Awning woes

[oltrunt]

Hello All. I thought I'd share this info as a new thread as it no longer really fits elsewhere.  On our return trip from the Dam (Non) Rally,  we were assaulted by 70 mph winds that threatened to tear the awning from our bus.  We watched the awnings on two R/Vs simply blow up and rip off in the wind.  Suddenly I heard what sounded like a tire pitching an alligator and made a quick stop.  The noise was our awning flapping in the wind.  Fortunately, we were able to rewind the awning before permanent damage occurred but that would not have been the case had I not been able to make a sudden stop.

I think I figured out why the awning gave in to the wind. When the wind blows up under the awning where the awning attaches to the body, the pull on the material causes the retracting spring inside the roller tube to unwind. The more it unwinds the more sail area is created by the released awning material and the greater the lifting force becomes. At some point the force becomes so great that the entire apparatus is yanked completely off the vehicle. I designed a removable bracket that fits into/onto the end of the awning tube and bolts with a wing nut to one of the upright arms. This keeps the tube from turning and assures that there is only a tiny surface area of awning material to make a sale.

I hope I never get to test the bracket, but I think it should do the trick.  I expect the fancier awnings come with a similar locking mechanism but it might be worth checking just to be sure.  Jack


I found pre drilled holes in the end of the roller tube that lent themselves to my project..

I made a "Z" bracket with a captive wing nut to secure the roller tube.

This is how it looks installed along with its anti loss cable..

[lvmci]

Very nice Jack, tom...