awning arm pulled out from rv wall

[andykreut]

Very disappointed in new Momentum. 2019 delivered to us June 28th and just a month old to us. Awning pulled out from side of rv. It was not even extended past our dining slide out. Have not found anyone that has a mobile repair service to come out and fix the awning even though I do not think it is something we have to pay for. Any suggestions. Dealer was of no help and tried to call Grand Design. Phone just rang and rang.

[howson]

Very disappointed in new Momentum. 2019 delivered to us June 28th and just a month old to us. Awning pulled out from side of rv. It was not even extended past our dining slide out. Have not found anyone that has a mobile repair service to come out and fix the awning even though I do not think it is something we have to pay for. Any suggestions. Dealer was of no help and tried to call Grand Design. Phone just rang and rang.

Can you post a picture (or two), please? Please confirm you dialed 574-825-9679 to contact GD?

Hopefully TucsonJim sees this and chimes in soon--he's very familiar with the issue and fix.

EDIT: See Jim' post below.

[TucsonJim]

This failure mode has been popping up recently and the fix is quite simple. It's caused when the screws pull out. You can purchase the replacement parts via the Amazon link below, or call Grand Design and they should ship you some.

To implement the repair, remove the screws, enlarge the hole with a drill bit and install the Oscar rivets with a pop rivet tool you can get at any hardware store. Do not use standard pop rivets for this repair. They will not hold.

I verified this repair method with Brad Smith at GDRV.

GDRV-Emily. Can you please let Brad know there's been another awning failure. I've been communicating with him about this failure mode.

Dometic 113008P 3/16" Diameter Oscar Rivet, (Pack of 6) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0031NJIM4..._vp1pDbXR268EP

Jim

[Guest]

Jim,

Your awning pulled out and took the outer laminate with it. Was this situation different than just the awning screws pulling out? What was the issue that you had a delamination along with the awning?

Jim

[howson]

Jim,

Your awning pulled out and took the outer laminate with it. Was this situation different than just the awning screws pulling out? What was the issue that you had a delamination along with the awning?

Jim

I did some reading on this issue yesterday so I think I can answer the question: the first awning failure for (Tucson) Jim was on his previous 337. He temp-fixed the awning with toothpicks! (Ingenious--worthy of a MacGyver award!) The second awning "failure" wasn't the screws pulling out--the entire side wall of his 297RSTS delaminated where the awning attached. (GD fixed the wall.)

[Canyonlight]

Attached pictures of Oscar rivets sent to me by GDRV at no charge a few years ago. Also attached pictures of our awning rail pulling away from the side of the RV. A number of us had this occur and still seems to be happening on occasion as Jim referenced in post #3. Not sure if this is what is happening to the original OP but I suspect it. Seeing pictures from the OP would be helpful.

EDIT: In re-reading the OPs post, it appears that his awning arm has pulled away rather than the awning rail of which I and others have posted about over the years. If it is the arm pulling away, I have seen a few posts of this over the years where the lag bolts/screws have pulled away. I recall some were due to storms and strong winds but I do not recall just pulling out for no apparent reason.

Dan

[GDRV-Emily]

TucsonJim I have sent him an email

[GDRV-Emily]

andykreut Can I possibly get the last 6 digits of your VIN? That would help me greatly too

[Guest]

It would be nice to know the failure mode of these occurrences. We know the awnings will not take excessive wind or cumulative water from not dropping one end. But was the OPs awning failure a lack of fasteners? We also know one has failed due to a bonding issue. There are some advantages with stick and tin models.
Very good info keeping folks apprised in what to look out for. I will be rolling mine up when leaving or at the onset of bad weather and will keep an eye on the gutter area for separation.

Jim

[Cate&Rob]

There seem to be two issues getting mixed together here. Is it the horizontal awning rail or the vertical awning arm support that pulled out of the wall ?

I was one of the first to have the horizontal awning rail pull out of the wall. Originally, the rail on my Reflection was fastened to the wall with screws all the way across. As the awning rolls in tight to the wall, there is more tension on the rail ends because the doubled-over fabric seams at the ends create a larger diameter than the rest of the fabric. This pulls the rail out from the wall at its ends. The fix that Grand Design implemented for service and for production was to put three or four oscar rivets at each end of the rail to resist this extra tension. The centre section of the rail is still fastened to the wall with screws. This fixed the problem, but I have heard of other situations since then, where the rail was again fastened to the wall with only screws and the problem re-appeared.

Rob

[Guest]

Rob,

Looks like the Ops awning pulled from the wall (from the verbiage) where canyonlights pulled away at the gutter. I will order the Oscar rivets and will re-enforce the gutter where this is great info. On my Imagine 2600RB, the awning arms that screw to the side wall looks very solid.

Jim

[Yoda]

This failure mode has been popping up recently and the fix is quite simple. It's caused when the screws pull out. You can purchase the replacement parts via the Amazon link below, or call Grand Design and they should ship you some.

To implement the repair, remove the screws, enlarge the hole with a drill bit and install the Oscar rivets with a pop rivet tool you can get at any hardware store. Do not use standard pop rivets for this repair. They will not hold.

I verified this repair method with Brad Smith at GDRV.

GDRV-Emily. Can you please let Brad know there's been another awning failure. I've been communicating with him about this failure mode.

Dometic 113008P 3/16" Diameter Oscar Rivet, (Pack of 6) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0031NJIM4..._vp1pDbXR268EP

Jim

Pardon my asking, but what is so special about these Oscar Rivets. Done a lot of riveting in my time on older trailers and never heard this term, The engineer in me would go to molly bolts (expanding head type). Then again I may not understand how the awnings are attached. I am assuming GD put some type of aluminum stricture behind the connection and not just the veneer and foam wall. Appreciate and help in understanding.
Thanks Keith

[Cate&Rob]

Pardon my asking, but what is so special about these Oscar Rivets. Done a lot of riveting in my time on older trailers and never heard this term, The engineer in me would go to molly bolts (expanding head type). Then again I may not understand how the awnings are attached. I am assuming GD put some type of aluminum stricture behind the connection and not just the veneer and foam wall. Appreciate and help in understanding.
Thanks Keith

Hi Keith,

An Oscar rivet expands two wide “wings” behind the wall. Note from the earlier pictures that they are much longer and have two slots cut in the sides of the barrel. Unlike a regular pop rivet that causes a bulge in the barrel of the rivet to fill the hole.

There is often no aluminum structure behind the attachment locations to the wall. This is why the load has to be spread across more surface on the backside of the wall panel.

Rob

[Yoda]

Thanks rob - learned something new. Another thing to add to my parts bin.
Thanks again

[FatTire]

My horizontal awning rail also pulled out from the wall on the end. I contacted GD, and received a call from Nicholas Cotner, who is a regional sales manager. My 2018 303 RLS was just out of warranty, so he gave me an authorization number to have the dealer fix it, which they did by putting these rivets in between each screw. Nicholas and I had a long discussion where he did say that there is structure behind the wall where this rail attaches - either wood or aluminum.

I also learned that you need to let the button go just before the awning is all the way retracted. It will keep going and stop when it contacts the wall. Nicholas told me that there is no clutch on these motors so it keeps trying to roll, which would put unneeded tension on the roll against the wall. I tried this and it works well.

Anyway, besides the dealer putting holes in my awning fabric - which they have not yet responded to me about, the fix seemed to hold up well on our week long trip last week.