Thule Awning Leg Thingamjigs.....

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Hi - our van came with a Thule Omnister awning fitted and a little bag containing two fittings which can be mounted on the side of the van so that the awning legs can be attached to the van rather the ground.

As the van is a panel van conversion, and I can get to the back of where the fixings would need to go, I should be able to get a very firm fixing on the van with stainless M6 bolts and penny washers on the reverse side, and I was also planning to protect the paint work around the fixing using Heli-tape. But before I get out the drill and start punching holes in my nice shiny van I thought I see if anyone had any thoughts on how good / sensible it is to set up an awning in this way.
 
We have the same awning on our panel van, we have fitted them on previous motorhomes, and find them very useful if you can't peg the awning, we use ours a lot, stainless bolts and nuts took rear light cluster out and plastic seat belt cover molding. ? Bob.
20200414_133837.jpg
20200414_133902.jpg
 
Stuck mine on with skliflex about 3 years ago still on so hopefully I did it right.
 
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Bob - many thanks for feedback and pics - very helpful to see what you’d done - Cheers - Phil

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Thanks for reply and pics, that looks ingenious
 
Before I got the suckers I used to extend the legs and put them at an angle so they went under the side of the camper then used some strong elastic straps which clipped to the top of the legs and under the bodywork (protecting it with some cloth where they touched) to keep them in place, we never left the awning out when we weren't there and only used it when it wasn't windy so it wasn't a problem.

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pappajohn said:
I had those fixings on one of my vans.
Got fed up walking into the diagonal arms so reverted to ground fixing.
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Ground fixing is fine if you're not parked on concrete! :giggle:
 
I did similar with ours. But from memory the bolts were smaller than 6mm and they need a machine screw head on the outside, so that they don't foul the foot of the awning leg as it is slid in. See the first photo of post #2. I would also suggest to bed the fixing in mastic before bolting up.
 
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Wombles I've seen quite a few of these on my travels this year, would be nice if they do a Fiamma version
 
Drexxer said:
Wombles I've seen quite a few of these on my travels this year, would be nice if they do a Fiamma version
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You could just buy the ones I used and attach the Fiamma brackets to them in some way.

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Drexxer said:
Wombles I've seen quite a few of these on my travels this year, would be nice if they do a Fiamma version
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They are listed to fit Fiamma awnings from 2010 onwards as well as Thule Omnistor, Dometic & Prostor according to their website <Broken link removed> (y)
 
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sorry for being 'uneducated'. i actually think that the sucker attachments probably give options but what benefit to they actually provide in terms of securing the legs? we have only ever put ours onto grass or hard standing and never actually fastened them down as i was concerned that if i secured at the legs it might cause damage in high winds?
 
MisterB said:
sorry for being 'uneducated'. i actually think that the sucker attachments probably give options but what benefit to they actually provide in terms of securing the legs? we have only ever put ours onto grass or hard standing and never actually fastened them down as i was concerned that if i secured at the legs it might cause damage in high winds?
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Awnings are not designed for medium or high winds. After seeing the damage caused when an unsecured awning was blown over the roof of the motorhome by a sudden gust of wind on an otherwise calm summer's day, we always fit storm straps to hold ours down. Even then we never leave ours out at night or when we go out.

We have the feet attachments bolted through the wall of our motorhome and they are very useful for when you can't, or don't want to, wind the awning fully out. I considered using the sucker attachments but there was no practical way of doing so and still be able to open our garage door.
 
MisterB said:
sorry for being 'uneducated'. i actually think that the sucker attachments probably give options but what benefit to they actually provide in terms of securing the legs? we have only ever put ours onto grass or hard standing and never actually fastened them down as i was concerned that if i secured at the legs it might cause damage in high winds?
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If you have dogs outside on long leads / wires, it's one (or two) less things on the ground for them to wrap around and damage. My dogs are 50kg each, wear thick leather collars with D rings stitched in, but when they see a fox and take off after it the collars are shredded and I have a wire with a D ring on the end. Aluminium awning legs are no challenge at all so best out of the way :oops:
 
Very much like the look of the German suction brackets that Wombles listed but like the price of Minxy Girl's better.
But, do I recall posts a while back cautioning against using these types of suction bracket on the aluminium/foam side walls of vans?
Something about the thin aluminium separating from the foam inside?
Or am I imagining problems where they don’t exist?
Paranoia perhaps in these worrying times. :Eeek:

Richard.
 
just ordered some, hope theyre worth the money....:imoutahere:

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Onemanandhisdog said:
If you have dogs outside on long leads / wires, it's one (or two) less things on the ground for them to wrap around and damage. My dogs are 50kg each, wear thick leather collars with D rings stitched in, but when they see a fox and take off after it the collars are shredded and I have a wire with a D ring on the end. Aluminium awning legs are no challenge at all so best out of the way :oops:
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Thick leather? Shredded? Eek. Not sure whether to recommend our daughters handcut, handstitched collars (and other lovely stuff) or not. But I don't see any reason why hers could not cope, you can have them made in various widths.
Have a look at Alchemy Leatherworks
? Janie
 
Thanks for the info about the multiAnker it looks really good - I am one of those sad people who has had the misfortune to have had a Thule Omnistor wrapped round my Motorhome roof In high winds! It happened in the early hours of the morning, an unexpected strong, gusty, wind developed without warning and the awning was complety & utterly wrecked. Indeed, the tensioning bar broke into separate pieces, and all we could do was cut the fabric off with a Stanley knife and put all of the broken bits in a skip and then get a complete new one fitted! Which spoilt the end of my holiday; it is a experience which understandbly I have no desire to repeat. So I have ordered a set of these suckers tonight - I note that they say they can each support 70kg - which is certainly very much stronger than tent pegs - thank you!
 
We use the official side wall fixings. Legs to the ground is a problem with dogs on a longish wire as they wrap round the legs. The triangle formed by the legs to the van wall is much more stable than the wobbly parrellogram formed by putting them to the ground.
 
Chris Sykes said:
Thanks for the info about the multiAnker it looks really good - I am one of those sad people who has had the misfortune to have had a Thule Omnistor wrapped round my Motorhome roof In high winds! It happened in the early hours of the morning, an unexpected strong, gusty, wind developed without warning and the awning was complety & utterly wrecked. Indeed, the tensioning bar broke into separate pieces, and all we could do was cut the fabric off with a Stanley knife and put all of the broken bits in a skip and then get a complete new one fitted! Which spoilt the end of my holiday; it is a experience which understandbly I have no desire to repeat. So I have ordered a set of these suckers tonight - I note that they say they can each support 70kg - which is certainly very much stronger than tent pegs - thank you!
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Just make sure that where you stick the suckers on the MH is a strong point otherwise you might lose the panel!
 
bobandjanie said:
Thick leather? Shredded? Eek. Not sure whether to recommend our daughters handcut, handstitched collars (and other lovely stuff) or not. But I don't see any reason why hers could not cope, you can have them made in various widths.
Have a look at Alchemy Leatherworks
? Janie
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Very nice, look similar to the ones my dogs wear, but I guess swimming in the sea/rivers may have taken it's toll, but 50kg at 20+ mph ........ Glad it broke to be fair!

If I was in to handbags or manbags I'd be tempted (y) (y)

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