The awing on our '12 Coachman is toast. In some places literally. Time for new fabric. Does anyone have suggestions for a vendor? Not getting any level of comfort with some of the websites I've visited. Thanks.

 

I ordered ours from Shade Pro for our main awning and window awning. It's not that hard to replace, lots of online videos.

Denny

 

Pay attention to thickness. I bought one of Amazon, decent, but I ended up installing it a bit wrong, it is off 1/3 on the top round bar. Still works fine. I think it was ShadePro.

 

I ordered ours directly from Shade Pro, l would recommend the heavy duty material not the standard.
Denny

 

I bought one from ShadePro.
make sure you measure correctly!
Good service!

 

Another vote for Shadepro. I replaced ours this winter. We went with "Premium Grade Vinyl" and I'm very happy with the product.

 

I went with Solera for both my main awning and 2 slide toppers. No threading, everything welded, plus when rolled up, there's an extra layer of protection against UV rays.

 

Thanks for the input ya'll. I am having a hard time finding the actual construction of the various suppliers to compare. They make claims, but don't really go into the awning fabric itself. The warranty, like most, is merely a nice suggestion. I am assuming that it all comes from China and is all the same, maybe all from the same supplier? Even their websites seem to use the same dropdown selections and colors.

Here's what I found (we have an 18' awning):
ShadePro -
$180 for their standard fabric, or..
$206 for the premium.
What's the difference?

Solera - $327

Tough Top - $360

RV awning mart - $136

There are several "also ran's" in the $150 range.

They all have 5 year warranty. But neither can differentiate their fabrics from any of the others. UGH. This shouldn't be so hard.

At this point I am leaning toward the Shade Pro premium. IDK why though.

 

The standard has the same pattern on top and bottom. The Premium has a white "cool" bottom side, and color only on top. They are both 13 oz x 3 ply fabric. They have a 15 oz x 3 ply heavy duty, but I don't know of anyone who used that. I used the "Find your awning fabric" link which is right on the main Shadepro.com website. I chose a Dometic 18' model 9100 electric awning, no metal cover. The actual fabric width is 17'-2". Pretty standard, and that was priced at $179 before the discount they are currently offering for the 4th of July season. And also before sales tax.

I chose Shadepro because of the reputation and reviews I found on Youtube videos. In particular because the sides were all folded and stitched, unlike some less expensive brands I saw which just had the raw fabric on the edge. So I don't know anything about how the others fit, but this fit perfectly and I believe the quality of the fabric is better than what originally came on my awning, and that fabric lasted about 14 years.

They can be a bitch to install, so you are going to want to watch plenty of videos on how to do it, and especially how to NOT get hurt doing it. I think most people can do it themselves, and I did most of it working by myself, but I did need help for a couple of steps during the process.

 

Is your a motorized awning or a manual?
Our SP has been on for 5 years and it's out and tried down for 5 months at a time in the in Yuma desert, it's a manual.

Denny

 

^^^ Good info there. Thankyou.

The "Find your awning fabric" link takes you through a different menu vs. using their "Shop" menu that I originally used, which is not as informative. Odd.

We went camping for the 4th and watched it rain...hard (not unlike it did 100 miles south in Kerrville - same storm). So wet I can't put the camper in the barn, and so if it sits in the drive, it's gong to get worked on. This awning is one of the repairs. Should be fun. I'm the first our camping group to replace an awning and they are lined up to come help....drink beer.

 

I've only replaced manual awnings not motorized ones. This is how I do it.

Pull awning almost all the way out.
Support the right end (were the locking mechanism is).

Remove the arms on that side.

Use a vice grip to hold the end of the spring loaded mechanism, release the lock and unwind the spring counting the number of turns until all the tension is off.

Drill out the rivets holding the mechanism to the tube and slide it out marking the position it was in the tub.

Remove any screws holding the awning material in the grooves top and bottom.

To make it easier I just take a utility knife and cut the old fabric into two pieces and slide it out.

This is where the drinking bystanders come.
Have them clean the groves out and spray some dry silicone spray in the grove while you are having a refreshment.

Now carefully thread the new material into the groves, on the top I found it makes it easier if you open up the end of the grove.

After it's in there all the way trim the ends of the cords so the material is centered on the tube.

Install the spring mechanism and rivet it back in place with short 3/16 rivets, short rivets are important so the don't interfere with the ratchet mechanism.

Reverse the locking lever and wind the spring back up the same amount of turns that it had on it before.

Install the arms and roll it up using the top grove to align the material it it doesn't roll up even. Install screws to lock it in place and trim off the excess cord.

Now roll out the awning get a couple of chairs and set down and have another refreshment.

Denny

 

I don't think there is much difference between the electric and manual awnings, at least the Dometic brand. In both the big torsion spring on the left end does all the work. It keeps the fabric tight and it also does the rewinding when you retract it. The electric version has the motor obviously, and the motor also acts as the brake. The manual has a lever to latch it open, and instead of a motor, you yourself will provide the power to wind up that same torsion spring. I suspect the same fabric fits on both. The procedure Denny described would work for the motorized version too. But I still recommend watching a bunch of Youtube videos to see how others do it. You will see that there are many ways to do the job, and choose what seems to make sense to you.

Even after watching a bunch of the vids, I still let that spring get away from me when I was drilling out the rivets. Fortunately I wasn't hurt but there is a lot of energy stored in that spring.

 

Has anyone ever replaced the LED lighting that appears to be sewn into the awning? Our LED lighting is working fine, but appears to be separating from the underside of the awning. UGH. Was trying to figure out a way to reattach it without removing all the fabric and having it sewn back on.

 

Mine was a 12 ft. awning.Installed by myself.
I used my truck bed as a scaffold when removing and installing the awning in the top track.Moved the truck as needed.