Help me plan....

[cwadej]

BLUF:

I want to mount a Foxwing awning on an Airtop.

Now the details.
My trailer build is a Ford Courier truck bed and frame. Works great. I have mounted water, vehicle fuel, propane, stove, batteries to run pumps and interior lighting. I have a medium Airtop on the way, which will cover the bed , or most of it. This will put the bottom of the tent at about 40" above ground. I'd like to mount a Foxwing awning on the side of the top of the tent, so when the tent is open, the awning will cover the opening to the tent, the area below it, and behind the trailer.

My questions though, with the Foxwing's weight of 18Kg (39lbs), will the shell of the Airtop be strong enough to support it?
How does a Foxwing mount? Is my idea even possible? I say yes, because I can fabricate mounting brackets.

Adding layers of fiberglass reinforcement is possible, although I'd probably lay some carbon fiber plies instead.



any ideas, tips, pointers, etc...

thanks

 

[Herbie]

I'd fire off an email to Mike at Autohome, but my first guess is that this would be a bad idea. It isn't just 40lbs, it's 40lbs on the extreme side edge. I have a feeling this would make the lift mechanism bind up when you tried to raise it...

Probably need to look at one of those adjustable bed-rack things from Thule, or the awning-kit from AdventureTrailers:
http://store.adventuretrailers.com/products/Military-Trailer-Awning-Kit-%2d-Fiamma.html

Support the weight on the bed-side, not the RTT...

 

[cwadej]

SHot an email to Autohome. Hoping to get good news, but I know I'll have to re-engineer it. Luckily i just so happen to work with a bunch of aerospace engineers, and have access to a composite shop. get me 3 or 4 layes of 45* carbon fiber bonded in, plenty strong.

 

[cwadej]

It seems neither Andrew nor Mike at Autohome will return my email.

Maybe it's time to cancel my order and go with a Baroud?

 

[TenaciousTJ]

Why not just mount it to the same load bars used to mount the tent? It will sit right next to the Autohome tent...it can probably even touch if you want it that close. I have my Foxwing on Thule load bars, but I flipped the Foxwing/Thule brackets upside down so the awning sits a little lower. Absolutely love my Foxwing awning.

 

[cwadej]

Why not just mount it to the same load bars used to mount the tent? It will sit right next to the Autohome tent...it can probably even touch if you want it that close. I have my Foxwing on Thule load bars, but I flipped the Foxwing/Thule brackets upside down so the awning sits a little lower. Absolutely love my Foxwing awning.

How would that work on a trailer with 40" height?

 

[86scotty]

Do you have your Foxwing awning already? If not, more bad news, that is if you want a passenger side model. They are out of production. I've been trying to find one. I'm in America and I have a van, so naturally I want a passenger side. None to be found so far. If you have better luck I would love to hear about it. I'd buy one yesterday if I could find one.

Good luck, and post some pics of this project as you go!

Thanks