Zip Dee Awning

[Doug1968]

Fellows,

Does anyone have a Zip Dee awning mounted on an MCI 102a3 that they could send me a photo of. I would like to see what the awning looks like once mounted.

And, if you have this awning how well do you like it?

Thanks,

Doug

[Bill 340]

Call zip dee, tell them what coach you have they will Fax you a diagram og your coach frame work, and the awning mounting points. Keep frame diagram it may be handy for drilling hole for other things later,  good luck

[Ace]

Bill gives very good advice. Its a good liking awning but if you were to ask me, and I have one, you wouldn't like my opinion. I'll just leave it at that and to simplify, if I had to do it again, I would look at other brands!

[luvrbus]

Doug, I have always used Zip/Dee great awnings but you get over over 20ft in length with one they bow in the middle if you are not careful just like the cheaper ones and they are easy to install Jack at Zip/Dee will walk you through it step by step,the upright arms with the power heads are easy to bend in a press to match your roof line.
Bob Evans and I bent one the wrong way and we had to bend it back in the opposite direction and the arm didn't break.
Go to a marine dealer in your area and spend some of the easy money you make lol and buy the polished stainless awning rail for the top with s/s screws it looks sharp  

good luck

[bobofthenorth]

They're great awnings. I had the incredible luck to have bus-Yoda coach me through installing mine but even without such help I think a fool like myself could have got the job done. And the factory was super to deal with too.

[blue_goose]

I just installed window and patio on my son's 102A3 and they look great.  I am a dealer for the zipdee awnings.  Going to take pictures tomorrow and will try and post on here.  Don't pay any attention to Ace, he just doesn't have any taste for quality.
If you do get Zipdee pay the extra and get NX hardware.
Jack

[JackConrad]

     We have had 3 window and 1 patio ZipDee on our coach for 10 years with no problems (and we purchased them used). Only thing I have done is apply DWR (durable water resistant) spray about every 5 years.  We are very pleased with them.
     Ace, what is your specific complaint with ZipDee awnings?   Jack

[Dreamscape]

We have a used 22' Zip Dee awning and really like it. Currently looking for some Zip Dee window awnings to match. I chose Zip Dee because they are pretty durable and easy to maintain.


Now hopefully Doug will get his question answered.

[luvrbus]

We have the Fiesta by Carefree on the S&S motorhome that will really make you appreciate a Zip/Dee lol it is a PITA to work both ways Zip/Dee in a manual awning is the best way to go IMO for the electric
I would go with the Girard I didn't really care for the Zip/Dee electric or other brands of a electric awnings 

good luck

[JohnEd]

I have a 20 ft A&E and I think it is a superb product.  When I first got my RV I went to the beach.  Had to have a passerby/neighbor show me how to put it down and what all to do.  Give you an idea?  After moving to a space that was right on the water at Pac Beach I put the awning back out.  I can feel many of you shaking your heads and knowing what is coming.  Fat dumb and happy, I set about the BBQ and beer sip'n and telling lies to friends and family.  The wind came up a tetch but that didn't trigger any alarms in my fire house.  A little more wind and I started to hear the awning flap around a bit.  Still no alarms.  A big gust and the extender arms folded and the awning quit flapping next to the RV and started flapping on the roof of the RV.  I knew at once that something was amiss.  Just color me clever.

A friend and I heaved on the bent arms and finally hammered, jammed and forced them into the piece of extrusion that they heretofore had slipped into.  As I recall it was a three beer effort and we were sure it would never work again and that we had only made the thing safe to drive home.  A couple days later I and a different friend looked at those bent arms and pondered how to get the thing apart and where to buy new arms.  On a lark, after getting the arms slid apart...a 4 beer project....we tried to straighten the arms by tweaking them as we slid them together.  It went smoothly and amazingly the things worked perfectly and were perfectly straightened.  Those extrusions are butter soft and easily straightened by an amateur....read "by me".

The sagging problem is successfully dealt with by installing the brace designed fo that purpose.  It sits under the rolled awning and prevents the main tube from taking a set from the bumping going down the road.  After the awning is extended you reconfigure the support to brace the awning away from the coach and that relieves sag.  If you have the space or add a screen room, that same brace will also open up to provide a vertical brace that supports the main tube from bending down under the load of the porch and if that support is fixed to the cement or screwed into the earth the awning is stable in a breeze.

I think this thing is a terrific product.  ZippDee must have similar options and add-ons.  I thought A&E was a better design and more stout.  Could be wrong but I know for sure that ZippDee is a good product.  But Ace doesn't agree with me.   Then again, he has had both, it would seem.

John

[luvrbus]

JohnEd,Zip/Dee does not use a center support Jack at Zip/Dee told me to prevent the middle sag is to keep the awning adjusted properly  I don't if that works or not I gave Sonnie Gray the 24 ft Zip/Dee let him worry with is my motto LOL

good luck

[Ace]

Jack my zip dee is what I'm told the largest one they make. It developed a bow or sag in the middle. Its very hard to roll up since it wobbles. Yea the book says it can be straghtened but that doesn't work as easy as they claim. Friends and I have tried with little success. Jack (blue goose) says it has to be removed from the coach to fix it. Not something I want to tackle alone and ask these friends seem to stay busy these days so it just gets used as is and becomes a conversation piece to passer byers especially when they see me standing on a picnik table rolling it in by hand before it decides to take off and roll. Besides that the strap that hands down acquired a rip in the fabric, not a seam or seen part but the actual material. The factory tells me, "oh well"!
I have owned an A&E and it always worked and was easy in and out. Granted it was on a  stacker trailer but still it worked as designed!

Again, regardless of what the dealers say, I would definitely NOT go this route on another one. In fact I'd probably go electric.

[BUR]

        I hope they are as good as everyone says, I ordered a full set today.   Will find out in a couple weeks how easy or hard they are to install.   Wilbur

[Dreamscape]

Ace, I have a slight bow in mine also. When I installed it I put the required turns that Zip Dee said on the spring, had to give it a push to get it going. I had a Z-Lock break on the spring end, replaced it and added two more turns. It goes up without any help at all now. You might try it, just a thought.

[Ace]

Paul, I think it has plenty of tension on the spring. Its just got such a bow in it, probably about 3-4 inch difference.

Oh and I forgot to mention.... To the guy that just bought a whole new set, and any prefers that buy them and have NEVER installed one prior, you better take and study the manual before and fully understand it first. It itself leaves a lot to be desired!

And I might add that when mine was delivered, it actually came with, get this, WOOD SCREWS! Try putting those in stainless steel! I called the factory about that and their answer was "yea we ran out of regular attachment hardware and sent out some orders with what we could find"!
So yea your right Jack (blue goose) I guess I dont recognize taste for quality since I never got it!