Ratlling Fiamma Awning

[Nigel-ph]

I’m 3 months and a couple of trips into ownership of my old Auto-sleeper Clubman and have finally discovered the rattle that has been driving me mad. It’s the Fiamma 45 awning rattling it it’s housing. It’s as if it needs to retract just a bit more and fit snugly, but it doesn’t.

Has anybody had this problem and been able to solve it?

 

[Nigel-ph]

I see some views but no replies. If anyone is interested most of the rattle is coming from the legs. The inner leg section rattles in the outer, the feet rattle and the whole leg rattles in the housing! I have put elastic bands around the feet and a bolt through each leg to clamp it in place in the housing. Easy to remove and much quieter but something is still rattling enough to hear inside. I think it’s the folding arms…. maybe time for a new rattle free one!

 

[poppycamper]

I see some views but no replies. If anyone is interested most of the rattle is coming from the legs. The inner leg section rattles in the outer, the feet rattle and the whole leg rattles in the housing! I have put elastic bands around the feet and a bolt through each leg to clamp it in place in the housing. Easy to remove and much quieter but something is still rattling enough to hear inside. I think it’s the folding arms…. maybe time for a new rattle free one!

Interesting.... does the legs not have a clip fitted in housing which secures them inside the housing when folded... have to say never noticed any rattle from ours.

 

[AnnieB]

Ours rattle as well but after a few weeks I don’t hear it anymore

 

[AndyPK]

Our first Motorhome was a Clubman, and it had a Fiamma awning - but it didn’t rattle when driving (me driving, not the awning!). I assume all the bolts holding it onto the ‘van are tight…?
As poppycamper said, do the legs not clip into place in the cover before you retract the awning….?
I eventually took our awning off the Clubman as we hardly ever used it - and it made quite a difference to the ‘van’s handing, I found…..

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[Nigel-ph]

Our first Motorhome was a Clubman, and it had a Fiamma awning - but it didn’t rattle when driving (me driving, not the awning!). I assume all the bolts holding it onto the ‘van are tight…?
As poppycamper said, do the legs not clip into place in the cover before you retract the awning….?
I eventually took our awning off the Clubman as we hardly ever used it - and it made quite a difference to the ‘van’s handing, I found…..

Thanks Andy, you might be able. It is firmly attached and I was considering taking it off but can’t see how it is fixed. There are wedge shaped brackets on the roof and the awning seems to be glued to them with one screw fixing to a bracket on the bottom. Is there anything under the glue, and are the brackets bottled through the roof or glued in place?

 

[AndyPK]

As I recall, I just loosened the bolts at the base of the clamps holding the awning on the ’van and then lifted it off - with help because they are heavy! No glue was involved, and I left the brackets on the side of the ‘van so that the awning could be refitted when we came to sell the ‘van. You can see the brackets where the awning used to be above the window and hab. door.

 

[Nigel-ph]

Interesting.... does the legs not have a clip fitted in housing which secures them inside the housing when folded... have to say never noticed any rattle from ours.

The feet on the end of the legs fold against the leg then tuck under plastic clips to keep them in place….and rattle metal on metal. I guess everything has become loose over the years. The bolts fix that problem, but everything else still rattles.

 

[Nigel-ph]

As I recall, I just loosened the bolts at the base of the clamps holding the awning on the ’van and then lifted it off - with help because they are heavy! No glue was involved, and I left the brackets on the side of the ‘van so that the awning could be refitted when we came to sell the ‘van

That seems to be the only way it could have been fixed on, although mine has a cross head screw not a bolt, but it’s the half inch thick layer of mastic that is a puzzle. I will get some help and hack into it, the awning has to go!

 

[Nigel-ph]

Just to complete this thread, after cutting through most of the mastic with a knife and opening the awning a little to remove the bottom pan headed bolts all I had to do was prize up the awning from the bottom and lift, albeit fighting the remaining mastic. One of the major rattles was because the middle of the awning was actually contacting the roof because the monocoque shell is very slightly curved. Also, it should have had a middle bracket but that was obviously not possible due to the curve. The new awning will be mounted better!