Pop Up Camper Awning Replacement

Need pop up camper awning replacement? It's not the end of the world, you can do it by yourself.....

Pop-up camper awning is one of the “must-to-have” components greatly improving the comfort of camping.

It “creates” an extra living space protected from the environment – be it the sun or rain.

Essentially there are two types of awnings for pop-up campers, correspondingly:

1.    Self-supporting awnings
These do not need any supporting legs so are lighter and easier to use. However they are limited in size to about 8 feet, so the extended living area is relatively small.

2.    Leg-supported awnings (most popular)
These awnings have larger size – from 8 to 21 ft. Depending on the size they require from 2 to 4 supporting poles.   Leg-supported awnings include three basic designs:

a)    Bag awnings (typical size from 8’ to 14’ and projection 84”).
These awnings can be rolled-back and left attached to the camper during the trip.
Those frustrated with typical Bag Awnings may check new “Supreme” designs from ShadeMaker. They seems to be more user-friendly.

b) Roll-up awnings (typical size from 8’ to 21’ and projection 96”).
Supporting legs can either be secured to the ground or attached to the wall of your pop-up camper (if camper provides such option).

c) Rope and pole awnings
They offer larger protected area and are especially well suited for campers having little room between the top of the door and the roof. They have to be removed and stored for the trip.

Notes:

Awnings larger than 10’ should have a center rafter!
Well-designed awnings should have built-in fabric tensioning devices.

Although awnings’ fabric is made from specially treated weatherproof and UV-resistant materials (usually nylon or laminated vinyl) and frame from chrome-coated metal or fiberglass, the time, weather and frequent use take toll on them. No wonder that after some time, in order to preserve the comfort offered by awning you have to replace the “worn n’ torn” old one by a new one!

Dometic Bag Awning setup

Fortunately these days it is not anymore an adventure for “braves & handy”, but rather an easy job.

The simplest way is to ask the dealer who sold you the pop-up camper. While he may offer the original manufacturer solution specifically designed for a given model of the camper, such solution may be quite costly! (Nothing is free, you do not have any headache, but at the cost of digging deeper in your wallet).

Better solution (or at least more “cost-effective”) will be to check online offers as there is a plethora of manufacturers offering everything for most of existing camper models. Please check the list of 20 top sites offering camper awnings: Top 20-ty Awnings Sites

This also opens a door for an upgrade like getting a larger size, more attractive design or more advanced type of awning (more user-friendly hardware, option for screen attachment and/or “Add-a-Room” etc.).

Basic parameters of an awning

(courtesy of http://www.pplmotorhomes.com)

To replace an existing awning you should know following details:

a) size of your awning
This is the distance between centerlines of external arms – usually specified in even feet.

b) Hardware Model, Serial Number and Production Number (this is if you want an exact replacement).
Usually you will find these numbers on the roller tube, visible when the canopy is fully extended.

c) Camper model and the production year.
This is a very important piece of information for manufacturers to offer you an ‘easy-to-install’ awning, sometimes even “factory-adjusted” to fit to your camper.

Please note that most producers offer you an option to replace only fabric for your awning (if the hardware still works well).

However while saving some money, this solution may require more effort from you and not necessarily offers big savings.

At the “end” buying the awning set (fabrics + hardware) usually turns out to be less expensive than buying only fabrics and eventually later some hardware parts (nothing lasts forever).

Practical tips:

a) Awning offers protection from sun. However despite the fact that the fabric is UV-protected, long exposures to sun will definitely weaken its structure and strength. That is why when you are leaving your awning exposed to the sun for an extended time, you may consider rolling it back (closing).

b) Awning offers protection from the rain. However to prevent water accumulation and minimize an extra “downward stress” on the awning’s structure, it is wise to lower the poles by few inches to increase the slope of the awning. In heavy rain conditions it may be wise to roll-back the owning to prevent the damage.

c) Awning does not provide protection from the wind. While rain (accumulating water) pushes the structure down, wind is usually up-lifting the whole structure. Heavy wind can badly damage not only the awning but also the pop-up camper with attached opened awning. Please note that awnings are coming with warranty covering manufacturers’ faults. However the typical warranty usually does NOT cover any damages due to the weather conditions!

d) When unused – keep it stored clean and dry! The awning will pay you back by lasting long!

Visitor's story....

If you already have a pop up awning and need a pop up trailer awning replacement you will want to check the manufacture to find out if they carry the replacement awning or if you need to get it from another company.

Most manufactures have companies that they can refer you to, but if this is the case you may want to check around for the best quality and the best price.

Flagstaff pop up camper awning is one place to get a new pop up camper awning replacement for your tent pop up trailer. Truck pop up trailer awning can also be purchased from this company as well. Awning are made to last but they do give way to weather and human disaster such as accidentally damaging it. The replacement of an awning will be very easy once you get it from the company.

Installation can be done by you with minimum effort. The installation should only take a half hour or so. This is another quick project for anyone. The awning material can vary and depending on what type of awning you buy, some may need special care. This is all covered in your manual that comes with your popup camper awning replacement.

Plans of pop up camper awnings are also available if you want to do it yourself. This might be a project for the winter months or for a spare project during the summer. The plans are easy to understand and are detailed so you will be able to understand every step you need to do. Pop up camper awning replacement is affordable either way. Your labor subtracted from the buying cost may be the way you want to go.

I believe there are also places in Kentucky and Maine that have pop up camper awning replacement parts. If you find a company to make your awning for you, they will be able to ship it to you when it is done. The dealership near you can put the awning on for you also if you don’t want to try it yourself. They will charge a small fee for doing it.

When I was in Louisiana camping with my Coleman pop up camper, I saw a lot of campers with damaged awnings due to high winds and strong rains.

The awning’s are not fully weather proof and do sustain damage in such conditions. But because they are available so easily this can be corrected when you are ready.

Pop up camper awning replacement may be needed on any camper. Just because you look at used campers or even new campers that don’t have awnings doesn’t make that a bad deal. They are affordable enough to buy and install on any tent pop up trailer. The bottom line is that a pop up camper awning replacement doesn’t mean lot’s of money and long hours to replace.

When you decide what to do about your awning check around on the internet and find some companies that have pop up camper awning replacement options. You may be able to find a company or two that have on in stock and be shipped out right away. But don’t forget to check the dealer and manufacturer also. I believe you might find it cheaper from a company with a lower overhead then one the stocks everything.

Now that you have heard all about pop up camper awning replacement you might want to get out and do some camping before the weather gets to rough to be outdoors.

But if you travel to warmer climates throughout the year then enjoy all your camping days.

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