Replacing The Fabric In Our Awning

[jack and jil]

We have a 1970 23' Safari A/S. I think that perhaps this could be the original awning(can't tell for sure). The fabric is absolutely in shreds. Is there any suggestions to replace that fabric without absolutely breaking the bank?? The a/s dealership nearby has quoted us $1500 to replace the entire awning(fabric and awning structure)?
Thanks,
Judie

[InsideOut]

Do you know the brand of awning you have? If not and can post pictures of it someone may be able to help out. Some brands like ZipDee are worth repairing/replacing parts...others are not or are no longer in business. So the brand may help determine the best course of action.

Shari

[wahoonc]

Judie,
What brand of awning did the dealer want to use? If it isn't a Zip Dee you are probably wasting your money. Most awning manufacturers have replacement fabric available, but we need pictures to tell which one it is. You could also check with an awning (the house kind) to see if they could duplicate the fabric portion for you. Also boat canvas places are good too.

Aaron

[CaddyGrn]

Depending on how large your awning is... and condition of the awning parts to your trailer... you could purchase your own sunbrella fabric and sew your own, or take the fabric to a sail loft (sail maker) and see what they would charge. They have the big heavy machines, etc. I would do a little homework on pricing before I would fork out $1500.

I agree with the others above, post some pictures so folks will know what you have and be able to give you the best advice! Good luck!

Mrs. NorCal Bambi (traveling in S Tardis)

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by jack and jil

We have a 1970 23' Safari A/S. I think that perhaps this could be the original awning(can't tell for sure). The fabric is absolutely in shreds. Is there any suggestions to replace that fabric without absolutely breaking the bank?? The a/s dealership nearby has quoted us $1500 to replace the entire awning(fabric and awning structure)?
Thanks,
Judie

Your trailer using a 13 foot awning.

A discounted Zip Dee would cost $1148.40.

Installation instructions come with them.

Andy

[sierrajb]

Jack and Jil,
I have a 13 foot Carefree Awning on my 75. Should I chunk it and go for a Zip Dee? No way! The hardware is still in great shape and the company is plenty reputable and strong.

65GT is right. If it's made by Carefree, give them a call for a great deal. Complete installation instructions are included, all for less than $200.

If yours is a Zip Dee, stay away from dealers. Many times, not always, you're paying for the name only. Take your measurements to a reputable tarp company who will give you a good deal on some quality Sunbrella or other good material. Spend the money you'll save on other upgrades.

[Tarheel]

The awnings and material on my 74 were in poor condition. I had a friend make some brackets for me, otherwise I would have been in big trouble. Material is easier to find than the mechanical parts.

[Bob Thompson]

I'm in Corpus Christi. Tell me the dimensions and I'll put together a price quote to sew a replacement Sunbrella fabric insert. PM me if you like.

I'm the local windsurfing sail repair guy and make about 500 windsurfing sail repairs each year and have been doing it for about 10 years. I use the best machines, the best fabrics (Sunbrella in this case) and the best UV resistant thread. I work hard at being very good at what I do.

[trevisgardne]

I replace the fabric and both spring assemplies on my 73 31ft Sov for about 360. It was a Carefree. I used the "Silver Fade" color fabric and had to slightly modify the spring caps but it only took maybe 4 hours total.

If you can determine the size of the fabric you need and the size of the poly cord channels-you should have NO problems with replacements.

[enduroryda]

Outdoor Fabrics

If my awning ever needs replacement fabric I'll be doing it myself. Found this great resource.

[Lumatic]

I got a new awning rag on Ebay for less than $50. The bolt on different manufacurers is the same size. The major difference is the spacing between the bolts on the roller. You could have a sailmaker or upholstery guy adapt it to fit. Sew a tube into it if necessary.

[cccamper]

hi!
we have a 1978 31' sovereign we've been working on.

does anyone know *someone* who knows the zipdee awning and will sew with customer's fabric? if they know the zipdee then hopefully could just take the fabric and zip it together (yea, right, zip! ) we just *can't* pay $2000.

at sunbrellacentral.com we can get sunbrella awning/marine fabric in a "vintage" stripe for about $400 for our 10' x 20.75' awning. dreaming that if we supply fabric maybe it wouldn't cost nearly as much. as a (former) teddy bear artist and quilter i have a great appreciation for the art of sewing, still...

e

[lewster]

HI 'e',

IIRC, you can get a replacement fabric, cut, sewn and ready to install right from Zip-Dee for MSRP $27/lineal foot in your choice of Sunbrella fabrics.

PM me if you would like me to look up the exact price.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by cccamper

hi!
we have a 1978 31' sovereign we've been working on.

does anyone know *someone* who knows the zipdee awning and will sew with customer's fabric? if they know the zipdee then hopefully could just take the fabric and zip it together (yea, right, zip! ) we just *can't* pay $2000.

at sunbrellacentral.com we can get sunbrella awning/marine fabric in a "vintage" stripe for about $400 for our 10' x 20.75' awning. dreaming that if we supply fabric maybe it wouldn't cost nearly as much. as a (former) teddy bear artist and quilter i have a great appreciation for the art of sewing, still...

e

Generally speaking, it is near impossible to install Zip Dee fabric, that will work correctly, even when provided by them.

After installation, you will find that as you roll up the awning, the fabric will wind up in a forward or rearward direction. You then can drill out all the rivets, make new holes in the fabric, and do it again, and again.

This is why, many years ago Zip Dee came up with a CFR, meaning cover, fabric and roller tube, all assembled, ready to install.

That totally eliminates the very high risk of ruining the new fabric.

Part of the problem, is that the fabric cannot be properly installed unless you have a jig to do so, and even if you try to install it using a bench and a laser straight edge, it still far more often than not, will not work properly.

I quit trying to do it some 20 years ago.

It's not worth the risk.

Andy

[JimGolden]

Andy,

I called Zip Dee last week about getting new fabric for my awning. The guy quoted me a price of about $27 a foot, as Lewster stated earlier. Does that include the tube? The man at Zip Dee never mentioned anything about it. Or is that something I should call back and ask explicitly about?

I know they have a good reputation for quality stuff, but man are they expensive....

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by JimGolden

Andy,

I called Zip Dee last week about getting new fabric for my awning. The guy quoted me a price of about $27 a foot, as Lewster stated earlier. Does that include the tube? The man at Zip Dee never mentioned anything about it. Or is that something I should call back and ask explicitly about?

I know they have a good reputation for quality stuff, but man are they expensive....

Jim.

Zip Dee is # 1. All of their products are # 1. Their prices, while seemingly high, are really rather cheap, when you
figure the cost per year.

Other brands, last 5 years, generally speaking.

Zip Dee's last 25 to 30 years, and more, especially when they changed to nylon stitching.

The cost you were quoted, is for fabric "only."

The cost for the case, fabric and roller is much more.

I am not at my office, so I can't quote a price.

The cost of the "CFR" considering "ZERO" risk of installation, is well worth it.

The cost for "fabric only" gets to be far more expensive than the "CFR," when you consider the failure rate of proper installation to be almost 100 percent.

I don't know who you talked to by name, but if it was "Matt," I would take what he says less than a grain of salt.

Sorry, he just sent a drop shipped awning to us, instead of directly to the customer, "as the paper work that he filled out" instructed him to do.

The "real" Zip Dee answer person is Linda.

However, she is in Hawaii right now, staying at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, my home away from home.

I think she will be back to work on the 16th of July.

Andy

[cccamper]

hmmm, really appreciate all this information. our awning had been rolled up wrong. backwards somehow, my husband is the one who studied it.

we found measurements and figures for a new awning somewhere in all the paperwork/manuals. sounds like someone may have taken the awning fabric off to measure or whatever and then attempted to get it back on and functional. ?

seems that even if we took it off, got it cleaned up, had someone sew it up, it still could be a mess to get it back on. fabric can be very hard to coax, sort of like herding cats.

i know the zipdee is worth what it costs. but given we will only be able to leave our AS at our camping resort (have them spot for us for about $10 since we had to sell our gas guzzling crew cab) and use who knows how long.. a year? 10? these $.25M hospital bills and $5000-$8000/mo drug bills
don't leave much room for long range spending or planning.

looks like it will be a screened pavillion for us.

sure am glad we didn't do anything that would have been a waste of money. we'lll just shove her back in there or dismantle or whatever and get over it!

e

[LLB21]

Our local Airstream place replaced fabrics on our Zip Dee awnings and we have no problems with them.

We saved a lot of money since our hardware was in good shape.

[dkernc]

OMG. Wish I had seen this post before I ordered the new awning fabric for all four of our awnings. I want to find a Zip Dee youtube video to watch how this is done.....the stupid paper they send with the new awnings is puzzling to say the least! I spent a lot of money and looks like I am doomed to failure.

[CRH]

Replacing the fabric is not hard.... I took mine off, had all the seams restitched and put it back on.