PineyCruisin
Well-known member
I've only had a chance to put together the awning a couple of times and attach the awning to van temporarily for the sole purpose of making sure it will work with our van. I will update this thread when its been under some serious use on the road. So, for now, these are just my initial thoughts.
This is the one I purchased in Gray: https://www.busdepot.com/a7905
and I also got the Jackpoint/Wheel mount kit to be able to secure the awning to the van which I thought would be helpful when on ground that didn't lend well to staking down guy lines: https://www.busdepot.com/JP7905
I received the shipment on time so no problems with delivery. Upon opening the box, I was shocked to see rusting and scratching on many of the parts. They looked far from new. These are just a few of the parts that were damaged looking right out of the box.
Called BusDepot to notify them of problem. Long story short...they said because of the humidity inside the warehouse all of their awnings had rusty parts and the scratching was due to jostling during delivery between manufacturer and warehouse (hmm?) so the best they could do to rectify was a full refund or a 15% discount. Wasn't thrilled with the choice but I couldn't find any alternative in the U.S. Fortunately, the awning canvas itself was in brand new condition and seemed to be well made. Customer service was a little iffy....besides not apologizing at all for the damaged goods sent, would only responded after many followup phone calls/emails. They certainly didn't go out of their way to try to make things right in the beginning but, I did receive the 15% credit rather quickly after accepting their (delayed) offer, so that made up for some of the hassle.
Putting it together isn't too terribly bad. Its not quick and its not simple but doable. It took about 20 min. by myself and am certain I can shave off some time with practice and definitely with hubby helping. Because of the aluminum poles on either side and the fiberglass poles in the middle forming an arch, it seems sturdy. There are a few problems that a minor annoyance and can be tweeked to overcome:
1) The attachment caps on the fiberglass poles are not secured well at all. Two have fallen off when putting them together the second time because they were not crimped properly. Have to reglue and crimp to secure them.
View attachment 26666
2) Because the velcro pockets that attach the awning to the aluminum poles aren't properly place, the horizontal pole that goes into the gutter wants to bend so much that its impossible to get it flush inside the rain gutter to clamp it down securely in the middle without feeling like the fabric that the velcro is sewn to is going to rip. This may become a long term problem unless resewing a new velcro flap. The picture below shows how the fabric is pulling from the seam.
View attachment 26667
3)The extension poles included with the jackpoint/wheel mount kit are not exactly the same as the leg poles included with awning so the female and male ends are incompatible and do not want to come together far enough to get the spring ball to
This is the one I purchased in Gray: https://www.busdepot.com/a7905
and I also got the Jackpoint/Wheel mount kit to be able to secure the awning to the van which I thought would be helpful when on ground that didn't lend well to staking down guy lines: https://www.busdepot.com/JP7905
I received the shipment on time so no problems with delivery. Upon opening the box, I was shocked to see rusting and scratching on many of the parts. They looked far from new. These are just a few of the parts that were damaged looking right out of the box.
Called BusDepot to notify them of problem. Long story short...they said because of the humidity inside the warehouse all of their awnings had rusty parts and the scratching was due to jostling during delivery between manufacturer and warehouse (hmm?) so the best they could do to rectify was a full refund or a 15% discount. Wasn't thrilled with the choice but I couldn't find any alternative in the U.S. Fortunately, the awning canvas itself was in brand new condition and seemed to be well made. Customer service was a little iffy....besides not apologizing at all for the damaged goods sent, would only responded after many followup phone calls/emails. They certainly didn't go out of their way to try to make things right in the beginning but, I did receive the 15% credit rather quickly after accepting their (delayed) offer, so that made up for some of the hassle.
Putting it together isn't too terribly bad. Its not quick and its not simple but doable. It took about 20 min. by myself and am certain I can shave off some time with practice and definitely with hubby helping. Because of the aluminum poles on either side and the fiberglass poles in the middle forming an arch, it seems sturdy. There are a few problems that a minor annoyance and can be tweeked to overcome:
1) The attachment caps on the fiberglass poles are not secured well at all. Two have fallen off when putting them together the second time because they were not crimped properly. Have to reglue and crimp to secure them.
View attachment 26666
2) Because the velcro pockets that attach the awning to the aluminum poles aren't properly place, the horizontal pole that goes into the gutter wants to bend so much that its impossible to get it flush inside the rain gutter to clamp it down securely in the middle without feeling like the fabric that the velcro is sewn to is going to rip. This may become a long term problem unless resewing a new velcro flap. The picture below shows how the fabric is pulling from the seam.
View attachment 26667
3)The extension poles included with the jackpoint/wheel mount kit are not exactly the same as the leg poles included with awning so the female and male ends are incompatible and do not want to come together far enough to get the spring ball to
