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You get someone that knows that awning type to show you- and you practice when there aren't too many people around.

We bought a five month old caravan from a couple who claimed they had never used it. We went down to fetch it and they had two awnings- a porch one which had never been out of the bag and a full-size one which clearly had.  I asked why the awning was out if they had never used it and the man said they took it out in the garden, set it up and colour coded the poles. He went into the house to fetch something and his wife said- 'He has a terrible temper you know.'  We came to the conclusion that they had fallen out over the awning to such an extent that they had sold their brand new van. We got to a campsite- tried to put it up and discovered the colour coding was all wrong. It took us quite a while to resolve it and an old man in a motorhome saw we were struggling and came over to help. About the first thing he did was drop a pole (twice) and dent the side of the van.

It quickly got better though.

There are still times when I do not think the awning is worth it and if we can pack away a lot of stuff in the back of the car I sometimes dont bother for 1-2 nights. For 3 or more we always would.

James

At least its better than 4 hours  which i have a feeling it will tak eme when i pick my first one up on Friday! 

Hope it gets easier for u!!

Quote: Originally posted by Dave + Jan on 11/9/2006

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.  Things were not much better with the 20004 model

 

Dont think i can wait that long for things to get better

Yes it will get easier with practice.

Start by unzipping all panels if they are attached, and then sliding the rest of the awning in to the rail. This is easier if you spray it with Fabsil or some other silicone based polish. Use any stripes or the windows tops/bottoms to check it is roughly level both ends. Then start with the frame. I usually connect the centre leg pole first at low height, then connect it to the roof pole, then I make the connection to one of the other legs, then that one to its roof pole, then do the same the other end. Raise the legs up, zip the fronts and end panels back in and then adjust any poles that aren't quite right. This will get rid of the bagginess, unless the awning is an old one like the one we have now which has stretched over the years. This method has worked for me on a number of different awnings. It helps if there is someone around to hold the poles, especially if it is windy. Final step is to peg it out - do the corners by the caravan first, then the front corners, finally all the ones in between.

Hope this helps.

I used to have a trailer tent before i bought our caravan so putting up an awning was childs play after fighting with a trailer tent. But as many have said before me on this post i still practiced lots so as not to look a silly ar$e on the day. I had already sprayed the awning track on the van with silicone spray. And the way i do it is i unzip all the panels have the caravan step at the ready for the highest point the good lady feeds the awning on at the bottom and away i go pulling it along the length of the van. I like so many also labeled all the poles up. Don't give up with plenty of practice you will soon wonder what all the fuss was about.