A few quick shots of the shady boy awning

[Hayduke]

Sorry about the quality and lack of detail on these. I'll have more from my upcoming death valley trip at the end of the month...You can tell Ruby the dog wants to go.
Hayduke

 

[craig333]

Easy to setup?

 

[davinski]

Cool!

I like it. Simple, effective. No camper mods.

How did you mount it and was it hard. Just wondering about drilling holes in the side of the camper. Always makes me nervous. Did you seal the holes to keep out water?

Thanks

Dave

 

[Hayduke]

It's very easy to set up. It was also easy to mount. I'll get to sending details and pics of the structure and the install soon. I sealed those holes with high grade marine caulking. Don't mess around with cheap caulking. As far as drilling holes in your camper, I like doing that. I just think those holes add character, kinda like wrinkles or scars on the body.
Hayduke

 

[Brian]

Awning...

Heyduke.....It looks like just the ticket! Now...I don't want to wish you bad weather for your trip, however......if the wind blows in DV like it does sometimes, you can give us a report on just how that little puppy does in the wind. That is my main interest. It looks great, it looks easy, the price isn't too bad...but how does it hold up in the wind? It seems to me that there is an option of tying it down if need be...correct?
Brian

 

[kcowyo]

I like the looks of that, especially the free-standing set up.

Regarding wind, I've never seen any awning that can handle wind, whether it is staked with poles and guy lines or not. Heck they barely shade where I want as it is, nevermind being able to endure strong winds.

Looking good Hayduke!

 

[Hayduke]

Kcowyo is right. Those desert winds will rip the crap out of any awning out there. It's windy here today on the CA. central coast, I set the awning up and had to tie it down just to take a few more pics, that I hope to post tonight. I'm thinking I'll be able to use poles and tie downs to allow the awning to tolerate some moderate wind, but if it gets serious, I'll not be using the awning. I realized today that the awning has to be spaced out away from the camper side wall about 1/2 to 3/4 inches because the 2 poles that go forward and aft will hit the clips for the camper top. so, I took the whole thing off today and put spacers between the camper and the mounting surface of the awning. That's the price to pay for having a shorter awning enclosure and not having to move the camper lid clamps. I used some 1/2" x 3" composite platic strips and doubled them up. 3" stainless steel bolts (1/4") seem to be the ticket. I didn't take pics of the interior mounting, but all you see are two bolt heads, as the other two are inside that little cabinet above the couch. All in all, I'm happy with the awning. I'll put it through the paces on this next trip and will report then. Any more questions and I'll try to answer them.
Have fun, Hayduke

 

[Hayduke]

A few more pics of the awning. If you have any questions, let me know
Hayduke

 

[davinski]

I do like this simple, lightweight, and seeminly easy to setup awning from Shadyboy. I am set to meet with Shady boy tomorrow up here near Vancouver and will probably purchase a silver one with the optional legs. The entire thing fits inside the case so no extra poles to carry elsewhere. Me like.

Now, if someone could enlighten me on mounting....that would be cool. Mount through wall? Mount into Aluminum frame? Get some spacers so that the poles don't hit the top hold down clasps?

And the big question that really worries me, what to weatherproof the holes with.

OK. thanks all. Photos soon if I can figure it out.

Dave

 

[Hayduke]

davinski. I have been away for a while. My mother in law died tonight, so we have been dealing w/ stuff, especially mt wife who has been at bedside about 6 weeks.
Anyways, I took my daughter on a week trip. returned a couple days ago. We used the shady boy awning and we were pretty impressed. I didn't take many pics this trip, so the ones I originally posted are the best visual I can offer. Here's some tips...
I mounted mine through the wall. I highly recommend doing this or the stress may wreak havock. There is a wide aluminum piece running the length of the upper edge of my camper. The flat spot between the clasps that hold the top down...just make sure you don't mount it so far back towards the rear, that the camper door hits thr rear pole/material. This would cause wear to the material over time. This will be a simple measurement. The awning, I believe, is 10 feet wide when unfolded and set up.
If you mount the thing directly to the camper without the brackets as I did, you will need to space the housing out about an inch to avoid hitting the top clamps with the poles that go forward and aft. An inch and a 1/4 might be better. I used full length polymer/plastic material that was about 4 inches wide and 1/2" thick. I used two pieces sandwiched together. I got it from a hardware store and it's used as spacers under garage doors. etc. I'm not sure what kind of clearance you would get with the brackets that come with these, as I never got any. I recieved a slight reduction in cost intead.
I mounted it with 4- 1/4" bolts about 2 3/4" long. You'll have to figure out the throw length yourself. Just drill the holes after you are sure where its going, and stick something through to get the measurement, inluding enough length to compensate for washer (on both sides) nut and lock washer. I used all stainless and the nuts were the locking nylon nuts.
Use marine caulking. High Grade as you can find. You may pay $15 for a tube, but the stuff is bomb proof.
Good luck and let me know if you have any more questions.
Hayduke

 

[Hayduke]

davinski. I have been away for a while. My mother in law died tonight, so we have been dealing w/ stuff, especially my wife who has been at bedside in the hospital about 6 weeks.
Anyways, I took my daughter on a week trip. returned a couple days ago. We used the shady boy awning and we were pretty impressed. I didn't take many pics this trip, so the ones I originally posted are the best visual I can offer. I definitely would recommend tying the thing down if there is any wind. Even if there isn't, the wind could come up and it could save you some broken poles later. Here's some tips...
I mounted mine through the wall. I highly recommend doing this or the stress may wreak havock. There is a wide aluminum piece running the length of the upper edge of my camper. The flat spot between the clasps that hold the top down...just make sure you don't mount it so far back towards the rear, that the camper door hits the rear pole/material. This would cause wear to the material over time. This will be a simple measurement. The awning, I believe, is 10 feet wide when unfolded and set up.
If you mount the thing directly to the camper without the brackets as I did, you will need to space the housing out about an inch to avoid hitting the top clamps with the poles that go forward and aft. An inch and a 1/4 might be better. I used full length polymer/plastic material that was about 4 inches wide and 1/2" thick. I used two pieces sandwiched together. I got it from a hardware store and it's used as spacers under garage doors. etc. I'm not sure what kind of clearance you would get with the brackets that come with these, as I never got any. I recieved a slight reduction in cost intead.
I mounted it with 4- 1/4" bolts about 2 3/4" long. You'll have to figure out the throw length yourself. Just drill the holes after you are sure where its going, and stick something through to get the measurement, inluding enough length to compensate for washer (on both sides) nut and lock washer. I used all stainless and the nuts were the locking nylon nuts.
Use marine caulking. High Grade as you can find. You may pay $15 for a tube, but the stuff is bomb proof.
Good luck and let me know if you have any more questions.
Hayduke

 

[davinski]

Hayduke.
Sorry about your family. Hope it gets better.

I will probably mount the awning inbetween the two roof clasps. I will probably mount just a little forward to avoid the back door issue and to cover the truck door a little. If I center it are you saying that a spacer is not necessary? I notice from your photos that the arm closest and parallel to the truck does tend to bow toward the camper.

I will hpefully pick up the awning today, and try to mount this weekend. Any particular marine grade stuff to waterproof the holes?>

thanks so much and take your time responding

Dave

 

[EdoHart]

Hayduke, my consolences.

I'm sorry to hear about your mother-in-law. You have my condolences. Even with your resent loss, you still had time to think of others and post more information. If you are an example of the kind of people here (and from what I've read, you are) then I think I am going to like this forum.

 

[davinski]

Hey, everybody.

I was in Vancouver today and stopped by the house of Wolfgang, the guy who makes the ShadyBoy awnings. Picked one up that is silver, with the fiberglass downpoles. He's a real nice guy and gave me a lot of hints. Most of which Hayduke has already talked about. It really is amazing how light it really is.

When the rain stops here, I will try to figure out how best to mount it on my 01 hawk shell. should be easy, but you never know.

I asked Wolfgang if he was interested in making a shorter version for the back of the campers.....a completely contained and easy to deploy unit for the back would be killer. He didn't seem too interested. Oh well. I did say I would send him some pics after I get mine done. May send him a link here, as well. Never know what he might do.

Overall, a nice experience. Always good to meet the maker, so to speak!

dave

 

[craig333]

Darn. I wish I had the skills to design and manufacture something nice for the back, I see a nice business opportunity there

 

[Hayduke]

davinski, by now you probably have the mounting thing figured out. The rear pole does flex out some. Mine does, but the door still hits the material. You may have to play with it before mounting to make sure things are right. I, unfortunately, did not take this into consideration when I mounted mine. That's why I wanted to pass it on. I guess I got lucky, as all I have to do is push the rear up a little and the door opens with no rubbing on the material. I use a marine grade caulk made by 3M company. I believe even the chemical companies have some standards to uphold, so I would think any marine grade product would hold up better than caulking. I hope your install goes well. As usual, let me know if you have any other questions/concerns. By the way, I think I used 3 3/4" bolts on my intall. They were a little long, but I put 2 bolts on them inside the case so the awning wasn't rubbing on the bolt threads while it's rolled up in the housing. Good luck
Hayduke

 

[davinski]

Hayduke.

Just to clarify:

you place about 1/2 of spacer material between the awning and camper to push it out a little to clear the roof clasps. Try to move the awning forward so as not to have the door hit it when open. Try to mount it high enough so that the door won't hit it either.

I take it you just drilled holes through the camper side alumninum, through the alumninum plate internnally, and then through the inside wall. You then bolted it in place. Wolfgang said to put two bolts on each side of the awning. Therefore, 4 bolts total. He said to get some plastic endcaps at the hardware store and cover the bolts so the fabric doesn't get rubbed away. Amazingly, he said he rarely gets requests for replacment parts. a good sign I hope.

I might try to mount it this weekend, but got too much going on. We will see.

Am I missing anything?

Dave

 

[Hayduke]

Davinsky, the only thing you may have misunderstood is that I used 2 pieces of 1/2" shim material sandwiched together to make a total thickness of 1". That's only because I had the material. I would guess that you need at least that much spacing (between the outside mounting surface on camper and the back, or mounting surface of the awning case).
From the 1st photos I posted, you can kinda tell that I mounted the case just forward of the center point between the two roof clamps. A little more forward might help, but if you get too close to that clamp on the right, you might have difficulty installing the forward pole into the hole on the case, unless you spaced the case out a little more than 1". Not much flex in those poles. Have a friend hold the case up against the camper whilst you install the rear and forward facing awning poles into the pole holes on the case. It should become clear where you want it. I really don't have any problems with mine how the rear of the awning sticks back. I just give it a nudge and lock my door open. Besides, I didn't have that much distance to play with between the roof clamps.
I drilled right through all the way inside. That way you are bolting through the aluminum along that edge. I could hang my 200 pound body weight off that case if I needed to. I made 4 holes and used oversized washers on the inside to protect the white wall material inside while I tightened down the nuts on the end of the bolts inside the awning case. 2 of my bolts ended up on the inside of the narrow cabinet above the sofa side. The rubber cap idea is a good one. I may do that later.
Hope this helps. Good luck. Hope you post some photos when you are done.
Hayduke

 

[joanie4c]

Shady Boy vs Four Wheel awning

How much does this awning cost? How much does it weigh? It sounds like it may be better to buy this than the one Four Wheel sells. Would you agree?

Joanie

 

[Hayduke]

joanie4c, These awnings are nice and cheaper than the ones on the FWC. I believe it cost me about $320 for the awning and 2 day express shipping. You have to kinda set it up. Open the case and install poles to make it spread out. It's very light (15lbs). The awnings that come on the campers are probably the pull out type, i.e., there is no messing around with poles, just grab a handle and pull it out. But, the Shady Boy goes up easily and quickly. Also, the case is small, as the awning is folded up some, then rolled to go in the case. Check them out on the net. I got mine at country homes campers and the guy was very nice.
Good Luck