Awning arm broke while parked - what if on the road!!

[Frznrth]

Hi
I parked my 2 year old bullet last week. Couple days later I noticed the awning jutting out. The very bottom of the arm had broken off where the pin connects it to the bracket on the trailer. I took the part into my dealer and the parts guy said that it wouldn't be a problem to get the piece that he has seen this before. These things brake often??!! If it would have happened when I was towing it the arm would have jutted out into traffic - wonder if the awning would have even started to unroll.

Anyone else have this happen. This is a crappy potentially dangerous design. Any ideas how to secure the arm when travelling? I don't see a way to get a strap behind the mounting.

Thanks for your time.

[JRTJH]

First of all, there are three or four different awning companies and multiple different awning designs from manual to electric, so what awning brand, type and model are you talking about?

As for the damage, yes it happens occasionally, usually from improperly closing the awning without releasing the tension knobs, but may happen from a faulty part as well. The awning roller/fabric is supposed to lock when stowed and shouldn't unfurl if the roller lock is operating properly. The bottom of the awning rail may "sway in the wind" and could cause damage, but you most likely won't (wouldn't have had) the awning unrolled like a sail going down the highway.

[Frznrth]

Hi
I believe it is a carefree awning and is a power one. The arm that jutted out was sticking out a few feet with tension on it - it wouldn't have just been floating in the breeze if I was going down the road. Glad to hear that the awning was unlikely to sail away but given the little pice of weak metal they used to secure the awning arm to the trailer I'm rather untrustful of the whole thing. When I had my old trailer with a manual awning I used to stop the arms closed to make sure it couldn't come undone. I don't see a way to provide any piece of mind with this new "improved" design. Any ideas? If the thing broke when parked it he chances of it breaking while bumping down the road...

[JRTJH]

I suppose, if you really wanted to insure against any possibility of deployment, you could find a location on your side arms where there is only the extension leg and the vertical base leg (none of the articulating parts) and drill a hole through those two components. Install a pin through them during travel. That way nothing could deploy unless the pin broke or both arms broke.

If you do consider that, I'd be sure to put some "REMOVE BEFORE FLIGHT" streamers on the pins. If you hit the "awning button" with the pins in place, there's no telling what you could damage.

Just my opinion, but might be a consideration if you're really unsure of your awning's lock mechanism.

Good Luck

[sourdough]

I've seen the awning on a trailer come apart similar to what you describe. I was following him and - pop, out it came...and he headed straight for the shoulder of the road!

If you drill a hole in the braces don't drill them so big that they would ruin the integrity of the brace and cause it to buckle in a wind or something like that.

[Frznrth]

If this happens - even if it's not too common - why don't they put some decent metal into these things so they don't break or at least a latch on the arm that you would lock when traveling.

If this thing flys out into traffic and causes an accident I don't think I should be responsible. Sounds like a law suit to me.

[JRTJH]

If this happens - even if it's not too common - why don't they put some decent metal into these things so they don't break or at least a latch on the arm that you would lock when traveling.

If this thing flys out into traffic and causes an accident I don't think I should be responsible. Sounds like a law suit to me.

Probably the reason is more "profit vs acceptable failure rate". Even with vehicle safety, a certain amount of "risk" is acceptable. NHTSA doesn't "recall every vehicle" based on one or two or even 10 or 20 failures. They accept that a certain small percentage will fail and that's "acceptable"

So, Carefree, Dometic, Keystone all "engineer in" a standard that provides an acceptable failure rate, or more appropriately termed, acceptable operational characteristics or acceptable functional standards. It's a given, that nothing is 100% perfect, so to make a profit, provide a reliable product and compete in the market with appropriately priced products, some failure is acceptable.

As for the law suit potential, that's why we all have liability insurance. You can bet that Carefree, Dometic and Keystone have some pretty big liability policies.

It's much like the ST tires made in China that we all complain about. We don't like them, they build them "to substandard standards" (0r so we think). Why don't they build them better? or why doesn't Keystone install more expensive tires? Profit......

[chuckster57]

Have you noticed pretty much ALL entry doors and awnings are on the CURB side? And pretty much all doors open at the rear? Makes you wonder if there's a reason for it.

But if your old and still have 1/2 your marbles, you'll remember the Lincolns that had the "suicide" doors.

[sourdough]

What if you're old and have lost your marbles? I think that's where I'm at anymore:D

[skmct]

I must be old and lost my marbles! I install suicide doors on my HOT ROD.