Awning Tie Downs

[soperman3]

Could you please give me some recommendations for awning Tie Downs? We often camp where the ground is very hard, so I'm considering ones that hook to the RV.

Thanks!

[bdreinv]

We never use tie downs, always retract awning when leaving camper!

[soperman3]

Originally Posted by bdreinv

We never use tie downs, always retract awning when leaving camper!

We're going to be in Florida for 5 months at the same campsite. We would retract if warranted. Thanks.

[Chet & Marie]

If I am going to use tie downs I use a 5 qt. ICE CREAM BUCKET filled with cement and an eye bolt in it. I seldom use the because if it is that windy I roll the awning. New awnings are very expensive!

[soperman3]

Originally Posted by Chet & Marie

If I am going to use tie downs I use a 5 qt. ICE CREAM BUCKET filled with cement and an eye bolt in it. I seldom use the because if it is that windy I roll the awning. New awnings are very expensive!

How much do they weigh Chet?

[Chet & Marie]

About 10 lbs. My friend used plastic covered mushroom anchors that were about 20 lbs. and one night a storm rolls in and tore his awning to shreds. Always, always roll it up before going to bed or leaving the TT unattended. His lesson cost him $700 plus.

[dhinkle57]

We used a pop up canopy this summer where part was on grass and part on concrete. We always carry empty 5 gallon buckets, so we filled a couple up with water and they worked just fine.

[michael.g]

We camp seasonally. Our site is almost always windy as it is directly across from a farm. Sometimes just a few mph breeze to as much as 10-15 mph on an otherwise windless day. We use a Camco awning tie down kit. The kit came with screw anchors, 7" springs and the straps to tie it down.

The awning stays out all the time. If a storm is predicted with strong winds, over 30 mph, the awning comes in. Otherwise, it stays out. We've been on the same seasonal site now for 4 years with 2 different RVs, one with an 11' electric awning and one with a 20' manual awning. Same tie down kit for both awnings.

Our electric awning went through a few strong storms that were not predicted and survived thanks to the tie downs. One storm destroyed the 7" springs, but the awning survived and was still working like new when we traded the Motorhome in.

In your case, I would think a 5 gallon bucket with water or sand would hold the awning fine for breezes up to 10 - 15 mph. Anything stronger than that, pull it in.

-MIchael

[soperman3]

Originally Posted by michael.g

We camp seasonally. Our site is almost always windy as it is directly across from a farm. Sometimes just a few mph breeze to as much as 10-15 mph on an otherwise windless day. We use a Camco awning tie down kit. The kit came with screw anchors, 7" springs and the straps to tie it down.

The awning stays out all the time. If a storm is predicted with strong winds, over 30 mph, the awning comes in. Otherwise, it stays out. We've been on the same seasonal site now for 4 years with 2 different RVs, one with an 11' electric awning and one with a 20' manual awning. Same tie down kit for both awnings.

Our electric awning went through a few strong storms that were not predicted and survived thanks to the tie downs. One storm destroyed the 7" springs, but the awning survived and was still working like new when we traded the Motorhome in.

In your case, I would think a 5 gallon bucket with water or sand would hold the awning fine for breezes up to 10 - 15 mph. Anything stronger than that, pull it in.

-MIchael

Thanks Michael.. our situation is similar e.g. on our recent trip to Maine and Canada we spent 13/14 days on the ocean. And our 5 month stay in Florida this year is less than a mile to the coast. 10-15 mile breezes are the norm.

Although we'll take in the awning when warranted, it's going to be out pretty much all of the time.

Perhaps this is "overkill", but yesterday I purchased the Stormforce tie down anchors from Amazon. If it will tie down airplanes, I suspect they will do the trick.

https://www.amazon.com/Stormforce-Do...ObL&ref=plSrch

[blujay40]

First and foremost, there isn't a awning or RV manufacturer out there that I know of that says tying down an awning is a good thing and your accepting any and all risks of damage to your awning by doing so.

With that said, I among others do it regularly when at a site for extended stays.

May I suggest that if your going to tie it down, also add support poles to support the underside of the roller tube as well.

This way, the roller has absolutely NO where to go up or down and also when setup correctly, removes the tension on the awning arms where they are attached to the RV.

There are a number of ways to do it. The simplest and cheapest way I have seen is to fashion homemade ones out of PVC pipe with a large T on the top and then cutout the top of the T out a bit in a fashion so that the roller tube will lie in the rounded cutout.

I found some adjustable tree branch supports that already have a curved holder on top that fits the roller tube almost perfectly. I then slid them into a longer piece of stronger PVC pipe to make them even longer. Then I just use simple ratchet tie downs with dog stakes, taking care to just "snug" it down into the supports. Others may chime in as to what they do.

https://www.groworganic.com/propacro...h-support.html

[rkresge]

Originally Posted by soperman3

Could you please give me some recommendations for awning Tie Downs? We often camp where the ground is very hard, so I'm considering ones that hook to the RV.

Thanks!

Agree with the posters who said that mfgrs don't recommend tie-downs. Having said that, this year I'm using these, from Carefree of Colorado.


https://www.carefreeofcolorado.com/p...stabilizr.html


Love 'em. But DON'T use this product with an awning that has automatic retraction!!!


Can't help you much on the hard ground issue. It's a little hard to carry a jack hammer and the necessary air compressor.


Good luck!


Roger