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Advice wanted on the best way to connect a Khyam Motordome free standing awning to an Auto-sleeper motor home, which is GRP construction?

I have a motordome.  The awning has 4 methods of fixing.

One. a kador strip, the string looking thing on the awning to slide into a channel.  Two. about 4 rings for attaching ropes to throw over the van and secure on the other side.  Three. Supplied with mine 3 figure of 8 strips which slide onto the kador strip of the awning and onto the gutter of a van. Four. A slot in the awning where you can slide a pole.  The pole can be fixed onto the gutter with clamps.  Do you have a gutter like a van?

John

living in worcestershire you are ideally placed for a quick visit or phone call to Autosleeper. 

presume you have the monocoque body of clubman, or do you have high top conversion like trident.  either way Autosleeper should be able to tell you over the phone. If you do not have a fixed fiamma type awning, then the anwer would probably be to get the appropriate channel fixed to the van itself - or try contacting the autosleepers owners club.

Thank you Jondy and Kara for your responses.

We have used the awning once on a fortnight’s holiday by attaching it to the van with over the top straps pegged on the opposite side. It worked ok but didn't look good.

I am now aware of J rails, C rails and even H rails. Another 23 and we will have a full set! Whilst I understand J & C but can't picture how the H rail works.

The decision now is between a J rail OR C rail with the use of a double edged beaded strip supplied by Outdoor Revolution. Any suggestions?

The van is monocoque construction, so no gutter. I will need to drill and screw a rail to the side and I am concerned about the success / damage to the integrity of the habitation unit. I wonder if anyone has done this?

I guess the J rail is similar to a van gutter rail.  The figure of 8 strip would slide on the kador strip (stringy thing) of the awning and clip onto the Jrail/gutter, stays there under tension.   The C rail I guess, would be the convential caravan awning slot, the kador strip of the awning would slide into that. In my case I did not like that as you would have to slide the erected awning along the strip.  To avoid this a double kador strip, mentioned above, joins the figure of 8 strip you have placed on the awning to the C rail.  Of the two the J/gutter rail would appear to be simpler. If the 'chuck the rope over' system works well and is fast why drill the van.  Try googling 'Fishbrain' he sells these awnings mainly to VW campervan men. I brought my awning there.  I asked about all of this after purchase, frankly, he did not want to know.  He does advertise strips etc., but ask if he has stuff in stock before ordering. Another idea I had was to use those suction clamps that hold glass if you have flat shiny surfaces on the roof (if height OK) you could use the pole method above, clamp the poles to the suction clamps. The point is if you have a so called quick erect sytem, you will be looking for a quick reliable attaching sytem as well.

John

I too use "the Velcro" method. My van (see gallery) is Glassfibre. I bought the Velcro from the local Sailmaker and he stitched the smooth surface to the awning for me.
I stuck the hook side to the van, but if I was doing this again, I would heat it with a hairdrier first as this makes it stick even better. The Velcro we used was the 50mm wide stuff.

We have now had it on for 2 seasons and it is still doing well. No drafts, no rain coming in, easy to put on with a fair bit of leeway and is easily removed by just putting a finger in one end and running the finger along the Velcro.

Our awning is a Kyham Tent and so it can be used free standing.

Hi Jax it wasn't 5mm I got, it was 50mm (2") wide.

Our Khyam was modified by the folks that made our caravan so that one end flap comes out to the same distance as the base and then 2 flaps are stitched to this and the tent wall to form a tunnel entrance that sits against the vertical back/sides of the van. I got the sailmaker to stitch the 2" wide Velcro onto the edge of this entrance way. The other stuff (the side with the hooks) is backed with sticky tape (Carpet tape would do the bizz) and this goes onto the van. We are talking about 9 meters of Velcro.

As I said, I got the local sailmaker to do it, but I was also getting him to make me a canvas awning skirt to stop Mr. Barker from escaping from the awning when I wasn't looking. In all I was £100 for the whole caboodle.

The wee van web page is Here and the movie (bottom left on th page) is worth watching if only to give you some ideas for building/modifying your own caravan/motorhome in the future.

Quote: Originally posted by Jax365 on 15/6/2008

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Oooh Lobey, wish I could afford one of those! What an excellent design! If I win the lotto....

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Well Jax, we are both retired now and after having Tents, TT, Campervans and Caravans, we were looking for something that would give us the very best of all our previous units without the expense of a large towcar or storage fees.

Okay, the intial cost of the Lux is high but after it is bought, it is pulled with either our Clio or our Scenic at 40mpg towing, and its expected lifespan is 25+ years. It will see us to the end of our camping years and because it fits into our lock-up, will cost us nothing if we decide to go rent a flat abroad for 6 months instead of UK Camping.