Awning Warning!

[Montana_598]

"It was a dark and stormy night..." (as Snoopy used to write), and I got in too big a hurry to retract the awning. Every thing went as usual, except the forward support strut seemed to be not fully in place - you know, right up against the trailer wall. Given the windy and rainy conditions, I didn't adequately look for the reason; I just forced it into place. The problem this caused wasn't noticed until the next time I tried to rig the awning. 1) It unrolled just fine, 2) The top strut wouldn't slid up into its place at the top of the leg, 3) the little slider at the end of the strut was cracked and jammed, 4) And, worst of all, about 18" of the forward end of the awning track had been forced up and away from the trailer wall about three inches. What caused this? In my haste, I had failed to completely retract the leg extension. It was up only two holes, but the leverage it exerted on the awning track was sufficient to break the slider and dislocate the track. Now I have to find a new slider - I hope the manufacturer sells small components. The awning track was bent back into place, and longer/larger/more screws were used to reattach it - plus a lot of caulking. Lesson learned...

'04 3280,'03 RAM 3500, Cummins, Auto Trans,
Quad Cab, Long bed