Finally replaced the carefree awning

[Kevin and Beth]

Finally had enough of the junk longitude awning and replaced with a dometic powered one. 100 times stronger, more tilt and pitch options. Much better product. I've had absolutely no complaints for 5 years with our pinnacle. Still can't believe jayco would put such a piece of junk on an awesome 5th wheel. Last week we were sitting outside and the third arm I had just replaced collapsed with just a puff of wind. No storm, nothing heavy, just a little wind.

[K Holbrook]

We just bought a Northpoint 5th wheel and it has the Carefree Longitude. I hate the fact that the pitch is extreme limited when needed in the rain. We got a little wind that popped up suddenly and before I could even the side out in order to retract it, the wind lifted it up and scared the living daylights out of me! I liked my awning on my last travel trailer because it had a “one handed” operation. You could pull one or both sides way down to ensure no water would ever pool!

[Kevin and Beth]

It says collapsed on the idler side. The top pivot point is the spot. The arms are so thin that when I changed the destroyed arm and was preparing to attach the new arm to the side of the camper I was afraid it would break before I got the bolts in. I spoke with the customer service department at carefree of Colorado and they told me they recommend rolling it in if we left the camper for an extended time, or if started to rain, or it got windy. So what would this piece of junk be for???

[jasum]

Did you replace your awning or did you have it done?

Wondering how much of a pita it is to do yourself.

[Kevin and Beth]

There's a repair company that I know well. The owner came out with the awning and I helped him, but he did most of the install. I probably wouldn't tackle it without seeing it done. The poly strip that came with the new dometic had to be changed to a smaller diameter one for the light rail to go back in place. The dometic arms went back in the same place as the junk ones, but with different bolt patterns. There is also tension that has to be kept on the roller while everything is connected. Motor and light harness wasn't bad.

[Tuffyak]

Originally Posted by Kevin and Beth

There's a repair company that I know well. The owner came out with the awning and I helped him, but he did most of the install. I probably wouldn't tackle it without seeing it done. The poly strip that came with the new dometic had to be changed to a smaller diameter one for the light rail to go back in place. The dometic arms went back in the same place as the junk ones, but with different bolt patterns. There is also tension that has to be kept on the roller while everything is connected. Motor and light harness wasn't bad.

A slight breeze destroyed my junk carefree latitude arms. I was thinking about upgrading to the carefree traveler’s arms, but if I can get away from carefree junk altogether I want to. Do you have any details on the model you used to replace yours? What is the poly strip you mentioned what part is that on? Was there any modifications to the awning tube. Can I reuse my awning and tube?

Thanks for any info and advice!!

[Kevin and Beth]

The poly strip I mentioned is the round strip that holds the fabric to the track screwed to the rv. Had to reuse the one that came with the carefree junk or replace the track. We just pulled the one out of the old one and it worked fine. The new one is a dometic, been on now for over a year and no problems.