Awning Failure

[Canucklehead]

Has anyone has any bad experiences with their manual AE awning? A sudden (and not overly strong) gust of wind literally peeled the cast aluminum apart on the bottom of the main rails. The awning then proceeded up and over the trailer and in the process ripped half the length of the awning right at the tube.
It seems to me that these pieces should not have failed so easily. This is our third trailer and we had not had any issues with either previous awning. They were both Carefree of Colorado and survived many prairie windstorms. I would expect an awning to rip from the wind, but not for the metal fittings to fail.
Now we need to see if there is any warrantee coverage and/or what it will cost to fix or replace the awning. We might want to consider a power awning but i suspect that they would be even more fragile in the wind.
Good thing the 32BL has a sliding window in the back where we could slide the awning inside. Otherwise i am not sure how we would have gotten it home.

[shoetravel]

Didn't have any damage but I did have one of the cast aluminum pieces break when a gust of wind hit. The replacement part I got from AE was machined. Probably should have ordered a second one to have ready when the other ones goes...

[gball]

You might want to check with your insurance carrier to see if you have coverage on the awning.

[JerseyBill]

I cracked the rollertube on mine last year...Thought I had it piched enough to handle the rain...A bad storm rolled in very fast, it took on a little water, then she cracked like an egg. Long story short, I was fully covered though my RV insurance and had a new tube AND awning in about a week.

[rock1424]

I'm curious as to what part actually broke, (so I know what to watch out for) was it the "foot" on the bottom of the upright?







BTW I'm a big believer in the "de-flappers" that clip onto the edges of the awning and secure to the outer rails. I think they keep the awning from getting too crazy in the wind. But they're not going to do any good if the mounting hardware is actually breaking.Edited by: rock1424

[Canucklehead]

It was the "foot" that broke. The cast aluminum peeled apart at it's thinnest section. The awning was then free to flip up over the trailer, partially ripping the other foot. If there is a replacement machined piece I would suggest everyone upgrade. In my opinion it should have been machined to begin with. Cast aluminum is not a very strong material.
And my deflappers were also on. Keep in mind that the awning did not rip until after it was partially up on the roof.

[rock1424]

Thanks, I will replacing those with machined pieces.