Good day everyone! I know, not a subject many want to talk about, think about or even prepare for right? Well, let me lighten your hearts just a little bit. We have a 2006 Flagstaff and had been babying the awning for a full season and finally decided to fix it. We had received several different quotes and was to say the least kinda shocked. The prices were pardon the pun, through the roof. Well at the first of this year we joined Good Sam and was pleased to find out that they had merged with Camping World and would receive discounts at yet another place. Long story short we decided to give it a whirl. Fabric through Camping World delivered to our home (in less than a week) was just a little over $300.00. I spent several days reading a lot of forums and trying to watch videos of the process (not a lot out there to be found). So the wife and I decided to tackle it. Here's our story.
1) tools needed
a) drill and 3/16" drill bit
b) long skinny screwdriver or something similar
c) patience with your spouse
d) small hammer
e) small punch
f) GOOD pair of vice grips
g) patience with your spouse
h) sharp knife
i) dab of grease
j) couple of ladders
k) saw horse
l) 3/8" wrench
m) PATIENCE WITH YOUR SPOUSE
2) roll awning out as if you were setting up at camp.
3) put a little slack in the arms.
4) MAKE SURE the lock mechanism is locked.
5) take sharp knife and cut fabric close to roll from one end to the other
6) going up top to the front end of the awning fabric, look for a possible screw the holds the awning from sliding backward (remove it)
7) carefully remove the rear gutter end if you have one
8) take the upper awning arm loose from the camper and support the roll shaft with your saw horse
9) now you can slide the top part of your fabric out of the rail
10) on the end of the roll that DOES NOT have the lock, mark where the 2 rivets are, and the 2 channels that the fabric are in.
11) drill out the rivets
12) knock out the split pin
13) place vice grips on the shaft as close to the arm as you can get.
14) here comes the be careful part
15) there was one bolt on ours that held the shaft to the arm, get a good grip on the vice grips and remove this bolt
16) now, you will have to use your skinny screwdriver and your vice grips and keep working them around until you can remove the cap that you just drilled the rivets out of. The shaft that you are holding has a wound tension spring on it (nothing major pressure wise) just be ready to "hold" it.
17) now that the cap is off you can slide the old section of fabric off and begin feeding the new one, here is where neighbors and friends come into play.
18) you will need to feed the top and bottom on at the same time and may need to spray or dab a little grease into the rails to help slide them. Also i recommend a little duct tape at the leading edges of the fabric to help prevent any snags.
19) after you have slid it down you can reassemble the shaft section into the arm and then release the vice grips.
20) rehang the upper arm, gutter end, and put the screw back where it was.
21) rivet back or use self tapping screws to secure the cap
22) kiss spouse and say thank you baby
23) shake neighbors hands and offer them a meal sometime.
24) enjoy your new awning
All in all it wasnt very bad at all, I make light of it looking back on it and really did enjoy it very much. Full process took us about 30 minutes and saved around $1200.00
I will try to get some pictures up of the steps if you would like.
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