Foretravel Owners' Forum For owners and Fans of Foretravel Motorcoaches September 10, 2025 ...

If only I had ...

October 18, 2022, 06:01:01 pm

Not the recommended way to have the rain run off the awning...

I thought I'd post these photos as a reminder for others to at least tilt the awning down on one corner or drop the awning on both corners if expecting much rain.

We are in sunny, and hot, Arizona and have been using the awning every day for shade.  We had stowed the awnings 6 or 8 times in a week when we expected wind (and some days we had quite the winds).  This night there wasn't supposed to be much wind but we were supposed to get some rain.  I left the awning out.  Just before 1 in the morning we got a real downpour and by the time we saw the awning starting to fill with water, it was already too late.  The roller tube gave way and bent almost in half.  The rain stopped 20 minutes later...

Although we might have been able to save the fabric, we weren't in a position to dismantle the awning to do so.  The fabric and the roller tube are gone; the arms are still usable.

I've been on the phone with Randy at Zip Dee and know what to order when we have some lead time (5 weeks delivery).

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Re: If only I had ...

Reply #1 – October 18, 2022, 06:31:42 pm

Put a note/inquire on the forum that you are looking for a awning,some of us have removed ours,may be less expensive.

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Re: If only I had ...

Reply #2 – October 19, 2022, 12:08:23 am

Grant, sorry you had the issue.  I have been down that road on our previous coach.
One thing I now have done to prevent this is to have a couple of brass grommets installed right at the edge of the awning fabric just above the tube when fully extended.  The grommet holes act as drains and prevent water from filling the awning fabric.
The only negative is that when it does rain, water does come through just inside the tube area. I feel it's a good trade off as it prevents pooling in the fabric.

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Re: If only I had ...

Reply #3 – October 19, 2022, 08:25:49 am

Had something similar happen to mine,  but luckily the seam thread ripped before the tube bent. Had all the seams re-sown. Mine has 3 grommets don't count on that helping in a hard rain.

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