huskyhauler
Adventurer
Flag pole installed.
Some fall camping.
At my "second home."
Pup taking in the tailgate.
Sink Set up.
The Husky Hauler (another ambulance build)
- Thread starter huskyhauler
- Start date
Flag pole installed.
Some fall camping.
At my "second home."
Pup taking in the tailgate.
Sink Set up.
huskyhauler
Adventurer
Awning installed.
patoz
Expedition Leader
Yeah, what Tom said...and pictures too!
I had located a Dometic 8500 Series awning roller and arms (no fabric), which is the type where the roller moves away from the vehicle as it deploys. Turns out the guy had already sold it, but never took the CL ad down.
I believe the 8500 type of frame is stronger and more versatile when it's set up in Patio Configuration, but the problem I'm having is finding vertical wall space for the legs to lay against when the awning is in the stored position. I want my awning to be as long as possible (corner to corner) but I have either compartments or lights in the way no matter where I try to place them. I say this type is more versatile because it can be dipped or lowered down to almost any point and I don't think you can do that with the articulating arm type, can you? However, given my leg space situation, I may have no choice but to go with that type.
huskyhauler
Adventurer
I've been seeking this specific style of awning for a long while now. It's a 10ft Carefree Freedom awning. It can be extended with or without the use of the awning arms. When the awning is deployed the arms can be attached to the side of the ambulance by snapping into brackets (or a Slim Jim, for you wrestling fans out there) or placed directly on the ground. When the awning is stowed, the arms can either be left attached to the brackets, or the arms themselves can fold up into the awning for a clean look.
As for mounting the awning arm to the body, I got EXTREMELY lucky. The rear bracket fits exactly to the side of the rear compartment door and the front bracket fits exactly between the side door and the front compartment door.
It's a very versatile system and having the ability to anchor the arms to both the ambulance body and the ground was a requirement. I have two respectfully powerful dogs and don't want their leads becoming tangles on awning arms on the ground. One raccoon or mini-bear (chipmunk) sighting and they'd break the awning arm in an instant should the lead be looped around it.
My ambulance is absolutely a budget build so buying a new one was out of the question. I've been stalking craigslist for about a year and this one popped up for really cheap, partly because the plastic hinges that connect the arms to the awning were broken. Luckily, my dad is retired and building out his metal shop (to build/refurbish "full size" model steam trains, as in they are three feet tall and seven feet long). My dad fabricated aluminum hinges to replace the broken plastic ones, that was the easy part (partly because he did all the work, and partly because we knew exactly what to do, no brainstorming).
I spent probably 10 hours over the course of a couple of weeks brainstorming on how to attach the awning. There isn't enough room between the drip rail and the top of the ambulance for the awning to be mounted with an awning rail. The awning didn't come with brackets and because it's a first generation Carefree Freedom awning (15 years old?) I couldn't find any brackets to buy, anywhere, in the depths of the internet. After many trips to home depot and looking at angle brackets and braces I finally went to a metal recycling place and bought $50 worth of random aluminum materials to play with.
All in all, we decided to bolt the bottom half of the awning directly to the side of the ambulance using 1/4" stainless bolts and reinforcing the bolts with aluminum plates. Access to inside roof corner of the ambulance was easy given the back of my compartments are held in by velcro for easy access to the wiring looms and lights. I did have to uninstall the cabinet above the bed to access the roof, but again, it was an easy removal process with only a dozen or so screw to bring the whole unit down.
The awning is roughly 6.5 inches tall. 4.5 inches are below the roofline, 2.5 inches are above the roof line. As it is right now the bolts support the awning when it's fully extended. However, without using the awning arms the awning housing does have a bit of flex (about a half inch). Because this is a first generation awning it doesn't have modern style brackets. On this awning, the brackets are designed to grip the upper portion of the awning housing that would slide into an awning rail. And because we can't find existing brackets we have to fabricate our own. To solve this issue we created some 4x2x1/4" aluminum angle brackets that will bolt to sections of an awning rail. We just finished making the brackets and will hopefully install them tomorrow weather pending.
I'll take photos and post them tomorrow.
As for mounting the awning arm to the body, I got EXTREMELY lucky. The rear bracket fits exactly to the side of the rear compartment door and the front bracket fits exactly between the side door and the front compartment door.
It's a very versatile system and having the ability to anchor the arms to both the ambulance body and the ground was a requirement. I have two respectfully powerful dogs and don't want their leads becoming tangles on awning arms on the ground. One raccoon or mini-bear (chipmunk) sighting and they'd break the awning arm in an instant should the lead be looped around it.
My ambulance is absolutely a budget build so buying a new one was out of the question. I've been stalking craigslist for about a year and this one popped up for really cheap, partly because the plastic hinges that connect the arms to the awning were broken. Luckily, my dad is retired and building out his metal shop (to build/refurbish "full size" model steam trains, as in they are three feet tall and seven feet long). My dad fabricated aluminum hinges to replace the broken plastic ones, that was the easy part (partly because he did all the work, and partly because we knew exactly what to do, no brainstorming).
I spent probably 10 hours over the course of a couple of weeks brainstorming on how to attach the awning. There isn't enough room between the drip rail and the top of the ambulance for the awning to be mounted with an awning rail. The awning didn't come with brackets and because it's a first generation Carefree Freedom awning (15 years old?) I couldn't find any brackets to buy, anywhere, in the depths of the internet. After many trips to home depot and looking at angle brackets and braces I finally went to a metal recycling place and bought $50 worth of random aluminum materials to play with.
All in all, we decided to bolt the bottom half of the awning directly to the side of the ambulance using 1/4" stainless bolts and reinforcing the bolts with aluminum plates. Access to inside roof corner of the ambulance was easy given the back of my compartments are held in by velcro for easy access to the wiring looms and lights. I did have to uninstall the cabinet above the bed to access the roof, but again, it was an easy removal process with only a dozen or so screw to bring the whole unit down.
The awning is roughly 6.5 inches tall. 4.5 inches are below the roofline, 2.5 inches are above the roof line. As it is right now the bolts support the awning when it's fully extended. However, without using the awning arms the awning housing does have a bit of flex (about a half inch). Because this is a first generation awning it doesn't have modern style brackets. On this awning, the brackets are designed to grip the upper portion of the awning housing that would slide into an awning rail. And because we can't find existing brackets we have to fabricate our own. To solve this issue we created some 4x2x1/4" aluminum angle brackets that will bolt to sections of an awning rail. We just finished making the brackets and will hopefully install them tomorrow weather pending.
I'll take photos and post them tomorrow.
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huskyhauler
Adventurer
Check out the Carefree Freedom awning. It allows both patio style deployment of the arms, as well as the ability to mount them against the sidewall. It can dip when set up in either configuration.
patoz
Expedition Leader
OK thanks, I will.
As you can see, I have a space problem on both ends of mine. It is about 11 1/2' long, so I want a full length awning if at all possible. There is no 'border' available for the vertical legs anywhere, and the only place I can see is on the corner extrusion themselves, but the flat sides are only 1 1/2" wide. The space immediately above the lights is only about 2 1/2" wide, so the roller with fabric or the box housing would have to go above the rain gutter and would then block the corner marker lights from being visible from the side.
BTW, I see your right rear corner marker light is blocked. What do you plan to do about that, if anything?
huskyhauler
Adventurer
The Freedom model by carefree comes it two forms: Wall Mount and Roof Mount. The Roof Mount model is more horizontal than vertical and is designed to mount directly the roof, but still has the versatility of mounting the arms on the body or on the ground. I would go that route. nhttp://www.carefreeofcolorado.com/products/freedom-roof-mount.html
One great thing about Carefree is they have great documentation online for owner/operator manuals and installation manuals.
According to their website they sell a 3.5m (11.5 feet) awning, which would fit your rig perfectly.
The awning arms of the Carefree Freedom model do not permanently install, so if you absolutely must, you could install the bottom brackets for the arms on a compartment door, and if you need to access the door while the awning is deployed you'll just have to lift the arm out momentarily. That may be a good compromise for your situation.
As for my side marker light, I did have to remove it to place the awning correctly. I haven't decided what I'll do about it. I may install it on the stationary portion of the awning housing, mount it just below the awning housing, or forgo it altogether.
Also keep in mind that your roofline is very close to your door. You won't be able to dip that side of the awning as much without the door hitting the awning fabric or arms.
patoz
Expedition Leader
I just looked at every awning on the Carefree site, and I believe my only two choices are going to be the Freedom Roof or Wall Mount version, depending on which has the better bracket options. Either one will interfere with the rain gutter, so that will make using a rack for the solar panels a problem. I looks like I'm going to have to give up something and compromise, no matter what I do.
They do have very good documentation, however I wish they had detailed closeup pictures of the hardware instead of just line drawings.
After reading the installation manual for the Freedom Awning, your last paragraph now make perfect sense, even without pictures.
They do have very good documentation, however I wish they had detailed closeup pictures of the hardware instead of just line drawings.
After reading the installation manual for the Freedom Awning, your last paragraph now make perfect sense, even without pictures.
huskyhauler
Adventurer
You could do what Ozrokrat did and install a simple roof rack with U-Channel beams, then bolt the awning to the U-Channel rack. He has some good photos in the Ambulance FAQ page and on his build thread.
huskyhauler
Adventurer
Are you certain your rain gutter is structural? Mine is an accessory piece held on by glue and is in no way load bearing.
patoz
Expedition Leader
I'm not sure, but they look to be part of the roof corner extrusion pieces. I've grabbed onto and pulled on them while standing on a ladder and working on the lights, and they appear to be very strong. I have no doubt they would be solid enough to support a rack for 2 - 4 solar panels. I would not use one as the sole support for an awning, however.
