R.I.P. ZipDee

[nettepdx]

well, my lovely (if a little mildewy and rusty) original zipdee canvas bit the dust in a monsoon that came through the park. <pause while y'all shed a tear> having an awning open in the desert is a bit risky and i'm very careful to close it up at just a hint of wind; however, sometimes these things (dust devils, micro bursts) sneak up on you.

i know all you millionaire airstream owners will recommend that i get a zipdee canvas but the local airstream dealer (who i'm not too happy with) gave me a bid for about $1600 - $900+ for the canvas and 8 hours work @ $80/hr. AND the service manager said i have to bring the trailer to them because it will take 3 men to replace the awning and he can't send them out on the road.

what do you think? just the canvas needs to be replaced (all the hardware is ok) so will it really take 3 people to do the work? do you think there's an anchoring down method which would hold up to 70 mph winds?

oh, and you should see what the storm did to my rockguard arms! let's just say that they were unriveted

[flyfshr]

Annette -
Have I got good news for you. My awning guy can replace the fabric for you without any of the above mentioned hassles although I see you're south of Tucson. This may be a stretch for him as he's in Phoenix but I know he does work all over the state. PM me for his contact info. He does great work.

FF

[desi arnaz]

3 men? what a crock.............i could do it myself....ahelper would be a good thing though. this fabric should be about $16 a yard tops i could be wrong?

[nettepdx]

Originally Posted by desi arnaz

3 men? what a crock.............i could do it myself....ahelper would be a good thing though. this fabric should be about $16 a yard tops i could be wrong?

desi, just mosey on down to southern arizona...i'm sure i can find you a helper

[Alden Miller]

I just called Zip-Dee the other day to inquire about replacing the fabric on my awnings. The patio awning (the big one) is $25/foot. The rear and left side awnings are $17/foot. For my trailer it comes out to $68 for the rear awning, $340 for the left side awning and $500 for the patio awning.

They said that the replacement is pretty straightforward and that the fabric comes with good instructions and the rivets to attach the awning to the drums.

-Alden

[safari57]

Oh sure, give me a heart attack. I thought when I read the thread subject that Zip Dee was no longer in business and here I am procrastinating on buying one. I thought I was going to be in big trouble. Well, my pulse is back to normal, and unfortunate news about your awning. Thanks, though, at least I feel somewhat motivated to go ahead and spend the bucks and get it over with. Barry

[nettepdx]

alden, that is good news. i'll be calling zip dee. but i wonder, where in the world did [airstream dealer to remain anonymous] come up with $928.15? although i did just notice that i also need 1 slat shiney (whatever that is).

sorry i scared you barry ... is it too late to change my subject heading? don't want to give other people heart attacks

[safari57]

Your heading is fine. It's good to give us old guys a nudge every now and then. Would JC Whitney have material? It seems they have everything else....

[azflycaster]

I contacted Oasis RV in Tucson for a quote on an awning for my 75 Trade Wind. This is for the whole awning and the quote is from 2 months ago:

"The awning would price at $1164.00 plus shipping and crating,depending upon the color chosen.This can amount to an additional 10% if it is not a Zip Dee standard color.Installation would be $240.00"

[nettepdx]

Originally Posted by azflycaster

I contacted Oasis RV in Tucson for a quote on an awning for my 75 Trade Wind. This is for the whole awning and the quote is from 2 months ago:

"The awning would price at $1164.00 plus shipping and crating,depending upon the color chosen.This can amount to an additional 10% if it is not a Zip Dee standard color.Installation would be $240.00"

hi azflycaster...when you say the "whole awning", you're not talking just the canvas, right? you're including the arms and stuff? because my quote from - ok, it's Oasis - is for the canvas only. i assume it includes the shipping but it still seems high. they charge $80/hr and so it looks like they're only estimating 3 hours to install yours. my quote is 5 hrs installation. maybe because i have an insurance claim????

[LowellN]

I called an AS dealer (won't mention any names) about a replacement zip dee canvas. They told me that they strongly reccomend buying the whole tube with the canvas already attached because it's really hard to put new canvas on the old roller. The quote was for $1200. I'm glad it turned out the awning on mine isn't a zip dee. I got a new canvas with the alumaguard for my carefree for like $400.

[azflycaster]

Yes the quote I got was for everything. Canvas, arms, roll and springs. I can not imagine why your estimate would be higher then the one I got. Yes, I have to bring mine in for installation. Your labor costs were 8 X $80 = $640 and I was quoted a straight $240 for the worksl. I would check with them again and also check out flyfshr's awning guy. He did a good job on his.

[flyfshr]

As for the difference in the man hours for installation, I would imagine that it takes longer to remove the tube, pull out the old material, install the new material, re-attach the tube and re-set the tension than it would to install an already assembled awning. Having put my own on, it can be kind of time intensive to deal with all of the components rather than the whole assembly.

FF

[G-Daddy]

When I bought my 1988 Argosy (I know it's not a real Airstream because it's square), the tube was badly bent on the 23' Zip Dee awning. I took it down, removed the canvas and the spring assembly and was preparing to order a piece of tubing through a local steel supplier. Along came a friend and inquired about what I was doing. After telling him about my problem he suggested tgrying to straighten the tube since the worst we could do was ruin an already ruined piece of pipe. We jumped up and down on the tube and it straightened nicely. I reassembled the entire unit and reinsatlled it on the trailer. I did it all by myself except the jumping up and down on the tube. My wife and I held the tube while my friend did the jumping. Of course it was a slow operation - I took the thing down in about an hour and reassembled in about 8 hours. Just replacing the canvas should be achievable by anyone with minimal mechanical aptitude and a free Saturday.