 |
| Above, The Beast's new awning. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
A few months after getting The Beast (a 2015 Winnebago Minnie Winnie 22R), I was parallel parking it on the street. I didn't see that a telephone pole next to the curb was leaning toward the street and when I was parking, it rubbed against the rolled up awning. This caused the awning to slightly tear from the roller by about a quarter inch.
For the next three years, this was not a problem until age, weathering, wind caused the tear to get worse. When I attended an E Clampus Vitus camp-out in Arizona last year, a neighboring trailer had its awning ripped almost completely off by the wind. Since I didn't want this to happen to mine, I stopped using it in windy conditions.
Late last year, I checked with La Mesa RV in Albuquerque and found that it is not possible to repair/re-attach the awning to the roller, so I had to replace the fabric. That cost about $600.
Other than the problem with the tear, the awning fabric itself was in pretty good shape. Still, it was "painful" to have to replace it.
Do It Yourself RV has an article on RV awning maintenance tips so that one's awning will last as long as the RV itself.
They begin with:
Your RV awning probably isn’t one of your biggest concerns while you’re thinking about preventive maintenance on your RV.
In fact, awnings are usually one of the least talked about parts of an RV. But considering the cost of replacement for a typical RV awning, you should probably be a bit more diligent in showing it the care it deserves.
With normal usage and routine cleaning, an awning can last the lifetime of an RV.
But beware: if abused and neglected, you could be looking at quite a pricey replacement in a matter of just a few years.
In this article, we’ll take a look at the most important things to remember about RV awning maintenance.
To read the full article, go here.
No comments:
Post a Comment