Awning troubles - how is yours mounted?

[wrvond]

Long story.

My walk through (it'd be too generous to call it a PDI) was performed inside a service bay so my awning was only deployed about a foot or two (my excuse for missing the problem).

When I actually deployed the awning I noticed that the end toward the nose of the camper sagged quite a bit and when I pulled it in the fabric on that end fed on the roller crooked with folds in it. So I started to try to figure out the problem.
I noted that the track that is attached to the camper wall is mounted crooked. At the rear end of the camper the track is almost even with the top of the arm bracket while at the front the track not only extends beyond the arm bracket it is well above it. I also measured the distance from the bottom of the arm to the belt line where the aluminum meets the filon and found the forward arm is mounted about an inch higher than the rear arm. So I figured I had identified the cause of the unevenly wrapping/sagging awning fabric. It was when I rolled the awning up that I discovered the real problem - the forward end of the track has been pulled away from the side of the camper leaving screw holes to allow water intrusion.
So I contacted the dealership where I purchased it. In typical service department fashion they told me they would have to have it for a week or so while they assessed the problem, took pictures and got Keystone's yay or nay on warranty approval. And by the way, the earliest available appointment just to get it looked at is the last week of August.
So I started calling other Keystone dealerships with essentially the same results. A woman at one service department did give me names and numbers of a couple mobile techs (I haven't called them yet).
My next call was to Keystone customer relations. The young lady there was the bright spot in my day. I sent her photos and she gave me a list of dealers to check. They all came back negative, so now she's checking to see if it would be possible for me to bring it to the factory in Indiana (fingers crossed).
Now I'm wondering just where the track is supposed to be on the side of the camper so I went to look at my son's Montana. His track is mounted across the tops of the two arms and extends out past the arms on both sides. However, when rolled in the roll ends up higher than the bracket which causes a valley where rain water collects. He thinks this is causing accelerated wear to his awning fabric. I've watched a few YouTube videos on awning installations that show the track mounted well above the arms, which would allow rain water to drain straight off, but I'm thinking that also creates a tunnel between the awning fabric and the side of the camper which might not be good while driving down the road.

The question: where is your awning track mounted in relation to the arms? Does it extend past the arms? Have you experienced any problems caused by how it is installed?

Thanks!

Here are some pics:

[mikec557]

Originally Posted by wrvond

Long story.

My walk through (it'd be too generous to call it a PDI) was performed inside a service bay so my awning was only deployed about a foot or two (my excuse for missing the problem).

...

Thanks!

Here are some pics:

Am I seeing this correctly? In the first two pictures it looks like the track is pulling away from the camper body. Aren't those the mounting screws for the railing I see in those pics?

[wrvond]

Originally Posted by mikec557

Am I seeing this correctly? In the first two pictures it looks like the track is pulling away from the camper body. Aren't those the mounting screws for the railing I see in those pics?

Exactly. I’m working on getting it repaired, but I’d like to know what the correct installation should look like.

[LHaven]

Originally Posted by wrvond

The question: where is your awning track mounted in relation to the arms? Does it extend past the arms? Have you experienced any problems caused by how it is installed?

My configuration is really simple: the track is mounted onto a slot that runs along the outside edge of the rain gutter, and the vertical mounts are butted up to the edge of the gutter. The "pod" at the tip of each arm is just about half above and half below the track -- that behavior is fixed by the arm geometry of the product. The track is only about the width of the fabric.

The only problem I see is that the spline seems to have crept its way aft out of the slot for about eight inches. I guess I may have to trim it off and stuff it back into the front side.

Hope that's what you were asking.

[wrvond]

Originally Posted by LHaven

My configuration is really simple: the track is mounted onto a slot that runs along the outside edge of the rain gutter, and the vertical mounts are butted up to the edge of the gutter. The "pod" at the tip of each arm is just about half above and half below the track -- that behavior is fixed by the arm geometry of the product. The track is only about the width of the fabric.

The only problem I see is that the spline seems to have crept its way aft out of the slot for about eight inches. I guess I may have to trim it off and stuff it back into the front side.

Hope that's what you were asking.

Yes, that's what I was asking, thanks.
Apparently travel trailers are hard for the installer(s) to mess up. Fifth wheels are a bit different - mid profiles have a sloping roofline and full profiles have a really tall wall - so that they are unable to use the edge of the roof as a guide. Still, it seems like it would be a good idea if they used the combination gutter/track system on the fivers as well instead of just a track.