How to attach awning to Symphony

From daisy mae's comments in this and other threads:

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I think I want, to attach our new driveaway awning, to our Symphony:

some metal (not plastic?) C rail.
a keder strip.
some figure of 8.

The keder strip will link the C rail to the fig of 8.  The awning beading will sit in other side of figure of 8 (I must have spent 4+ hours reading threads to come up with this, and I'm still not sure I've got it right!).  My last question is, how to attach the C rail.  From what I can see there's a not very high metal gutter and covering that, a quite deep black plastic trim.  When I see people referring to reusing existing screw holes, are they referring to how that black plastic 'gutter' is mounted to the van?  Is it the black plastic trim that people attach the C rail to?

Marc

" />Can you see the silver strip above the black strip over the middle door. This is a C-rail that I had on my Trident

On my Symphony the C Rail or in my case the J Rail (you can use either but C Rail seems more secure) was attached along centre of black trim using the same fixing holes.

That sounds a good idea as I think the less holes you drill into the van the less likely the water can come in. Mine was done by Autosleepers themselves so trusted them. And mine is was a J rail really (put C rail to make things easier) which I found was easier to attach the awning to and never had any problem.

Paulmold wrote:On my Symphony the C Rail or in my case the J Rail (you can use either but C Rail seems more secure) was attached along centre of black trim using the same fixing holes.

Thanks Rose and Paul.

Just what I wanted to hear Paul, thanks!  So I assume the small round things I see in the black trim are screw covers?

rose49f wrote:Mine was done by Autosleepers themselves so trusted them. 

Yes you're pretty lucky living so close to them 

My sliding door sometimes won't open and I'd love to take it to them themseves but we're just too far away.

marc4242 wrote:From daisy mae's comments in this and other threads:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I think I want, to attach our new driveaway awning, to our Symphony:

some metal (not plastic?) C rail.
a keder strip.
some figure of 8.

The keder strip will link the C rail to the fig of 8.  The awning beading will sit in other side of figure of 8 (I must have spent 4+ hours reading threads to come up with this, and I'm still not sure I've got it right!).  My last question is, how to attach the C rail.  From what I can see there's a not very high metal gutter and covering that, a quite deep black plastic trim.  When I see people referring to reusing existing screw holes, are they referring to how that black plastic 'gutter' is mounted to the van?  Is it the black plastic trim that people attach the C rail to?

Marc

Yes the black gutter strip is what I attached my C rail to in the middle using the  original screw holes did have to put a self tapper in the front end as there wasn`t a screw that far to the front and didn`t want to risk having the rail unsupported. it worked well.

How do you ensure you won't get water ingress if making extra holes?

What length of C rail do you have?

Paul:  what length of C rail did you go for?

Either of you   do I need the same length of kador and fig of 8 as I do C rail?

Here's an example of what looks like awning rail, I wasn't think of putting that much on?

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Thanks very much for your original awning thread btw daiy mae, it was that thread that clarified for me what I needed to do.

Marc

daisy mae wrote:

marc4242 wrote:From daisy mae's comments in this and other threads:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I think I want, to attach our new driveaway awning, to our Symphony:

some metal (not plastic?) C rail.
a keder strip.
some figure of 8.

The keder strip will link the C rail to the fig of 8.  The awning beading will sit in other side of figure of 8 (I must have spent 4+ hours reading threads to come up with this, and I'm still not sure I've got it right!).  My last question is, how to attach the C rail.  From what I can see there's a not very high metal gutter and covering that, a quite deep black plastic trim.  When I see people referring to reusing existing screw holes, are they referring to how that black plastic 'gutter' is mounted to the van?  Is it the black plastic trim that people attach the C rail to?

Marc

Yes the black gutter strip is what I attached my C rail to in the middle using the  original screw holes did have to put a self tapper in the front end as there wasn`t a screw that far to the front and didn`t want to risk having the rail unsupported. it worked well.

Hi Daisy Mae and Marc.

I have a 2003 Harmony and am looking to attach a c-shaped awning rail. I like the idea of using the existing holes in the black roof trim, but wonder what kind of screws you use?  The existing ones are black nylon, approx. 5mm diameter, screwing into mounting plates behind the trim. The heads of those would be far too big to allow kador strip to pass through the channel, even if they could be used to fix the rail in place in the first place.  Also would consider a couple of extra short ones through just the trim, presumably that is what you used at the end of yours Daisy Mae? Thanks in advance for your help.

Yvonne

Just for info, those black roof trim screws go into mounting plates behind the trim.
HOWEVER, the mounting plates are only bonded to the high top fibreglass.

In my opinion, not suitable for fixing any weight to.

PB

I know several that have put a C rail onto the black gutter some for several years and none has reported any problems, I only used one self tapper at the front end as the gap between the last screw and the end of the rail was too long for safety I thought, wind getting at the end,and ripping it off,  I also put sealant on the screws before screwing in to make it water tight.

I used the original screws and had no problem with the Kador strip going through.
I had a 3mtr C rail, I also bought two end stops for the rail as when awning / canopy in rail wind could blow it along the rail and then awning / canopy would come out one end.that did happen hence the end stops,  the front stop I left in the rail, only putting the other one in after the awning / canopy was attached to the rail. they just fit with a tiny screw in the channel.

Hope this helps,
Regards,
Margaret

Thanks for that advice PB and Margaret.

Picking up a length of awning rail tomorrow, so will have a play around with it and decide what to do. Margaret, just to clarify, were the original screws you used nylon?

Thanks again,
Yvonne

Hi Yvonne, I think they were they did have quite a large head on them if I remember rightly, it was three years ago when I fitted mine and I sold the van 14 months later, in fact I saw it a fortnight ago a guy in another village bought it from me, he hasn`t had any problems at all.

Try them and see how you get on, I believe  I had to drill the holes in the C rail a little larger to take the screws , to make double sure re water tight I used sealant on the screws. used same screws as they fitted the hole and the rail isn`t that thick anyway where the screws go. it does make a neat job without a lot of effort.

All the best
 Margaret.

Thanks again Margaret. I did expect to have to drill bigger holes in the rail anyway, so I will try it with the original screws. Wee bit concerned as per PB's comments above, but reassured that no one seems to have reported any disasters yet. (Hope I'm not the first!)

Regards, Yvonne

yvonneid wrote:Thanks again Margaret. I did expect to have to drill bigger holes in the rail anyway, so I will try it with the original screws. Wee bit concerned as per PB's comments above, but reassured that no one seems to have reported any disasters yet. (Hope I'm not the first!)

Regards, Yvonne

Not wishing to dissuade you but when I was up cleaning the debris from behind the black plastic trim, I noticed that a couple of the fixings had 'come away' from the high top.
As I said earlier, they are only bonded to the roof.

I would suggest getting a ladder and looking over into the trim to check the security of the ones you intend to use.

Having said that, I have given my plastic trim a 'shake' and there doesn't appear to be any discernible movement even though the fixings have come adrift.

Hope that helps you.

PB