Archive > Westfalia Tips and Tricks
Inexpensive, Quality Awning
Baha (Shawn):
I've wanted an awning since I got the Syncro, but the most popular unit The Fiamma 45 are $800 bucks!
Don't get me wrong. These are high quality units with aluminum enclosures and a crank out mechanism, but damn they're pricey
The alternative and complete polar opposite is the Shady Boy.
This compact awning also stows in an aluminum enclosure that is only 3' long.
The down side (IMHO) is its a nylon umbrella style canopy, and a bit flimsy using fiberglass poles with essentially no side support
They're great for car shows and guaranteed fair weather events, but the thought of going to sleep and leaving it up scares me
I actually aquired a used one, not sure if I'll ever use it.
I have been looking for an alternative for 2 years and I stumbled across this on Amazon
The description is AW-FULL. Terrible photos. But at $235 shipped on Amazon Prime I had to give it a shot
I assumed it was Chinese and figured it was going to be crap
It arrived and I slid it out of it's shipping tube and to my surprise, its an Australian made ARB brand and it is really well made.
What a nice surprise...a not so nice surprise is when I found out that awnings don't have mounts. #banghead
I ordered a set of Vanagon awning mounts from GoWesty.
So they finally showed up the other day and I installed them (and the awning) on Eeyore
The "compromises" that make it so inexpensive weren't wort paying nearly 3 time the price for sure.
No aluminum enclosure. Instead theres a HD UV resistant vinyl zippered "bag" cover
No crank mechanism, the awning just rolls up and stores in the cover
That's it... the only drawbacks.
The legs have twist-locks built in. and it has side support bars just like the crank outs so it free stands just like the big boys do.
I set it up tonight and it's relatively easy. A little clumsy with just one person, but not hard to do.
When set-up, it's exactly the same look and function of the Fiamma. Definately worth it!
When I took it down I realized that setting the sides before dropping the legs would make one man set-up a snap
GoWesty has awning brackets for the Bus too!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0028PRXQY/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
vwtrike (Rich):
It looks good. When it's rolled up you don't notice it, nice. thumpup)-
Celly:
Great find Shawn! I will be checking it out at FYBO. It looks like a great (inexpensive) alternative to the fiamma. It would be great on those hot summer days in a festival parking lot. Very Cool! 2@@cool
Baha (Shawn):
BTW they have roof rack mounts also, in case you want one for the family Truckster
grungeant (Anthony):
--- Quote from: Baha (Shawn) on January 16, 2014, 02:13:55 pm ---BTW they have roof rack mounts also, in case you want one for the family Truckster
--- End quote ---
Family Truckster! #@rofl3
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