Awning issues

[Woodworker]

Montana 3811MS. 2018.

I had to re center my main awning because it wasn't rolling up correctly, and while doing so, I noticed that the piece to which the awning is fastened is pulling away from the side of the RV. It looks like it is only held on with something like liquid nails. Anyone ever have this happen? What's the fix?

[DadsHemi]

Mine was doing that, I had to tighten all the screws and had to add/replace some to the track that the awning fastens to.

[team bradfield]

mine is doing the same, on my list for repairs

[RMcNeal]

I can't tell from the pictures, is it the side rail or top rail pulling away? The top rail on mine uses Oscar rivets to attach to the side of the rig.
https://www.amazon.com/Dometic-11300...803782&sr=8-47
Several had to be replaced with larger ones since they were very loosely installed from the factory.

[speedster100]

Common issue on these electric awnings, they use screws that aren't plentiful enough or big enough to withstand the forces of the awning over time in various weather. I've replaced the screws on the last two trailers with larger stainless and added two inbetween each from the factory. I also added a dab of silicone to each during the install to seal out moisture. Not a big job at all and prevention is way easier than repair.... It almost seems like the units put out today are paying by the screw. The skirting's and various other parts all seem to undersize and under utilize screws causing problems down the road and its usually after warranty has run out.

[John and Barbara]

I have all of the issues mentioned in these posts. Lazydays Tampa made the issues worst under a warranty claim and customer service will not talk to me either. Keystone did a poor job of installing at factory, There is no backer in the side wall for the screws to attach to which allows the screws to pull out. The forward rail on the front awning was mis-aligned and the awning would not retract completely. Lazydays said they aligned the fabric to correct the problem. They actually left the screws out that hold the fabric which allowed the awning to slide. I followed the install directions from Dometic and corrected the problems. I'm in the process of installing Oscar rivets also. Lazydays is the most useless maintenance people and Keystone just doesn't care. We the owners do better on our own.

[Jimongee]

Yes, my 5th wheel was the same. The big hex head wood screws were not installed correctly and thus were driven right through the mounting track thus pulling the track away from the wall. This caused 2 things; one is that I’m fortunate the awning didn’t end up on the highway. And two, the resulting gap from not being secure allowed water intrusion to the inside of the rv! When I attempted to fix this I found the third problem; the very poor skills persons that did the awning installation over drove the fasteners to a point of hogging out the holes (fully stripped). And so how this awning did not leave the rv over the years is a camping miracle. My fix? I drilled out the original holes, applied plenty of sealer to the new bolts (which became carriage bolts). And used nuts and washers on the inside. I was able to do this because the bolts at both ends protruded inside the rv at a nearly non visible area inside of upper cabinets. Now it would take a land mover to pull this awning away from old Monty!