My Homemade Awning on a Jayco Tent Trailer
Update 12-14-14
I finally fixed this awning and made it much more sturdy and easy to put up. You can see it here:
A couple of weeks ago, we went camping down at Sand Hollow State Park in Southern Utah. It was the first time I got to test my homemade awning. It looked GREAT!
Unfortunately, it didn’t hold up well in the wind. Just a short burst of wind sent it toppling down. There are two points of weakness in my design: the connections at the top and the connections at the trailer. On the trailer, the poles (stolen from my Springbar tent) just slide onto this PVC connector.
They worked great in the garage, but there was no wind there. Even the smallest of wind gusts can pop the pole off this connector, so I need to drill a hole in both the pole and the PVC pipe, and add a pin to keep the poles in place.
At the top of the awning, it is held on with a pin, but the pin just kept popping out of place, so I need a different connection there as well. I did a pretty good job sewing the awning, so I’m proud of that. All I need to work on is the hardware and this puppy with look good AND stay in place.