Help!!! - Wife is at the coast with a broken awning......

[Lndeatr]

Hi all. Been a little while since I posted. Trying to enjoy our 3611 but this is only the third trip since we bought it in April 2017. Been in the shop almost the whole time but that is another story.....

Last weekend I hauled my family, dogs and my Harley to our favorite campground just north of Fort Bragg CA. (Westport Beach). About a 5 hour trip. I rode home to work this week and am going back tomorrow morning. 2 days ago my wife opened the awnings and the front one fell apart. After coming out about 2 feet the non motor side arm came off of the barrel and it fell onto the slideout. Yesterday one of the other guests reattached the arm. He told her the 4 screws that hold it on fell out. It is now attached but the non motor side has no tension and is "floppy." My wife says it probably won't make the trip home.

All of the paperwork is in the trailer but she couldn't find anything for the awning. I have no idea what brand or model it is. Anyone know the brand and models on the 2017 Cyclone? I am assuming there is a coil spring that has no tension now. I am going to try and get it back together right but am wondering if anyone here has done it? If so, how many winds and is it done extended or rolled up? I will have a buddy with me and they have lades there.

Any help is welcomed. If not, I'll figure it out when I get there. May have to take it off and haul it inside.​

 

[Oregon_Camper]

Call Heartland with your VIN in the morning and they will able to tell you the make/model of the awning. They might be able to get you some sort of ideas to use to attempt fixing this yourself.

 

[rhodies1]

Attached to the awning ,at one end of the material,near the metal roller is a tag with the info required for Heartland to know the model used on your unit.
Based on your description it sounds like the locking pin for the tension spring broke,get some long cable ties and secure awning to trailer bracket to prevent it from flopping around during travel,had to do this when my motor failed.
This is where my info was attached,take a look and it might save you some headaches trying to get info direct from Heartland.
Heartland staff can find the info but will most likely take a day or so to get back to you.
good luck

 

[pjones1969]

Our 2017 Cyclone has Carefree awnings, not positive what model though

http://www.carefreeofcolorado.com/rv-products/rv-travel-trailer.html

Looks like it could be the Travelr series

http://www.carefreeofcolorado.com/products/travelr.html

 

[wdk450]

Good luck with this. Ft. Bragg is small, and not many services. I could only find 1 RV repair company listed on the internet, Oceanview RV. https://www.uwebconnect.com/ovrv . There should be a manual in the "Tools", Manuals menus at the top of any forum page.

 

[Lynn1130]

Are you still under warranty, either the trailer or the awning or both? If so Heartland may be able to authorize a local mobile repair shop to come out and make the repair. They probably will not pay for the trip but should cover the remainder. In a few cases they have covered both but that would be a bonus if they did. A call to Heartland CS should be able to clear it up for you.

 

[Lndeatr]

She was able to get wifi and sent me these pictures. Clears it up as to what happened. If it as simple as putting tension on the spring and reattaching the barrel to the cap, easy breezy. Goal is to fix it there. as we have another couple coming up tonight also for the weekend and 5 people and 2 boxers in the trailer will be pretty crowded. The wife planned on kicking us 2 guys outside to have a few cocktails and catch up....

The trailer is actually going back to the dealer when we get back to finish the repairs they started a year ago. If I can't get this done there, they will fix it.

 

[mlpeloquin]

If you don't want your fifth wheel to be in the dealer for months again, in the future go to an independent RV repair facility. They don't want your rig taking up space, so it is in, repair, and out. Heartland works with a lot of independent repair facilities and that is where I now go. Too long of a story about what my dealer did, but a lot of dealers are not going to have their mechanics repairing RVs when their main focus is to prep new ones for sale or delivery. Only when they don't have that to do will they work on repairs or warranty work. Several on the form blamed Heartland because their dealer told them that they are waiting for Heartland to respond. Only after complaining here and were told to contact Heartland did they call Heartland. Then only to be told that their dealer has never contacted Heartland about parts. Ya months of waiting.

 

[Lndeatr]

They are still working on catching up on the repairs from the initial sale and walk through. Have to go to the dealer and they are the only authorized close enough to me to drive.

 

[Lynn1130]

they are the only authorized close enough to me to drive.

Once this dealer is done with the startup items, I would begin looking for an independent in the area, one that has good ratings and that you like. Then call Heartland to get them authorized to do repairs. Most of us have found that your dealer is not your friend when it comes to getting warranty repairs done in a timely manner. Even if I had to drive another 5 or 10 miles to an independent it would be worth it in turnaround time on the trailer.

 

[Lndeatr]

I’m really not sure how this post morphed into where you all think I should take my coach for repairs. Just interested if anyone else has ever had the same issue with their awning and if anyone had rewound the spring themselves.

 

[JohnDar]

I’m really not sure how this post morphed into where you all think I should take my coach for repairs. Just interested if anyone else has ever had the same issue with their awning and if anyone had rewound the spring themselves.

Try doing an online search for repairing an rv awning. I did and there are several DIY videos that might give you some insight. But when I schmucked up my awning (on our prior TT later the Bighorn) I contacted a local RV dealer and had them come out to the campground. Both were insurance claims that paid me a bit more than the actual repair bill.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Lndeatr]

Try doing an online search for repairing an rv awning. I did and there are several DIY videos that might give you some insight. But when I schmucked up my awning (on our prior TT later the Bighorn) I contacted a local RV dealer and had them come out to the campground. Both were insurance claims that paid me a bit more than the actual repair bill.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah researched it last night but there’s so many different types. I have the scale I just wanted to make sure that I’m hauling up the right tools as there’s gonna be very limited resources where I’m going. I was hoping someone had dealt with this before as I’ve only seen this brand and style on the new cyclones.

 

[Lynn1130]

I’m really not sure how this post morphed into where you all think I should take my coach for repairs.

Morph is what threads do here. Usually inside of three or four posts. But I think that happened because, if you are still under warranty, you could have it done and not have to worry about it.

 

[Lndeatr]

When we bought our first Cyclone I used to post here a lot. Turns out all is well except it wobbles on the non motor side going out and in and it punctured 2 small holes about the size of a pencil. Probably bent the shaft on the end. Turns out this model does not use spring tension but instead uses a strut. I’ll call Heartland and start a claim. A picture is worth a thousand words. Glad she took them.

 

[Kinguni]

Same as the awning on my Prowler. I'm going to check that those screws are tight when we pull it out to de-winterize.

 

[rocrider50]

My 8 year old granddaughter noticed that mine was missing screws as well. It appears that the self taping screws were stripped and not holding anything much. They fell out quickly. There was only two per side and I suspect that it wasn't enough to hold it as well. I replaced all the screws with larger ones and put 4 per side (90 deg apart)to eliminate the lack of rigidity.