Awning stabilizer

[JoeAdkins]

Hi
i have a Forest River pop up. I would like to have the awning support poles go down to the ground instead of going back to the side of the camper. Would a pair of stabilizers do the trick?

[rsdata]

Read this thread from post #2145 on... and you will get an idea on how you can purchase a bracket and either buy or make awning hold down/up poles.

Awning pole hold down kit

I say down/up because in high winds your awning may be pushed down or blown up by the wind.

I personally bought the bracket from Old Coot but made my own poles using 1 1/4 and 1 inch PVC pipe...

Others have used aluminum tubing, painters extension poles or bought them made from another member. Read through that posting and make your own mod for your awning using the thread for ideas....

Make the poles adjustable as it is best to have your awning tilted left to right to help shed water in heavy rains.

Good Luck and post your final solution...

[JoeAdkins]

Hi
Would you happen to have a picture of the finished product? How does the poles attach to awning and do I need ropes to the ground with stakes?

[rsdata]

I will help you but as it snowed 3 inches last night/today it will take until next week before I can get a picture as I am leaving Thurs for the weekend.

Basically Old Coot sells a bracket that bolts to the end of the awning arms at each end near the roller. This bracket uses existing holes in awning arms. It gives you the ability to pin a telescoping support pole to the bracket that will extend to the ground. Also on the bracket is another short arm with a hole that you will use to attach a ratchet strap to a ground stake to fasten the awning to the ground. So pole holds awning up and strap holds awning down... between them the awning is stabilized against wind and rain. Best to keep awning tilted from left to right in case of rain and poles slide into one-another to accommodate different lengths.

Now picture some CPVC (white rigid) plastic tubing from Home Depot, 1 inch sliding into larger 1 1/4 inch tube that is pinned to the bracket at top and goes down to the ground. The sliding pole is adjustable in and out and with holes drilled into the tubing at various points that can also be pinned at various lengths to accommodate differing awning heights to the ground. I think post #2145 on the other thread shows this in a picture.

this thread here >>> Awning pole hold down kit

One post in this thread I mentioned above talks about using rigid metal conduit in a similar way as the plastic. Another member here sells aluminum poles already made for this purpose. Up to you to decide how fancy you want to get. CPVC is light to carry and cheap to make. Over all pole length using 10' pipe is about 5 foot 6 inches collapsed.

I will do a write-up with pictures next week and post here on this thread...

[rsdata]

As promised I posted this thread about inexpensive awning support poles...

Make UR Own awning poles inexpensively

[JoeAdkins]

Would the adjustable poles that came with my awning be strong enough to support the awning? I believe they are tall enough. Then I was going to use a pair of Camco awning stabilizers. They have a rope that wraps around the awning and then down to small augers.

[Iwritecode]

Interesting that your awning arms don't detach from the body of the trailer. I thought this was an option on most pups.

[09grizzly1]

JoeAdkins.
Is your awning an electric or manual awning? If possible could you post a picture of your awning arms and of the bracket at the side of the camper?


Thanks.

[JoeAdkins]

My awning does detach from the side of the camper. When I detach it and put the poles straight down, there is nothing to hold the poles from falling over. So all I want to know is if I run the poles straight down, can I use awning stabilizers made by Camco to hold the poles in place.

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by JoeAdkins

My awning does detach from the side of the camper. When I detach it and put the poles straight down, there is nothing to hold the poles from falling over. So all I want to know is if I run the poles straight down, can I use awning stabilizers made by Camco to hold the poles in place.

Pictures would really help us help you.

When the poles are straight down, I think you'd need to tie down the awning in some way. Something like ratchet straps to dog tie downs or something.