Which awning to buy Zip Dee or A&E?

[ventport]

I am looking at an awning for my 77 24' Argosy. I can get a Zip Dee delivered for around $2000, an A&E is a little over half the cost of the Zip Dee. Is the A&E a good awning for the money, or would I be better off spend double the money and go with the Zip Dee? Lets here some opinions from the people who have them. As a side note, I called Carefree and they said they no longer make the curved arms to fit the Airstream. They said that if I wanted to use their awning I would have to buy Zip Dee arms to mount it. I just laughed at them and hung up. Thanks Brian

[JackMac]

I replaced the AE awning on my trailer with a Zip Dee and like it much better. Check with Inland RV on price and delivery.

[Minno]

I cannot speak about A&E, but I can speak about ZipDee. We bought a ZipDee this spring for our trailer and are very happy with it so far. The fabric washes off with water only. The only issue I have had with it has been that I have been unable to set it up by myself. I am under 5ft tall, and I can roll the awning out myself, but I could not lift the arms up to raise it because of the angle. We did solve that problem recently by buying a pair of handles that ZipDee sells. They attach on the arms and give me leverage to pull the arms up now.
We also bought our awning from Inland RV, and got a Sunbrella fabric that is not standard. Cost a little more but we are very happy with the colors.

Kay

[tkasten]

We installed Zip Dee's all the way around our 65' and love em!

[WineStream]

I have both brands installed between my two airstreams. I hate hate hate the wheel retention system of the Zip Dee patio awning (smaller zip dees do not use the wheels, i.e. window awnings). However, the rest of the zip dee experience, I love. If I had the money, I'd get the A&E and carefrees on my trailer replaced with zip dees. Fabric on both (of mine) is Sunbrella. A&E might have vinyl options, but I think zip dee only does Sunbrella. You will pay a 10% upcharge for "premium" patterns. We sure did :-)

[LFC]

Zip Dee hands down....

My 99 Bambi had an A&E every time I opened it I figured I'd lug it home in the back of my truck. My 2000 Safari has a Zip Dee.

[ventport]

Well, I ordered the Zip Dee thanks to all of your advice and comments. I will report back on how hard it was to install in a few weeks.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by ventport

I am looking at an awning for my 77 24' Argosy. I can get a Zip Dee delivered for around $2000, an A&E is a little over half the cost of the Zip Dee. Is the A&E a good awning for the money, or would I be better off spend double the money and go with the Zip Dee? Lets here some opinions from the people who have them. As a side note, I called Carefree and they said they no longer make the curved arms to fit the Airstream. They said that if I wanted to use their awning I would have to buy Zip Dee arms to mount it. I just laughed at them and hung up. Thanks Brian

When Gene Upton, a long time friend, owned Carefree, their product was very good.

He then let his son-in-law run it.

Well, long story short, he didn't do very well.

Then Carefree was sold, about 25 years or so ago.

Carefree then said that Airstream never put the awning rails in the right place, since their curved arms stuck out about 10 inches from the shell at the top of the windows.

So, they can really say that they almost never had the correct arms for Airstream.

Awnings provide what you pay for.

Zip Dee uses Sunbrella exclusively. Sunbrella material lasts many decades.

Others use vinyl impregnated cotton, whose life span is about 5 to 6 years.

Andy

[Minno]

We used 3 people for a 21 ft awning to install (husband and son are strong. Me not so much). You will have to play with the tensioning some to get it right but it is not difficult.

Kay

[featherbedder]

Originally Posted by Minno

We used 3 people for a 21 ft awning to install (husband and son are strong. Me not so much). You will have to play with the tensioning some to get it right but it is not difficult.

Kay

ZipDee springs are toward rear of trailer, they will tell you how
many turns to tension, you will use small part of arm [short] to do this very easy.I had mine put on at ZipDee factory watched them thru entire process, scrapped care free that was on A.S. since new.

[Foiled Again]

I was thinking you could go to the Zip Dee factory - they're near Chicago & you're only in Wisconsin ... how far could it be? Well it's about 400 miles.

Still you might save a ton if the factory did the install.

Paula

[Wazbro]

Originally Posted by Foiled Again

I was thinking you could go to the Zip Dee factory - they're near Chicago & you're only in Wisconsin ... how far could it be? Well it's about 400 miles.

Still you might save a ton if the factory did the install.

Paula

True, install might not cost much more then shipping would.

[Jezibels]

We will be going to Zip Dee in Elk Grove (hopefully next year) for all new awnings, we still have the original Carefree and Im waiting for them to finally kick the bucket. Every trip when it comes time to roll it up we have to do a little dance, lift arms, roll up, lift again, pull back down, lift up just the right side, roll it by hand, lift up the left arm now...you know the drill. Ill be so glad when we can have one that just rolls up.

Let us see a pic when you get them installed Ventport, I'd be interested in seeing which fabric you picked out!

[ventport]

I will be doing the install myself with the help of a friend. Thanks for the suggestions. I will report back when it's done.

[Safari Streamer]

my husband couldn't wait for our A&E to break so we could buy a ZipDee. It didn't take too long and he is so much happier

[air dreaming]

I did mine with my 15 year old son, just follow the instructions and do not rush. It took about and hour and a half.

[ventport]

Well the Zip Dee finally arrived, 2 days late, after being sent in the wrong direction by the trucking company. From the time I opened the boxes, to the time we were drinking Rum & Cokes under the awning was 3 hrs! Not bad for to old guys who had never put on an awning before.

[SmokelessJoe]

That's VERY impressive.

I had mine installed at the Chicago factory and I think it took two men almost an hour.

It takes me that long to figure out how to unfurl and retract it too!








Sergei