Advice on awning for Maggiolina AirLand tent

[Corey]

I have seen the Maggiolina awning for the AirLand tent.
http://www.autohomeus.com/products/accessories.php

It looks good, and I hear it slides into a channel.
I have not looked on my tent yet to see the channel.
I take it that you store the awning inside the tent when closed up.

I also hear the Fiamma is a good choice, not sure how they connect, I think you have to hook it to the rack, and not the top of the AirLand tent.

I am using the stock rack on my rig, would the latter awning work, or is the Maggiolina going to be the best choice?

Does anyone have the Maggiolina awning on their Maggiolina style tent?

Here is what the rack looks like in case someone has some ideas.

 

[Martyn]

We mounted a Fiamma F35 directly to a Grand Tour. I'll dig up some pictures.

Martyn

 

[Corey]

Thanks Martyn, looking forward to your pictures..
I Googled that awning, and it took me to their site.
http://www.fiammausa.com/products.html

Found the F35 Pro there in a PDF file.
http://www.fiammausa.com/PDFs/Page19from2007catalog.pdf

It is on the Columbus there.
Looks like it pulls out like a projector screen.

PS, also see it on a Maggiolina at the bottom of the PDF.

 

[Mike S]

Corey

The Fiamma is a good choice - especially if you mount it to the top shell. You may get wind noise from the case hanging out on the side of the tent. This will provide cover when accessing the tent in bad weather. I would be careful about drilling through the shell, because you can tear up the headliner. I have a way to do it if you give me a call. Let's see what Martyn offers for photos.

Yo should also plan on some large backing plates so that wind stress does not damage the shell.

Mike

 

[spressomon]

Corey: Here's a great idea (IMO) and relatively simple to fab. Not a full blown awning but a nice overhang to keep rain off the Magg doors. And for a roaming type excursion/expedition where one might be camping in a different spot each night it would be handy to have even if you had a full size awning/enclosure.

http://forum.ih8mud.com/camping-gear-recovery/156188-regular-vs-car-top-tent.html

See #58, #61 & #62.

It's been on my "list" to get a couple of these fabbed.

 

[Corey]

Thanks Mike and spressomon for the ideas.

I really do not want to drill into the side of the AirLand right now, to new
Plus most of my camping will be during the summer to early fall, so rain I am not to worried about coming into the tent.

But having the awning hang out over the side of the rack and on down would give me a place to put the Cabela's kitchen to cook if it does start to rain out.

The Fiamma looks like a nice unit, but it does not have a changing room like the Maggiolina one does.

Either would work, I am just looking for the easiest install/setup.
The Fiamma one might attach pretty easy to the side of my stock rack.

 

[Mike S]

I like the idea that Dan (Spresson) posted. I filed it away. I think it could make a good 'kit' if refined a bit, and used a color matched material.

Thanks for posting, Dan.

Mike

 

[Corey]

Martyn, did you find the pictures?
I saw this exploring some older threads here.
http://expeditionportal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=162247&postcount=22

I wonder how it would hook to my stock rack?
It looks like this might be the way to go for me.
Have it setup like SOCALFJ did with it on the opposite side of the roof tents ladder.

 

[HMR]

How tall are you? I'm 5'9" and my Fiamma/Maggiolina combo works perfectly with the awning mounted to my rack. If I were a few inches taller, I'd have to duck my head. I don't like the idea of mounting the Fiamma to the top of the Magg because even the 8' (standard is 6') F35 wouldn't give you much coverage due to the angle coming down from the roof. The top of the awning would be somewhere around 10' in the air and the height+angle would equal a small shade area, IMO. If the wind kicks up... forget about it.

Fiamma makes a number of rack mount kits that look well-built. I have a homemade tent rack so I had to make a homemade awning mount:

The 2 mount brackets shown in the pic were purchased for ~$3 at Home Depot.

Most of our camping is in the desert and the Fiamma has proven to be a useful piece of gear.

 

[Corey]

I am about the same height as you.
So you have the 8' Fiamma then?

It looks great mounted to your Tacoma.

 

[HMR]

I am about the same height as you.
So you have the 8' Fiamma then?

I have the 6' version of the F35. It provides just enough coverage for keeping my wife, our 2 dogs and me in the shade. It's not a huge amount of shade but it's the perfect size for the truck and a nice compliment to the Maggiolina.

 

[kcfunke]

Corey,

I have the Fiamma 35 mounted to the stock rack on my FJ. There is a fit kit you can buy for it.

The fit kit includes two brackets that slide into a groove on the back of the awning. Then there are two u-brackets that bolt to this bracket which bolt to the yakima bars you have on your rack.

 

[Corey]

Thanks guy's.
I wrote Fiamma last night to see of there is a dealer in my area.

Kc, do you know the part number of the fit kit you bought?
I do not have much Yakima tubing sticking out from underneath the Maggiolina, I wonder if it will be enough?

Or if there is a way to mount it to the tubing of the rack, that would work too.

What size awning did you purchase?

 

[pygmyowl]

I don't know if you are interested in a Eezi Awn 2M awning, but I still have one for sale. See this thread if you are interested- there are several different ways to install it on a roof rack, really not to hard:

http://expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13092

 

[Martyn]

Corey

I asked Simon who owns the Grande Tour to post up some pictures of the tent and awning set up. He's been on the road the last few days, but I'll e mail him again and remind him.

We have both the Fiamma and Eezi Awn awnings in stock.