Replaced and Upgraded the awning canopy on our Carefree Latitude (2019 Isata 5 35DB)

[BLT4SPD]

The canopy fabric on our Istata 5 awning came from the factory like every other Dynamax awning I’ve seen; it’s the “Dune Stripe” pattern in Black/Grey color. More importantly, it’s the “standard” Carefree vinyl “fabric”. I say “fabric” in quotes because it’s essentially just a sheet of solid plastic. Nothing wrong with it, but nothing particularly “exciting” about it and I always looked at the pattern as a sort of “eh, I could do without that”. The final straw for me was when we left our awning out, in our own driveway, last summer and a fast moving hail storm came in. Zero damage to the coach (or anything else), but in the short amount of time it took me to run outside and bring in the awning, we picked up a handful of holes in the canopy.

We lived with it like that for about a year, but I finally called Carefree this summer and ordered up a new canopy. First step was to review the available colors on their website and short list the ones we wanted to see. I emailed our “short list” to Carefree and a few days later, an envelope arrived in the mail with small sections of the colors we requested. We taped them all to the side of the coach and picked the one we liked the best. Next step was to contact Carefree again and gave them the serial number from our awning and the color we selected. I didn’t have to measure a darn thing, they knew exactly what we need based on the serial number.

What we ended up with is Carefree’s Acrylic fabric in “Charcoal Tweed”. The “upgraded” Acrylic fabric is quite different from the vinyl from the standpoint that it’s actually a woven fabric and not a solid sheet. The charcoal tweed color is interesting from the standpoint that is seems to shift color depending on the light. It’s grey in some light and black in others. I REALLY wanted to go with something in the burgundy family of colors just to add a nice offset of color to the coach, but in the end, I Just got scared that I wouldn’t like it.

Installation notes: It’s really pretty darn easy. It’s just big, so it requires several pairs of hands to keep it off the ground while messing with it.

Carefree notes: I know they get a bunch of flack here on the forum, but Carefree has been REALLY easy to work with for me over the years. This canopy transaction was no different. Even in these COVID times, they got me the color samples quickly and when I finally placed the order, it was done and in UPS’s hands in less than a week.

The original canopy:









The new canopy:

[FOURWHL]

Dang that matches pretty nice. You've got a thing for grey like I've got a thing for blue

[BLT4SPD]

Originally Posted by FOURWHL

Dang that matches pretty nice. You've got a thing for grey like I've got a thing for blue

Funny thing is, we weren't into the "grey" prior to this coach. We are typically a household that lives in the shades of red. I'll go out of my way for red when buying a car or truck. Our house is red. so on and so forth. I REALLY though a dark red of some sort would be really nice for the awning with the grey coach.....but I chickened out.

[bclemens]

Originally Posted by BLT4SPD

I REALLY though a dark red of some sort would be really nice for the awning with the grey coach.....but I chickened out.

As a Buckeye....I can respect those color choices. Though Scarlet would be preferred.

[Delco Bobby]

I agree, very nice and I like the color of your coach.

[SusieR]

That looks great!

[Bytesponge]

Originally Posted by FOURWHL

Dang that matches pretty nice. You've got a thing for grey like I've got a thing for blue

Would not be my choice of colors or lack of colors (gray) either! myop

[cboss]

I think it looks great and I'm interested in the new fabric. How do you think it will do with mold, stains, dirt, and all that stuff that messes up our awnings?

[RKBob]

I’m interested in when Mr BC is going to shake Carefree’s tree hard enough to get a two angle awning for the Dx3, Force, models... “say what?” Brian...😎

[MoJoe1003]

Originally Posted by RKBob

I’m interested in when Mr BC is going to shake Carefree’s tree hard enough to get a two angle awning for the Dx3, Force, models... “say what?” Brian...[emoji41]

That question has come up before. It’s been tried. It was on a 2019 XL at the Pomona RV show back in 2018 that we almost purchased. Afterwards, If I remember correctly, BC said there was an issue with the two step awning hitting the slide top on some models. Not sure if that has been resolved.

[FOURWHL]

Originally Posted by MoJoe1003

That question has come up before. It’s been tried. It was on a 2019 XL at the Pomona RV show back in 2018 that we almost purchased. Afterwards, If I remember correctly, BC said there was an issue with the two step awning hitting the slide top on some models. Not sure if that has been resolved.

Yea Carefree assured it wouldn't hit... they tried it... it still hit as expected.

[RKBob]

I remember something about that. What prompted my question is l saw one on a Class A last week in Cannon Beach, Oregon. It had a large slide which it cleared and looked good so I thought perhaps Carefree had worked out the problem. Oh well, hope springs eternal! 😎

[BLT4SPD]

Originally Posted by cboss

I think it looks great and I'm interested in the new fabric. How do you think it will do with mold, stains, dirt, and all that stuff that messes up our awnings?

Carefree’s claim is that it’s much more resistant to mold, mildew, stains, etc. Since it’s a woven fabric rather than a solid sheet of plastic, they claim that it’s much more breathable and will dry quicker. In fact, this is a quote from Carefree’s website....

“With only minimal care acrylic fabrics will not rot, mildew or deteriorate. The vivid color can't be removed or washed out because the color pigment is actually in the thread, so the color runs all the way through. The fabric keeps its beautiful color for years. It won't crack, peel or harden. Acrylic fibers are very strong and extremely durable.”

Is any of that true? I can’t say for sure yet. What I do know is that is was only about $90 more to go from vinyl to acrylic with my size awning, so I thought it was worth it.