Trapped in my Airstream! Awning collapsed!

[Mento05]

Invest in a mobile repair guy and not in a hospital trip.

[alphamale49]

The repair was made. Your manufacturer can recommend a solution. Thanks for all the responses.

[OTRA15]

Thanks for the update, and glad it worked out. Do you have any info as the cause?

Thanks,

Peter

Originally Posted by OTRA15

Please tell us how this happened, so that others can learn.

Was there rain overnight, and high winds perhaps? Was the awning in the "full up" position, such that it could trap rain, and get very heavy?
. . .

[Steamguy]

I'm a little late getting to this discussion, but I have a way to keep it from being so very dangerous. This comes from a couple trailers ago from when I had to replace the springs. My nephew and I thought long and carefully about what kind of danger we'd be dealing with, and came up with this technique. It works for Carefree, not sure about others, so YMMV...

Retract the awning, and support it in that position so that you can handle the springs and such, safely. Then wind up the springs just enough to hold things firmly against the side of the trailer. The trick for us was making wood blocks to hold the awning just enough away from the side of the trailer so that we could get the vise-grips to go round and round.

Remember this works because the spring tension is WAY higher, with the awning deployed.

Carefree also sells a Manual (no springs) version of the same mechanism, it's not only safer to handle, but because it's manual, it literally locks itself in position against the side of the trailer. It's sold as a conversion kit, not that expensive, and pretty easy to install.

This may not be relevant for Airstream, but offered in the spirit that maybe there are similar solutions.

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by alphamale49

The main arm bar on my Zip Dee awning snapped in two, the awning fell against the Airstream door, trapping me in the trailer!
. . .

Glad you found a fix. Could you please let us know what caused this collapse, like rain, wind, etc.? A good learning experience for everyone IMO.

Thanks,

Peter

[Ol Bob]

Ditto.

[Jaxon]

Originally Posted by OTRA15

Thanks for the update, and glad it worked out. Do you have any info as the cause?

Thanks,

Peter

Seems Alpha doesn't want to answer that question...
.

[Little Chick]

Would a ‘56 Bubble have an emergency window? I suppose not but the back window is big enough to crawl out unless my Quarentine Enhanched Butt won’t fit. Long drop to the ground if you go out head-first especially if you hit that back bumper. Geez now I need an Emergency Helmet.

[VDR928]

Originally Posted by alphamale49

Thanks everyone. I'll give a status update at a later time. The good folks at Out-Of-Doors Mart in Colfax, NC have already put the new part in the mail.

They are the VERY best!

[Landshark]

Originally Posted by Little Chick

Would a ‘56 Bubble have an emergency window? I suppose not but the back window is big enough to crawl out unless my Quarentine Enhanched Butt won’t fit. Long drop to the ground if you go out head-first especially if you hit that back bumper. Geez now I need an Emergency Helmet.

Little Chick, your post was exactly what I was thinking about my 67 Caravel and similarly enhanced butt. Thanks for the laugh!

Vivian

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by alphamale49

The main arm bar on my Zip Dee awning snapped in two, the awning fell against the Airstream door, trapping me in the trailer!
. . .

Would you please let us know whether rain/wind/etc. caused this failure?

It would be good to know the root cause.

Thanks,

Peter

[Mollysdad]

Originally Posted by Al and Missy

Is there something I missed that makes it a dealer repair?

Obviously I stepped into the fire ant mound, so I stand corrected. And I'm the guy who always thinks I can do things better!

[Halford1]

Originally Posted by OTRA15

Would you please let us know whether rain/wind/etc. caused this failure?

It would be good to know the root cause.

Thanks,

Peter

I likewise await the answer.