Alu-Cab Has Landed In The USA!

[rino]

I was just a click away from buying the shadow awning 270, when the better half chimed in with her infinite wisdom. I will do my best to describe our dilemma.
We own a 4runner, which has a rear liftgate style hatch. the wife is correct in that we wont be able to lift the rear hatch while the awning is open and we also wont be able to open the awning while the hatch is opened. Although we have a powered rear window, she, wouldnt be able to pick things up and through the rear window. She is short. This also makes a future fridge on slide, and other rear cargo boxes obsolete when used with the shadow, unless we closed and reopened the awning everytime.
My question is this, does anyone have the shadow awning with a 4runner or similar vehicle with an opening rear hatch that is not a swing door?
Is it as much of a PITA as the wife suggests?
Am I over thinking it?
What would you do?
Any ideas, tips, suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I spent months picking out the perfect awning, and then BAM, the wife shot it down with her forward thinking.
Help please.

What are my alternatives?

Your wife is spot on for a 5th Gen T4R, that wing is huge! Depending on what rack you are running it can be a little bit of a challenge. Currently we have a "tall" version of our Front Runner mount kit in the works for spoiler equipped rigs.

 

[camodog]

Jerred just buy the damn thing we'll figure out the semantics later....

No worries Jerry. I will buy it, and if it doesn't work I won't charge you more than I paid so we can put it on your Landy.

 

[camodog]

Your wife is spot on for a 5th Gen T4R, that wing is huge! Depending on what rack you are running it can be a little bit of a challenge. Currently we have a "tall" version of our Front Runner mount kit in the works for spoiler equipped rigs.

My other problem, my garage entry isn't huge. So I will need a mount that is down when traveling, and then can be raised when parked. I have the baja flat rack. With the flat rack, I only have about 4" of clearance to make it into my garage. I would even be open to buying a different rack to make this awning work.

 

[rino]

Pic of said mounts? wanted taller mounts in the beginning remember? Instead we had a set made for us that have worked flawlessly, but still.

They are still in design in Cape Town, we expect to have them here in approximately May. Your setup did turn out awesome BTW.

 

[rino]

My other problem, my garage entry isn't huge. So I will need a mount that is down when traveling, and then can be raised when parked. I have the baja flat rack. With the flat rack, I only have about 4" of clearance to make it into my garage. I would even be open to buying a different rack to make this awning work.

Yikes, how tall is the Baja Rack off the OEM roof on that truck?

 

[camodog]

Yikes, how tall is the Baja Rack off the OEM roof on that truck?

It has a very low profile, I would say no more than 3 or 4" I can measure tonight.

I may just have to concede that this awning wasn't meant to be for us. Either that or tear down that garage and build a new one. lol

 

[Snipershrk]

Perhaps I missed it but what does one consider demanding/harsh winds? Is the awning capable of withstanding, let's say sustained winds of 20+ with roughly 30-35mph gusts? 20mph winds are more common than not certain times of year in my general roaming area. Will it hold up?

 

[fireball]

There's a great youtube video of the Shadow deployed in some pretty windy conditions.

I would think a lot will depend on the strength of your mounting brackets....seems the awning itself is very strong.

 

[Snipershrk]

There's a great youtube video of the Shadow deployed in some pretty windy conditions.

I would think a lot will depend on the strength of your mounting brackets....seems the awning itself is very strong.

The one in the driveway? Just wished they had numbers posted up. Coastal winds can be harsh and I'd rather not end up with a high dollar paperweight. I have designed an awning that looks promising but would rather not take the time build it if this can withstand other than picturesque photo ops.

 

[Snipershrk]

We had it deployed yesterday in some of the exact conditions you mention. I'll pull out the anemometer and take a video next time. Possibly tomorrow depending on the forecast. Coastal winds with us cooking dinner under it.

That would be awesome and thank you!

 

[Snipershrk]

Guess my interest is the prolonged exposure to the wind and integrity of the unit as a whole. If the winds are right, park however you see fit. In my case the winds are usually pumping out of the S. during the summer. That would leave the awning to the full brunt of the wind, typically 20mph or less. In the fall/winter months the winds can get a little nastier coming out of the N. but the truck would, for the most part be between the wind and awning.

 

[Snipershrk]

Awesome! Thanks for taking the time to do that! It looks as if that sucker is pretty solid. Funny, I utilize that same Kestrel unit as well. Where was your video taken if you don't mind me asking? It was a pleasure and informative to watch. Thanks again

 

[Snipershrk]

Was taken in a spot we found while traveling through Florida on the west coast. Sunshine Skyway Bridge. All the footage is from a 20 min time span there. Sun was directly overhead, this the reason for the "shadow" shot. Just think if it was staked down using the provided webbing lines.

Thoughts on the whole adventure after seeing it again. We should add the supporting brace to take out the flex in those higher winds. Always use the truck as the blocker.

Very cool of you to take the time. Again, thanks. That was very helpful for someone that would have it deployed on average two weeks every month out of the year. I'm more confident in your vid than I am in the advertising haha

 

[Snipershrk]

LOL - Those closest to me always joke, "What are you selling today!?" They know we always do our research and put the pennies in the jar for the right gear. Only other one we considered was Ostrich. This one fit the features and design we were after.

the only other thing I didn't do on video was hang from the hinge/ awning like they did in their video. Will do in the next one. The LIGHTs mod is done and will film it this week or tonight. Need to charge the cams. Gives me a reason to play with Adobe Premier Pro.


We use ours very frequently. Shade at the beach, washing a car, events, cooking, etc. Beats the pants off bringing a pop up canopy to events. Sneaking the truck in is a bit harder though...


Your screen name/ Do you spear fish? Sometimes speros are referred to as sea snipers. Sniper Shark another iteration? Or is that where the Kestrel comes in? I have the Horas and the Applied ballistics versions. Want the 5xxx series though/

Funny, I caught where they hung on it as well. First thing I thought, you're gonna have to hang on the end to sell that shot to me! As far as the screen name, it's from many moons ago and just kind of stuck with me... and is still there lol. Your latter guess would be the correct one though. Fortunately or unfortunately, still debate that at times, I retired relatively early in life. These days I'm either slinging rounds down range, fishing, or exploring. Man, electronics have completely revamped the marksmanship world over the last x amount of years. Solutions on tap... it really is a beautiful thing.

 

[dfinn]

skygear, how'd you get one with black arms? all the ones I've seen have been silver/grey. Or did you do that yourself?