Main Awning pulling away from sidewall.

We have a 2019 Fuel 352 and the awning is starting to pull away from the sidewall. It's doing this on both ends. We've probably only used it 10 times in the 2 years we've own it. And before someone asks, no there was no storm or wind when we had it out. I was even complaining to my wife that there was no breeze.

When those awning tracks are put on they use a strip of butyl caulk and some screws.
Check your screws. They might be missing.

Peace
Dave

That also happened to our CY's front awning.

Because of our specific floorplan, windows, door, front taper of roof placement vs. the awning arm bracket placements, the front awning had to be lowered about 4" compared to the rear one. This assured that none of those awning rail screws were placed into anything substantial.... just the siding. Compounded with the fact that installers with power tools spinout screws by over-tightening, our awning started to let loose and ooze putty on both ends also.

The wife and I reattached it a month ago...it was a simple project as long as the wind doesn't "surprise" you when the fabric rail is completely disconnected for the rail/siding cleanup..

I flopped it out a foot from the siding, secured it, redrilled all holes a little larger for those blue drywall plastic inserts, hammered them all in, putty taped the rail, and reused original screws. This was a 2 person job to control the (2) rails with fresh putty installed (in the wind), so have your partner lined up ready for work!

I did it this way first for a trial fix as the rail is still easily removable this way. If it needs more drastic attachment measures, such as the 8-10 screws at each end (or all of them), I will remove one screw at a time, then drill holes for some black tri-tipped exploding pop rivets.

This was my biggest quandary of the entire project: Do I keep it simple with the inserts so to be removed easily, or go full-tilt and use the speciality rivets for a "permanent" install that would require drilling them out for rail to be removed.

Jcgribks said:

We have a 2019 Fuel 352 and the awning is starting to pull away from the sidewall. It's doing this on both ends. We've probably only used it 10 times in the 2 years we've own it. And before someone asks, no there was no storm or wind when we had it out. I was even complaining to my wife that there was no breeze.

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I haven't had a similar problem, but I would tackle this myself. I would extend the awning and then try to take some of the weight off the awning so you can check the screws as was suggested. Once you check them out, I would work on each end, one at a time, loosening the screws but not removing so many that it would come completely loose. Your pictures show that it looks ok in the middle. Check to see if screws tighten. Make sure the screw has a backing so that it will firmly tighten against the rv. If the screw hole is waddled out, either use a larger screw or move the hole a bit. Once you get the screw size figured out, back them out, remove all the old caulk and reapply a good caulk to make it waterproof. I’d use a good caulk that has some adhesive ability but not a caulk that can’t be removed if necessary. Good luck on your repair.

I called Heartland this morning and sent in the 2 pictures I posted here. Their response was:

"Looks like the awning rail is pulling away from the sidewall. More securement can be added. This is usually a result of leaving it out in the rain or wind."

I've never used it in the rain and never when it is windy. When we noticed this Sunday there had been no wind at all.

Of the couple of problems I've had with this Heartland they've never taken any responsibility with it. It's always the owners fault. To me there should have been more screws added when they installed it, hence it wouldn't be pulling off. The motorhome I traded in on this new 5th wheel was a 1996 Itasca Suncruiser and never had any problems with the awning pulling off like this one.

The last problem I called them about was a slideout leak that was leaking from where they had caulked the panels together. To me this should have been covered under their 3 year Structual Warranty as it wasn't a bought component but an assembled part. They said they wouldn't warranty it as in the Warranty pages it called for the owner to check all outside panels for caulking every 3 months. Now who goes over the entire NEW rig every 3 months checking the caulking and panels?? My Motorhome was 22 years old and never had any leaks on the slideout where the panels were assembled and caulked.

The best way to fix your issue with the awning rear rail pulling away from the Filon sidewall is to remove the screws on the ends where its pulling thru at and replace with oscar rivets... Dometic awning install instructions state to use these to attach the rear rail with but often the builder uses self tapping screws and there is nothing in the Filon for those screws to have any real lasting holding power...

You can order a package of 10 from Dometic or order a box of 50 from McMaster Carr... McMasters is easy to deal with. quick shipping...

https://www.mcmaster.com/97545A075/

Jcgribks said:

I called Heartland this morning and sent in the 2 pictures I posted here. Their response was:

"Looks like the awning rail is pulling away from the sidewall. More securement can be added. This is usually a result of leaving it out in the rain or wind."

I've never used it in the rain and never when it is windy. When we noticed this Sunday there had been no wind at all.

Of the couple of problems I've had with this Heartland they've never taken any responsibility with it. It's always the owners fault. To me there should have been more screws added when they installed it, hence it wouldn't be pulling off. The motorhome I traded in on this new 5th wheel was a 1996 Itasca Suncruiser and never had any problems with the awning pulling off like this one.

The last problem I called them about was a slideout leak that was leaking from where they had caulked the panels together. To me this should have been covered under their 3 year Structual Warranty as it wasn't a bought component but an assembled part. They said they wouldn't warranty it as in the Warranty pages it called for the owner to check all outside panels for caulking every 3 months. Now who goes over the entire NEW rig every 3 months checking the caulking and panels?? My Motorhome was 22 years old and never had any leaks on the slideout where the panels were assembled and caulked.

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How did you end up getting this fixed? We have the EXACT issue with our 2021 Fuel 352. We've only had the awning out about 6x and NEVER in any wind. We're in a trip now and CW won't look at it so we're figuring out how to fix it ourselves to prevent bigger issues.

Is the backer frame board not long enough, or do they just not bother to properly support these from the backside? Seems shoddy craftmanship to me, so would hope not but....

I used Oscar Rivets to fix mine, plus added some silicone sealant to rivet and awning back.

Fix has lasted for over a year.

Our 2019 Fuel 287 awning is having the same problems. We have also been experiencing leaks down the wall behind the awning when it rains. It has caused a squishy place inside on our wall. It was installed poorly at the factory. We have had 3 motorhomes and 3 travel trailers before this one. We have never had so many problems as this camper has had.

We had the same problem. When we had the awning fabric replaced. Repair guy said these companies use self tapping screws and should be using rivets. I wasn't there when he repaired it , but if the screws are the same as the ones on the molding they are cheap. Ours are popping the heads off just sitting in the sun.