Arb awning swing arm fixture broke

[Doug E]

I just installed an ARB 2500 awning on my van. First time I set it up, I was opening one of the side arms and tripped, letting go of the arm and the canvas. It fell so that the arm was pointing down, and the plastic swing-arm fixture snapped off. It appears that the swing arms pivot only in the horizontal axis, and the design does not allow them to point down along the side of one's vehicle in the event that they are dropped prior to attachment to the legs, and that the weight of the canvas is sufficient to cause the fixtures to snap.

Is this a known/common problem? I don't mean being clumsy. I mean the swing arm fixtures breaking if the arm is not kept horizontal. Is there an alternative swing arm fixture, perhaps even after market, that can deal with this? Perhaps one which has two-axis rather than only one-axis motion?

Thanks,

Doug

 

[justrom]

I haven't seen an ARB awning in person, but what you described is the same as our CVT awning, so I believe all of that type of awning are designed the same way. Ours broke at the same spot when the awning got caught in gust of wind. Manufacturers know they're a weak point and usually are pretty quick to get a replacement out...

 

[Doug E]

Thanks. It would be easy for them to fix it. On the expensive end, something like a spinnaker end clip. On the cheap end, two interlocked rings like you see on some tent poles. But thanks for the comment. It's reassuring that I wasn't totally stupid about it.

Doug

 

[cactusjk]

Call ARB. They will send you out a part for free.

 

[Doug E]

Thanks. I'll try that.

 

[meental]

I believe the one axis joint is on purpose, if the horizontal bars were able to swing up and down it would make it harder to setup IMO. The joints are plastic and easily replaced by design.

Sent from my XT1095 using Tapatalk

 

[Streaky]

These pivot points are also available in cast aluminium(or sort sort of monkey metal). The ARB manufacturer in China would know about them since they use them for the 2.2m and wider awnings.

 

[concretejungle]

Like said above, if you reach out to ARB USA they most likely will send a new part out free of charge. They did when i left my awning up in a heavy rain and didn't tilt it so it would shed water.... ended up collapsing and broke one of the side poles. They shipped me a new one free.

 

[TactilTex]

The use of a simple u-joint would solve the problem.
It would also allow for more than the 75-83 inch range you have to work with now,which i'm dealing with right now with the telescoping rig i'm building.
I'm toying with the idea of making a couple simple u-joints this would allow infinite placement as far as height goes.

 

[concretejungle]

You actually don't want the arm to flex down onto the ground, you need it to be suspended a little so you can swing it out while your wrestling with the awning.