ARB awning install on non-vertical surface

[Atl-atl]

A little backstory. Got a screamin deal on an ARB awning. Didnt want to install a roof rack on my truck because its already too big hah. Ran into the issue where the plastic "pivot" piece is not flexible and the horizontal support poles were sticking up at a 45 degree angle because of where I mounted the awning on my topper around the curve above the windows. I searched around for about a week trying to find a solution to this problem and didnt really have any luck. I decided the most reasonable way to fix it would be to replace the plastic pivot piece with a heim so it would have greater range of motion(multi-axis) than the single axis of the plastic piece.

It worked!

I got my hands on an aftermarket swaybar endlink that had heims at either end. Cut off two inches of the "link" at either end where the heims thread in and slid them into the aluminum pole in place of the black plastic. Clamped it in a vice, drilled all the way through and bolted it down. Works like a charm! The only issue at the moment is the bolt mounting the heim to the awning base plate is smaller than the inner diameter of the heim. Its not negatively affecting anything, I guess it could potentially rattle but it shouldnt cause any harm. Im considering sleeving the bolt with rubber vacuum line or something similar to maintain the flexibility but fill the gap. As for right now Im going to leave it. Everything still gets taught and works perfectly.

 

[Nicaragüense]

Great solution! And it looks better not sticking out there like a sore thumb.

 

[Atl-atl]

That's a nice solution, but why not simply make some metal brackets that would attach to wherever you've already attached the awning, and on the other end of the bracket, provide a vertical surface that would mate with the back of the awning?

The idea was to keep the awning mounted as flush to the truck as possible. A lot of the trails I run here in Colorado are very tight, Im almost always the only fullsize out there. Its hard enough to avoid body damage as it is, sometimes 1 inch is the difference. It would be awesome to just have a roof rack up there, mount the awning "the way its supposed to be mounted" and be able to carry even more gear but as it sits my truck is only about 6'10" tall which means I can still get into most parking garages and I can still fit down some pretty technical "Jeep" trails. I want to keep it that way while making my camping experience a little more comfortable.

Great solution! And it looks better not sticking out there like a sore thumb.

:victory:

 

[Kmrtnsn]

Nice! I'm picking up an ARB Awning in June, with the tent room. I have to gin up a mounting solution for my rack. Very nice work! That looks really good on your shell.

 

[Ashton]

Love your truck and your build thread. Great idea for a custom awning I'm planning.