Awning novice

[Robert Burns]

Hi all
I am newly arrived (4 months) from the UK, with wife, 15 year old daughter and english bulldog.
Have acquired a 1964 airstream safari (22' twin) and will be starting renovations soon ... for years in england we had a USA map on the bedroom wall with pins on it of where we would like to see.
ANYWAY lovely to be a REAL member of your marvelous forum, what great people and support.
My question??:
I wonder if anyone can help me ... I THINK I have a carefree awning setup and I have looked in the forums and they have very good info on replacing the fabric on this system, which is what I would like to do. How do I set about doing that though, I don't really like the awning colours at carefree but do from the sunbrella range ... do i contact carefree or sunbrella?? ... or do i take the existing fabric off, measure it and simply ask for that size to fabricated ??? .... Never having done it before, I'm looking for advice on how to best approach this whilst being cost effective. Thanks in anticipation.
Rob

[tkasten]

You can call Sunbrella directly.www.sunbrella.com They may be able to instruct you as to measurements. You can also try Andy at Inland RV. www.inlandrv.com He is pretty good at solving these kind of things.

[ASwifey]

Welcome to the States, and welcome to the forums!

PS, Do they call your English Bull Dog, an English Bull Dog in the UK?

[mhilley]

Welcome to our big and very beautiful country. I have spent most of my life trying to see it all and am beginning to suspect it may not be possible in one lifetime.

[Lumatic]

Sunbrella fabrics are commonly used on ZipDee awnings. I don't think, but not 100% sure, they make any awnings for anyone else. Both Zipdee and Carefree will have different bolt sizes (the piece that slides into the awning rail. This is because the ZipDee awning slides into the "Alumagard" with a smaller bolt and the Alumagard has a larger bolt which slides into the awning rail. The Alumagard covers the awning fabric with an sectional aluminum shroud.

Also Carefree has bolts that slide into a track on the roller. Zipdee has a sewn in sleeve which is then pop riveted to the roller. I don't know if the rollers are the same diameter, probably not. But theoretically you could get a Zipdee (Sunbrella) awning fabric and have it stitched to the correct diameter sleeve. But, maybe Zipdee or Sunbrella will make you a custom awning.

I think Sunbrella fabric is considerably more expensive than the usual Carefree vinyl.

[papademojo]

Welcome to the US. I too have a Safari 22ft. I took the Carefree apart, measured it got the Sunbrella material, put in on and enjoyed. Really it is truely an easy task, just be careful of the springs, and make sure you seal the screws that attach the awning to the trailer. BTW if you cannot find the right width get what it takes to equal what you need and have an upholstery shop sew it for you. Good luck!

[Robert Burns]

Hi Tim, thanks, Andy is certainly a wealth of info.
ASwifey ... Haha ... English or British bulldogs are how they are referred to in England, as opposed to American (bigger, taller) or french (smaller; with batlike ears)
mhilley ... USA awaits, been to a dozen states but that was working not 'seeing', lake powell and a thousand life experiences to come
Lumatic ... wonder if I could fit an alumagard, don't see why not to a carefree setup ... do sunbrella sell them seperately I wonder... thanks for the advice
papademojo ... love to see some more of your 22' ... your suggestion was the route I was thinking, my awning appears to be 11.5 ft wide, 93 inches deep as measured 'on' ... would an upholstery shop deal with vinyl from sunbrella do you think??
Thanks for all you helpful advice ... what a great forum, I watched all the help being thrown around for months as a member without portfolio, now the work begins and the true worth of real airstream advice can be applied .... thank you for welcoming me to this country and to this forum
Rob

[Lumatic]

I can't think of a reason why you could not use an Alumagard section to make a Carefree/ Zipdee hybrid. I think I saw some Zipdee parts for sale on Ebay, maybe even in FL in a search under Airstream

FYI
The reason I got rid of my Carefree and put on a salvaged Zipdee is you can still get parts, and the option for smaller window awnings in addition to themain awning. Also Zipdee is very user friendly. Carefree won't talk to you.

[Robert Burns]

Thanks for that Lumatic ... I'll have a shufty on ebay.
Best
Rob

[Kevin245]

We bought our last replacement fabric with Alumaguard from these guys.

Patio Canopies : RV Awnings Online - Guaranteed Lowest Prices

Good luck,

Kevin

[Robert Burns]

Hi Kevin
Thanks for the link thats great
Did you have carefree arms?, did the alumagard work ok?, did you choose satin? .... could I ask how much it cost? ... would love to see a couple of pictures
Best
Rob