Electric Awning Sunshade

[W8RLM]

Here's one for you. My Journey has three slides - 2 up front. The electric awning goes straight out and provides little or no shade much less any rain protection. However, it is 12 feet in the air so attaching a screen to the awning roll is a real pain - ladders, etc.

A friend of mine saw a "shade" that consisted of about 6 feet of material that went into the groove on the awning roll. Then a screen could be attached to the bottom of the material that would go to the ground and give you shade. I think that the screen attached with velcro or a zipper.

When you were ready to roll up the shade, you detached the screen and the six feet of material rolled up with the awning. I understand that when you are using this, you would have to turn off the wind sensor, but, at least you could get some use from the awning.

Has anyone ever seen such a device and know where to get it, cost, etc.?

I don't think that the extra material attached to the awning roll would prevent it from winding up.

W8RLM - Bob

[GaryKD]

Hi Bob,
How about this? Says it can be rolled up with your awning.

[MuckSavage]

We have something like this;
http://www.rvmat.com/htshades.htm

I think we bought ours from J&J at the Hershey Show this past Sept. Ours has a 2' wide strip that stays on the awning tube. The bottom edge is grommeted. The Lower piece clips into the grommets via stainless steel clips & reaches to 3 or so feet from the ground. Many times, just the 2' piece attached to the roller tube provides sufficient shade. It rolls up fine in the A&E electric awning on my Tiffin Allegro Bay.

[Pushrod]

We had the same problem on our Vectra. The first shade I bought was an A&E, I think. It was 12X8, but when I retracted the awning, you could tell the awning motor was slightly struggling, and the aluminum cover wasn't as tight when completely rolled up. My main concern was that the wind force when traveling could start to unwind the awning, and also the strain on the motor might cause a problem later. What I ended up with was 10X4(?) shade I bought at CW, called a Patty'O Shade. The smaller size allows it to be rolled up without causing undue stress on the motor or cover mechanism. It doesn't offer the complete shade protection that the larger one does, but it helps keep the sun off the side of the coach, especially the back of the fridge area. I haven't used the tie downs yet, so I can use my wind sensor. Just be aware that any of those shades carry an instruction to remove the shade before retracting the awning.

[Pushrod]

Actually, the Patty O'Shade is 15X4.5, and you can find it at Camping World on sale for $80. It slides in the groove on the awning roll bar (when extended).