. I placed a piece of 2x6 lumber under the metal weather cover to get it to arch nicely, so that I could get a grip on it. I positioned the fabric with its bead just over the slot, and then the rod end over that, then tapped sharply with my hammer. It popped right in. I moved 1/2 inch to the left, and repeated until complete. (Sometimes, I'd have to reposition a little and give a second tap, but it worked quite well for a "let me give a try" method.)

I hope this helps!
Phil

[robo44]

I posted a slide topper issue with my FR3 where the "gimp" was sliding out causing the awning to pull away from the roller.
The slide topper roller is under heavy tension. I tried and failed miserably to reseat the fabric and the gimp. While many have seceded, I had 3 people assist, and could never get this done.

https://www.forestriverforums.com/fo...ir-228249.html

Awning are finicky best of luck with your decisions..

[Phil Tessier]

I neglected to mention above that I’d removed the tension on the fabric first.
I moved the slide to the “fully out” position, then caught up the “knob” on the roller, with a large wrench, so that the roller couldn’t roll up, then moved the slide in about halfway.