Set a side slant on your Patio Awning to drain - Montana Owners Club

H. John Kohl · 10-12-2006, 07:06 AM

The kids across the road did not have their awning set to drain.

We can learn from this.
Good luck to all and tow safe
Cheers

LonnieB · 10-12-2006, 07:08 AM

OUCH !!

CRUZIN 2 · 10-12-2006, 07:12 AM

OH MY GOODNESS!!

LaVonne

txkrumm · 10-12-2006, 07:22 AM

ewwwwww, not good!

bsmeaton · 10-12-2006, 08:01 AM

oh my gosh!

I learned the hard way but I only got a stretched out fabric in the center the left a big bubble in the middle when it was rolled up. I didn't think the tube would bend like that before something else broke!

Parrothead · 10-12-2006, 11:31 AM

Oh we learned the same lesson about 3 years ago on our previous 5er. We had it slanted but only one notch. While we were away for the weekend the area had a huge amount of rain. We came home to a big puddle in the middle of the awning. Ed went over to slant it more and as soon as he touched it, the tube bent right in the middle dumping all the very cold water right on me! Our insurance took care of it and we had a check within 3 days and a new better awning.
It depends on how much rain you are having on how much slant is needed. We are very careful now.
Happy trails........................

fulltimedreamer · 10-12-2006, 03:40 PM

Been there, done that, got the T-Shirt!! Mine was slanted, but not enough. When the replacement was put on, the repairman suggested the center support arm be added. My insurance company went for it and paid for the additional center support. I now make sure I have additional slant and also have the addtional support. Hopefully there will not be a repeat performance. LOL

hookman · 10-12-2006, 03:55 PM

You only do it once hopefully. Mine stretched the fabric and a small bend in the tube. I was lucky when I pulled the handle on the support arm it came down with no other damage but it shook the trailer. The insurance company replaced the awning and roller tube

ggranch · 12-15-2006, 04:00 AM

My name is Bob and I too am guilty. I was lucky, no damage to the awning or rig. I will always remember to put in the slant because of what did happen. Our granddaughter who was nine at the time, was sitting in a chair near the picnic table reading when I discovered the pool over my head. With out thinking, I raised the end nearest to where I was standing and sent 5 or more gallons of cold, clear water crashing down on her little blonde head. DW said the looks on both of our faces was priceless. My luck continued as Vickie quickly saw the humor in what had just happened and still trusts Grandpa and loves camping.

Fordzilla · 12-15-2006, 04:21 AM

I too am one of the "GUILTY" ones. On our previous camper we had a door near the center of the awning and it made it difficult to get out of the camper to fix it. Luckily the insurance paid for a new awning and we opted to purchase a center support as well to help prevent this from happening again. That reminds me I need to pick one of those supports up for the Monty this fall yet.

jrgwdenner · 12-15-2006, 04:21 AM

Poor Vickie! That must have been shocking for her. Takes more than that to taint the love of a grandchild for a grandparent and aren't we blessed because of it!

bob n pam · 12-15-2006, 04:26 PM

Maybe the kids in the picture were collecting rain water to wash hair!!

Ozzie · 12-15-2006, 05:36 PM

My brother (long time rv'er) took a similar hit and ruined his awning... he went into town and a storm hit while he was gone. It ended up costing him a new awning.
I was fortunate to learn from his mistake, but I did suffer from a lapse one time when we had our motorhome. I had the awning support to the ground and not anchored. We took a quick trip into town and some wind came up while we were gone. We came back to find our awning on the roof. I was able to repair it (metal skills come in handy), but these lessons come hard.

We have a large awning on our current rig so I put a spreader bar in the middle to help give it some strength. It has helped tremendously, but I also make sure to pitch it well when we go out and about in case of rain, and if there is wind about, I retract it.
Some of the winds I have been reading about on this forum would cause some concern too. Strapping it to the ground sounds a bit dangerous.
I've seen that quite a bit at campgrounds and it always made me a little nervous.

illapah · 12-16-2006, 03:31 AM

Everyone but me must know what the center support is. Hw does it work and where is it installed?

Ozzie · 12-16-2006, 04:58 AM

This is one similar to what I have. Of course this model is newer and has the support going straight down (mine doesn't).

What it does is spread the distance from the wall to the roller arm, thereby tightening most of the sag in the middle of the large awnings .
I couldn't bear to drill through my walls to mount it, so instead modified the plate and put rubber over it. It works very well and only takes a minute to put up.
What it doesn't do is let you ignore the weather...having a huge sail hanging off the side of your rig in a storm is a questionable proposition. Rain is fine - wind makes me nervous.

eztraveler2000 · 02-25-2007, 01:23 PM

We had that happen to us this past summer. We were set up as a seasonal, we had left after then weekend. The campground sits high on a hill and the wind blows most of the time and we had a very bad thunderstorm during the week when we were not there. It bent the tube and tore the fabric as it filled with water. We won't make that mistake again. We only had the new monty a little over a month. We've been camping for years and wondered how we made such a stupid mistake. Thank god for insurance.

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