Roll out awnnings ?

[Doggy]

Hey Guys, You all may get sick of my questions but its the families first van & would love to get it right from the begging to save the headaches & keep the missus smilling. Lol !

Anyway, the awnnings fitted in factory to the expanda outback models , are they made by Dometic, well to the point are they Dometic awnnings ?
I got told today the factory ones from jayco are not as good a quality as what these Dometic ones are.
So me being me got on you tube & typed in both. Well to me they both look the same , or am I wrong? Is there more to this than meets the eye , so to speak ?

Cheers,
Doggy.

 

[cruza driver]

When we ordered our Expanda we got it with the factory rollout awning which is a Carefree Awning. So fa it has performed faultlessly for us, I cant comment on other brands as I have had no experience with any others. The is a couple of discussion about awanings on here.

When Bushman comes online he may be able to offer you a bit more advice :ranger:

 

[Doggy]

Lol ! thats me there right now having cup of tea there in front of the puter, while the missus is up Cape York doing guided tours for 21 days . Maybe I need a slurp of something a touch stronger in me tea.

Anyway back to the awnning , I think u r right CD , Mine has been ordered & am sure thats the type being used at present.

Thanks again will wait to here what Bushmans words of wisdom may be also CD.
Cheers,
Doggy.

 

[streaty]

Gday Doggy,

From what I understand it's the Annex that's the problem not the awning. Jayco factory fit an annex that is a China import job which is why most dealers choose to fit a locally made annex. I haven't heard of any issues with the awning !!

Cheers
Neil

 

[Doggy]

Cheers, Neil. That clears up a bit of grey area mate, thank you.

 

[bully66672]

My 17.56-2 came with the carefree awning.
No problems that I can see or have heard of with this brand.
I have used it in windy conditions and it has held together.

Cheers

 

[boots33]

Hey Guys, You all may get sick of my questions but its the families first van & would love to get it right from the begging to save the headaches & keep the missus smilling. Lol !

Anyway, the awnnings fitted in factory to the expanda outback models , are they made by Dometic, well to the point are they Dometic awnnings ?
I got told today the factory ones from jayco are not as good a quality as what these Dometic ones are.
So me being me got on you tube & typed in both. Well to me they both look the same , or am I wrong? Is there more to this than meets the eye , so to speak ?

Cheers,
Doggy.

We never get sick of questions in here. this is our first van too so have learned a lot in the short time we have been on this forum. As for the awning on the few occasions we have used our van it has worked well every time, I know Bushman doesn't like them much see post here http://www.expandasdownunder.com/showthread.php/294-Awnings-and-high-wind?highlight=awning

 

[mfexpanda]

same carefree and no problems :typing:

 

[Lisao]

We also have a carefree no problems.

 

[achjimmy]

We had the carefree on our 07 van, it had been well used and had a "few knocks" as well. Only problems I had was 1. From a bent leg whig can hardly be blamed on the awning. 2. Was Jayco's stupid positioning of the rear roof hold down latch. Whilst traveling and to undo and fasten you had the force it past the rolled awning. This eventually wore the stitching and a small hole.

Discussing the carefree with the annex guy in Penrith he pointed out the weak points to me and advised there was better awnings but most of those problems came with age or damage iirc.

They were the top bracket stressing, evident by the metal bracket flexing and cracking the powder coat. I don't have the van anymore to show you a photo but it was very evident. The cam and spring failing with age. And the fact that they damaged or bent things a little easier than other brands. But you will not get the other brands fitted for anything near the price Jayco offer and they will be on top of your Gross weight.

I will go with another Carefree awning on any new van I buy.

 

[Doggy]

Cheers all. Thanks for the feedback I will stick with the factory carfree awnning .

On another note are you allowed to fit a second awnning to the opposite side of the van ?

 

[Matty4]

Cheers all. Thanks for the feedback I will stick with the factory carfree awnning .

On another note are you allowed to fit a second awnning to the opposite side of the van ?

I don't see why not.
My mate custom built his own van a few years ago and he put a roll out awning on both sides. He has a built in/slide out BBQ on that side of the van and does all the cooking on that side away from the door into the van. Works quite well IMHO.

 

[GLX-R]

I remember many moons ago you could get a cafe awning for the opposite side on the Jayco camper series. Maybe you still can. A bag awning sits out about the same as a roll out anyway so I can't see that it would be a problem.

Stew

 

[cruza driver]

I can't see why a second roll out awning couldn't be fitted as long as the were no side access doors into boots etc that would get in the way of the mounting points for the awning.

 

[achjimmy]

I can't see why a second roll out awning couldn't be fitted as long as the were no side access doors into boots etc that would get in the way of the mounting points for the awning.

Same here, only thing I could think that would affect it is if the the whole width ends up wider than max width (what ever that is, around 8'1" in old money )

 

[Bushman]

Yes basically the Carefree Colorado and the Dometic are the same in operation, it just observations I made between the two that the Domectic's quality is far superior than Carefree, My one and only main problem to date was the sliding arm, the small one that slides up the main arm and locks into place, the slide twisted and came out of the track, because the slide bracket only holds the main arm on one side, where as the dometic holds both sides of the track, the lock clip at the top of the slide is also better on the Dometic.

The hinge rivets on the folding/sliding arms rub on the inside of each other and are wearing grooves in the arms, and wearing rivet heads, but it does the job and I guess you get what you pay for so you just need too treat them with a little TLC and keep an eye on them.

 

[straydingo]

Was Jayco's stupid positioning of the rear roof hold down latch. Whilst traveling and to undo and fasten you had the force it past the rolled awning. This eventually wore the stitching and a small hole.

We went back to the dealer on Sunday to do our order confirmation thing, and while talking to the sales guy he was very careful in pointing that problem out. You've got to wonder that if they know two components don't work together why a small design change can't occur????

 

[Bushman]

We went back to the dealer on Sunday to do our order confirmation thing, and while talking to the sales guy he was very careful in pointing that problem out. You've got to wonder that if they know two components don't work together why a small design change can't occur????

We actually have to open our awning a few inchs so the roof latch clears it

 

[cruza driver]

We actually have to open our awning a few inchs so the roof latch clears it

You must be holding your tongue wrong because mine clears it nicely