Screwing in to my motorhome!

[gerrym11]

Hi everyone, looking for some advice please. I am putting up an awning rail on the side of our moho. I will be using adhesive to stick it to the moho wall but to enable it to stay in place while the adhesive dries I will be using some self-tapping screws. My question is, is it safe to screw through the moho wall not knowing what is in the wall (I am assuming just insulation)? I am assuming pipes and wires are installed on the inside wall, not in between the inside and outside wall of the moho.
Can you let me know if my assumption is correct as of course I do not want to take the risk of screwing in to something that could cause me a big problem!
I have a Burstner Ixeo 640.

TIA
Gerry

 

[gerrym11]

deleted. Not relevant, should have read the OP. Can't delete the picture, sorry.

LOL, no worries

 

[Sheddy]

I fiitted a 6m caravan awning rail to our van 5 years ago and had an awning made to fit for our winters in Spain.
The preformed rail came in 2 pieces and was fiitted using sikaflex and small countersunk self tapping screws. The extruded form of the rail was ideal with a nice cavity on the underside for the sikaflex to have sufficient thickness and allowing the rail to sit flush on the wall. It was also pre - drilled at 75mm spacing for fixing screws. The 2 rail sections were initially held in place with tape allowing for alignment and a few pilot holes and screws to secure in position, the remaining pilot holes were then drilled. The rail was removed the surface cleaned and prepared for the sikaflex.
I drilled 1mm pilot holes for the198 screws, and hand tightened the screws, the screws passed through the center of the sikaflex bead and as they were being tightened the excess sikaflex was squeezing out of the adjacent fixing holes which gave a good seal for the screw heads.
We have just returned from Spain and once again the awning was great and survived some pretty strong winds. Sorry about the dirty van but we are just back and it's been hissing down here since we got back.
Cheers
Ed

 

[gerrym11]

I fiitted a 6m caravan awning rail to our van 5 years ago and had an awning made to fit for our winters in Spain.
The preformed rail came in 2 pieces and was fiitted using sikaflex and small countersunk sell tapping screws. The extruded form of the rail was ideal with a nice cavity on the underside for the sikaflex to have sufficient thickness and allowing the rail to sit flush on the wall. It was also pre - drilled at 75mm spacing for fixing screws. The 2 rail sections were initially held in place with tape allowing for alignment and a few pilot holes and screws to secure in position, the remaining pilot holes were then drilled. The rail was removed the surface cleaned and prepared for the sikaflex.
I drilled 1mm pilot holes for the198 screws, and hand tightened the screws, the screws passed through the center of the sikaflex bead and as they were being tightened the excess sikaflex was squeezing out of the adjacent fixing holes which gave a good seal for the screw heads.
We have just returned from Spain and once again the awning was a great and survived some pretty strong winds. Sorry about the dirty van but we are just back and it's been hissing down here since we got back.
Cheers
Ed




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Brilliant! Thank you

 

[Ian Bosman]

Thanks for that, it is your opinion, there are thousands that would say the opposite, but I understand where you are coming from.


Cheers

Gerry

Perhaps you could explain why you do not want a rollout with the pros and cons of what you are looking to attach as an awning. That way we can advise you but just to reinforce, attaching with adhesive only is not a suitable method for an awning of any size. Attaching to the outer aluminium skin (you have checked with Burstner?) with screws is not good enough, in my opinion. You can bolt through an outer and inner skin with a standard caravan type awning rail using countersunk headed screws but with a wide load plate inside

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[Splasher6]

The awning fitted to our Elddis has spreader plated on the inside and i’d certainly recommend fitting these. The awning assembly is quite heavy and that weight plus the vibration as you travel could cause a surface fitting to give way. I have refitted some arrial cables through the wall of our and definitely would not attach an awning to just the outer skin. Good luck

 

[Ian Bosman]

The awning fitted to our Elddis has spreader plated on the inside and i’d certainly recommend fitting these. The awning assembly is quite heavy and that weight plus the vibration as you travel could cause a surface fitting to give way. I have refitted some arrial cables through the wall of our and definitely would not attach an awning to just the outer skin. Good luck

Bolts with internal spreader plates is the only way for 100% satisfaction provided the holes are well sealed

 

[gerrym11]

Hi, thought I would update this thread as it may be useful for folks in future to know the fact from fiction.

I spoke to a German colleague of mine about my intention of bonding a rail to my motorhome. He said his b-i-l worked for Hymer and he would ask him if he knew the answer. My colleague came back to me with his b-i-l's number and said he is expecting a call from you. Turns out he is an engineer at the Hymer factory. We had a great chat but the short version of the answer (in his words) was "I can't speak for all motorhomes but I can tell you that anyone who thinks the side is going to come off a modern Burstner because of the stress of an awning clearly has no idea how it is put together and how strong it is"
I must admit he explained in length about the components and processes involved, all I wanted to know is that is ok to do it!

Cheers

Gerry

 

[Steve and Denise]

Bolts with internal spreader plates is the only way for 100% satisfaction provided the holes are well sealed

Most roll outs rely on 2 or 3 fixing points hence the spreader plates,
Our last Hymer I fitted a rail instead of a roll out as it suited our needs better for a sun shade 4mtr it could be left up in all but the worst gales or storms and we never had to get out of bed due to bad weather in the middle of the night to wind it in as many others will have done.