Hannibal Awning

[TexGX]

After much research and testing out options, I have decided that I like sleeping in my truck the best. With that said, I wanted a awning and add on room for a little more room. The Hannibal has always been my favorite. After a little looking, I found a good deal on a used one. It was a tad longer than my AO rack, but with a little Aggie engineering I got it to work. I can say this thing handles the wind great. I put it today and the wind is blowing very hard. It is a little difficult to install the panels with the wind blowing that hard. I did do it alone in about 15min on the first try. I can see this thing going up in about 5 with no wind and a little practice. I am looking forward to testing this thing out. The guality of this thing is amazing. This one is 12years old and still looks great.


TexGX

 

[bigwapitijohnny]

Wow...

I don't think my Mombasa Awning will look this good after 12 years...Congrats!

Regards,

BWJ

 

[TexGX]

Just wanted to comment on Hannibals customer service. I sent an email this morning asking a question and within 30 min I had an answer. I exchanged a few email with Matthew. It is nice to see that kind of responce.

TexGX

 

[Snagger]

Be careful of what you bolt it too - it is so heavily engineered and the fold out arms so rigid that in severe winds, the mountings have been known (not uncommonly) to break the roof rack or mounting assembly.

It's an immensely strong product, maybe too strong. It's also pretty heavy, especially when the canvass is wet. A lighter gauge version with a spring-loaded retractor (like a domestic window blind) would be a good development, but I do like the way this system doesn't use corner poles or guy ropes.

 

[TexGX]

Snagger,

I could see the weak point being the rack. I am thinking of changing the way I have it mounted. I do have a little flex right now.

TexGX

 

[ThomD]

TexGX,

I'm interested in how you mount your awning. I finally ordered mine to go on my Front Runner rack. It looks like the AO rack and FR rack are pretty similar. The FR rack is a C channel, not a box, so I'm thinking about how to ensure a secure and strong mounting.

The clamps for the awning fit nicely vertically around the rack side, but the rack is not thick enough to fill the space in the clamps. I've played around with some aluminum plate as a backing plate to fill the gap, but I wonder if there is a better way.

Like yours, the FR rack is slightly shorter than I might like for it to be. The aft awning clamp is at the turn of the rack, so I have to use the aluminum fill strip only in the forward portion of the aft clamp. The aft portion has a nice grip on rail as it turns.

Instead of just having the fill strips press on the back side of the rack, I've thought about some sort of block that would actually fill the inside of the C channel space fully.

-thom

 

[TexGX]

Thom,

I found a solid piece of aluminum 2x1/2x78 inches. I bolted the awning on to it. I then attached that to the side of the rack with 3 square u bolts. It works, but I think I will get some brackets made that attach to the two sides of the rack to help with twist. I am still thinking it out. I will let you know what I figure out and you do the same if you figure out something.

TexGX