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CARAVAN AWNINGS
General Information
All Awnings are basically some form of extension to
the ground area of your caravan or motorhome, usually made of fabric
with supporting poles. FULL awnings generally fit into a rail on the
side of your caravan, the "canvas" slides into the rail following the
shape of your van, and then the various poles are assembled inside and
the fabric is pegged down to the ground, stabilising the whole
structure.
PORCH awnings, sometimes called annexes, usually cover about a third of
the size of your van, and look a bit like a porch on a building, hence
the name. Also available are pull-out sun-screens, some of these having
side and front panels effectively making them into FULL awnings by your
choice. These are mainly fitted permanently to the sides of Motorhomes,
and are now becoming available "in a bag" to fit the awning rails of
towed caravans or motorhomes. Campervans and small motorhomes often use
free-standing awnings, especially where rear entry doors are a feature,
these allow the user to detach and drive away the base vehicle, leaving
the awning still on site.
The poles used come as steel, (heavy-ish), or alloy, (lighter but liable
to bend or deform if overtightened), or fibreglass, (light but may
splinter and break if subjected to sideways stress)
Newcomers and those erecting a new awning for the first time might find
a copy of the "Oxford Guide to Colourful Swear Words" and the details of
a good divorce lawyer extremely useful things to have at hand for the
first few attempts! 8>)
The most important (and usually the hardest!) thing to get right is the
size. Awnings are normally purchased via Caravan Dealers and they will
have a guide to sizing the awning for your van going by the year, make
and model. Note however that this is a "guide", and maybe should not be
taken as totally definitive, especially on an older or unusual make of
van, and the guide will always opt for the safer larger choice from that
awning manufacturer. The difficulty in sizing often arises because your
caravan may need an awning that is (say) 934cms, and the awning from the
maker your dealer has in stock is either 925cms or 950cms so an awning
from this source is either 9cms too small or 16cms too big. The smaller
size will be too small to peg down and may even tear if you try to do
so, whilst the big one will need you to raise your caravan evenly on
blocks to take up slack, or have a piece taken out to bring it nearer
the actual size. Try to get as near as you can to the correct size, even
if it means asking your dealer to supply a make he does not normally
stock.
Since awnings are normally supplied by caravan dealers, we simply list
the maker and any website they may have. You should normally contact
your local dealer to purchase.
The above information supplied by courtesy of
www.xetronella.co.uk
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