How to use a drive away awning?

[Van Helsing]

We never seem to catch anyone erecting theirs...they always seem to be fully and perfectly erected when we arrive!

I agree re wind out awnings...if only I'd insisted on one

 

[interbear]

So having had our very first attempt at putting up our driveaway awning today (Vango Cove Air Low 2) after a long drive down to a campsite in France, I have a few comments:

• We should have practised first!
• The awning itself was straightforward, the air beams work well, it’s very good and provides decent space.
• The whole driveaway kit seemed simple enough, Kador, figure of 8 etc, all logical. But getting it at the right distance and fitting flush with the rail (Fiamma F45S) was a struggle. It’s up and it’ll do the night but the tunnel remains an escape tunnel for the dog, that’s not a good thing. There a gap that I need to fix tomorrow. Didn’t have the courage to keep trying tonight.
• Several times putting it up I pondered why the **** didn’t I just buy a tent to pitch next to the van?
• I reckon the Fiamma “privacy room” awning might have suited us a bit better. Less spacious but for 2 of us and a dog, fine. This time we also have teenager with us so the space of the driveaway is useful. Just not sure how the Fiamma option deals with inclement weather.
• I massively scratched an alloy on a concrete brick trying to position the van for the awning fitting. Not happy with that.

Anyway, a couple of cold beers has chilled me out a bit, I’ll be fighting fit and ready to take it on again tomorrow!

 

[Shaun Witts]

So having had our very first attempt at putting up our driveaway awning today (Vango Cove Air Low 2) after a long drive down to a campsite in France, I have a few comments:

• We should have practised first!
• The awning itself was straightforward, the air beams work well, it’s very good and provides decent space.
• The whole driveaway kit seemed simple enough, Kador, figure of 8 etc, all logical. But getting it at the right distance and fitting flush with the rail (Fiamma F45S) was a struggle. It’s up and it’ll do the night but the tunnel remains an escape tunnel for the dog, that’s not a good thing. There a gap that I need to fix tomorrow. Didn’t have the courage to keep trying tonight.
• Several times putting it up I pondered why the **** didn’t I just buy a tent to pitch next to the van?
• I reckon the Fiamma “privacy room” awning might have suited us a bit better. Less spacious but for 2 of us and a dog, fine. This time we also have teenager with us so the space of the driveaway is useful. Just not sure how the Fiamma option deals with inclement weather.
• I massively scratched an alloy on a concrete brick trying to position the van for the awning fitting. Not happy with that.

Anyway, a couple of cold beers has chilled me out a bit, I’ll be fighting fit and ready to take it on again tomorrow!

Sounds like you pitched the awning the tried to position the van in the correct relative spot? Much easier to park the van where you need it then erect and position the awning relative to the van. I’ve found that leaving the pegs out while attaching the tunnel then shifting the awning to get a good tunnel tension before pegging the awning in place works best. I know that doesn’t help if you actually drive away, but marking wheel positions helps for when you return.

 

[Van Helsing]

Good luck with today's pitch attempt...and enjoy France!

 

[Ayjay]

@interbear. My read of your post was the same as @Shaun Witts and my advice would be the same. It's a bit late now but there is also a good video on YouTube by Attwools (who also happen to be my local camping store!) on putting up a Kela which is useful for any airbeam type Vango. The top tip that I've posted on here before is once you've got it right. put a small peg in the ground to mark the centre of each wheel hub and join them with a length of fluorescent guy line - that way, if you do actually use the awning as a driveway to go out for the day, it's super easy to locate the van in the right place when you return. Another top tip is to treat the whole thing as a learning experience - once you've done it a couple of times, it gets a lot easier. Oh and don't worry about the wheel, just drink some more beer and ignore it for the rest of the trip (and get it fixed when you get home).

 

[Nige_g]

My awning is poled not air, so I can't attach to the van first. We put the awning up but don't peg any of it down. Once up we attach to the side of the van then move the awning until the tunnel is how we want it, and then secure the awning, the bottom of the tunnel I try to get it as far under the van as I can to peg down so it follows the contour of the door. As there were no instructions as such, it took me a few trips to realise that there are adjustable straps in the tunnel part to make it fit better, which is fairly obvious considering they are designed to fit vans of varying heights.
I have in the past, once it had been put up right, measured from awning edge (base) to side of the van, then next time put the awning in the right place to start with. Having put it up quite a few times now, we more or less get it positioned right first time now though with a fairly taught tunnel (unless it chucks down with rain)

Camping As Cancelas by Nigel G, on Flickr

 

[Bargy62]

If you are fixing to a F45S which is what we have I find there's always a gap as the cassette sticks out further than a awning rail on the van would
We tend to put the tunnel fixing closest to the van quite away under the van and that lessens the gap at the bottom but can mess up the shape of the awning sometimes it very seldom looks perfect and the dog still gets out JRT straight under the van

 

[Nige_g]

If you are fixing to a F45S which is what we have I find there's always a gap as the cassette sticks out further than a awning rail on the van would
We tend to put the tunnel fixing closest to the van quite away under the van and that lessens the gap at the bottom but can mess up the shape of the awning sometimes it very seldom looks perfect and the dog still gets out JRT straight under the van

We don't have dogs to escape but any gap we have lets in bloody birds! If it is warm, we sleep with the sliding door open. Twice we have been woken by a bird that has got in, though I suppose they can just walk under the van anyway.

 

[Van Helsing]

A quick question about attaching the tunnel to the van (in our case, to a rail using kador/figure of 8):

How much of the tunnel do you attach to the rail? Do you attach it the full length of the rail or just partially?

We're waiting for an Outdoor Revolution Cona (I think!) to be delivered and want as much info as poss before we attempt erection/attachment : )

 

[Nige_g]

A quick question about attaching the tunnel to the van (in our case, to a rail using kador/figure of 8):

How much of the tunnel do you attach to the rail? Do you attach it the full length of the rail or just partially?

We're waiting for an Outdoor Revolution Cona (I think!) to be delivered and want as much info as poss before we attempt erection/attachment : )

Full length. Mine goes from part of the front passenger door to close to the rear. Mine is LWB van. I find it slides a bit though, certainly if it is windy.On each end of the tunnel there is a guy rope which I think is designed to go over the roof if there is no kador strip (it is very long). I either secure that at the front or just wrap it around the wing mirror. That stops it sliding along.

 

[Van Helsing]

Cheers!

 

[Bargy62]

we do the same as Nige g plus one at the back it helps massively when putting the awning up if its windy we didn't use the over the van fixings as it pulled them 90 degrees to the way they were meant to go which looked as if it would rip the material if that makes sense but it did have material loops which seemed the right way so just made up our own straps with D shackles on the awning

 

[Van Helsing]

Lots of useful info...thanks guys.

Feeling a bit nervous as we've never used an air set up before but it'll work.

 

[Bargy62]

Lots of useful info...thanks guys.

Feeling a bit nervous as we've never used an air set up before but it'll work.

your be fine we've all been there at sometime

 

[Van Helsing]

That's a great video, thanks v much

 

[interbear]

Sounds like you pitched the awning the tried to position the van in the correct relative spot? Much easier to park the van where you need it then erect and position the awning relative to the van. I’ve found that leaving the pegs out while attaching the tunnel then shifting the awning to get a good tunnel tension before pegging the awning in place works best. I know that doesn’t help if you actually drive away, but marking wheel positions helps for when you return.

Actually we tried to park the van and then position the awning, as you suggest, it just took us a while to get it (almost) right. Detached it today to head to the local supermarket and used pegs to mark the wheel positions. That worked OK.

However, I am not yet convinced that the driveaway element adds anything other than faff vs just pitching a tent near the van Especially as however well it is done, keeping the whole van into awning area open (which we wanted to do) means that the tunnel is a definite escape opportunity for the dog

So for now, especially as we intend to do much exploring in the van, we’ve just tied up the side of the awning so that it is, in effect, a tent, with no tunnel connection to the van. Teenager is happier with this - more privacy - and the dog is happier as he’s in the van with us.

If you are fixing to a F45S which is what we have I find there's always a gap as the cassette sticks out further than a awning rail on the van would
We tend to put the tunnel fixing closest to the van quite away under the van and that lessens the gap at the bottom but can mess up the shape of the awning sometimes it very seldom looks perfect and the dog still gets out JRT straight under the van

Yes, exactly right, we are fixing the awning to a Fiamma F45S. I do think it would be a better fit if on a rail that’s on the van roof not the Fiamma.

@interbear. My read of your post was the same as @Shaun Witts and my advice would be the same. It's a bit late now but there is also a good video on YouTube by Attwools (who also happen to be my local camping store!) on putting up a Kela which is useful for any airbeam type Vango. The top tip that I've posted on here before is once you've got it right. put a small peg in the ground to mark the centre of each wheel hub and join them with a length of fluorescent guy line - that way, if you do actually use the awning as a driveway to go out for the day, it's super easy to locate the van in the right place when you return. Another top tip is to treat the whole thing as a learning experience - once you've done it a couple of times, it gets a lot easier. Oh and don't worry about the wheel, just drink some more beer and ignore it for the rest of the trip (and get it fixed when you get home).

Indeed, see my response to Shaun’s post. Thanks. And I agree with the learning experience and beer, that’s a definite!

Attwools is great, we reviewed the video you mention and bought our driveaway awning from them, only 30 minutes up the M5 from us, it’s an excellent store for everything camping.

 

[Ayjay]

Sounds like you would be much better off with a decent tent rather than bothering with the drive away awning. Good awnings usually sell well on the second hand market so you might be able to at least reduce any losses. Enjoy the rest of the trip.

 

[Bargy62]

Yes, exactly right, we are fixing the awning to a Fiamma F45S. I do think it would be a better fit if on a rail that’s on the van roof not the Fiamma.

I've thought about fixing an awning rail on top of the F45S cassette with sika and riveted or short self tapers but can't work out the clearance between the canopy rolled up and the underside of the top of the cassette so the fixings don't hit the canopy so if anyone knows or has had a F45S apart and knows
much appreciated

 

[Van Helsing]

Update...we ended up buying a new awning:

Outdoor Revolution Cayman Cona Air


...we tried it for the first time last night and it worked really well, even without using the driveaway kit (which we inadvertently left at home).

It's taut enough, where the tunnel connects to the rail, not to get caught up when closing the sliding door We weren't able to fully open the door without it catching but that's sort-able easily enough (with a spatula!).

Way better than the old Khyam anyway.

 

[Nige_g]

(which we inadvertently left at home).

Been there, done that. Driving down the M5 to Devon from Cheshire when I suddenly remembered that I had left it in the shed. Quick google found we were close to Atwools near Cheltenham, so a quick detour to buy a new one. At least I have a spare!