Looking advice on awnings in particular porch awnings. We have an old 1993 fleetwood crystal 4 berth. Considering buying a porch awning suitable for it but unsure whats woth the cash and whats absolutely to be avoided. As this is our 1st van we dont want to spend a fortune on an awning. All help grately appreciated.
Awnings are a love it hate it item. You may hate one and someone else will love it.
I don't think there is any that must be avoided. Lightweight swnings do not last as long as a normal awning.
I have a small porch, forget the name now like half an igloo. Only 3 poles and very quick to put up. But the other year the poles started to splinter and now the fabric is starting to wear thin in places. Not as waterproof as it should be.
I will be replacing rather than renewing the waterproofing.
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I have a large awning for longer trips and a small awning for shorter stays. I've had my small awning for over 10 years in the last couple of years I've had to replace the shock cords (elastic) and also some fibreglass poles that split. If you are looking to keep the costs down you'll not want an air awning. Then you have to consider size and quality. Some awnings are better than others - different fabrics, easy or difficult to put up. Not sure what dealerships you have in Co Antrim but I'd consider going to a dealers have a good look round and see what would be best for you. Then I'd check auction sites. I wouldn't rule out a pre owned but good condition would be a must.
If considering a porch awning then you first need to measure the length on the side of the caravan from the one pole where the awning will start to where it ends. In other words, if the caravan entrance door is nearer the front you need to measure from left to right and if the door is nearer the rear end then you need to measure from right to left to determine if the pole will fall directly in front of the caravan window or not. Remember that a caravan window is not flat so you won't be able to erect the awning flush to the caravan side so if there is a gap due to slack material it can evidently cause pooling on the awning roof in heavy downpours. I use a 260 porch awning merely because anything longer won't suit the length of the caravan so only use it for weekends and find that a full awning is more beneficial.
Hi
A Porch awning is a great thing to have,As tango said check the windows, but sometimes you wont, be able to miss them.
Ours cover the front window or back, depends how we put it up. we have a merlin 360 which is about 10 x 8 does the job for us even when 4 people are in the van.
Check this page out, gives you awning size for your van.
But only full size am affraid. 850
You need to be careful with some older vans as the awning rail was a lot lower on some in those days.
Modern vans have bigger wheels and thicker floor/chassis construction and more internal head room and the sides are boxier all resulting in more height.
Thanks folks for all your replies to date. Navver thanks for that specific piece of wisdom on older vans. I have measured the highest part of my van and its 2315mm with the slope to the right towards rear of van it measures 2220mm slope to the left towards the front of van measures 2250mm on the awning rail. This looks like the newer awnings will not fit as they seem to need a level roof with a min height to the awning rail of 2350mm. Any thots on what would fit thes odd heights of awning rail for my van?