Wind out awnings, Thule vs Fiamma

A

Allybob

Joined
Jun 7, 2022
Posts
62
Likes collected
80
Location
Sussex
Funster No
89,137
MH
PVC
Exp
20 years
We may need to replace our wind out. Anyone got any opinions on which is best?
 
Allybob said:
We may need to replace our wind out. Anyone got any opinions on which is best?
Click to expand...
On my PVC as I wanted it attached to the Fiat roof mounts rather than bolted to the side I was told it had to be Fiamma not a Thule. Not sure if that is correct or not. Anyways I have the 4m F80S and it works fine.
 
dash300 said:
On my PVC as I wanted it attached to the Fiat roof mounts rather than bolted to the side I was told it had to be Fiamma not a Thule. Not sure if that is correct or not. Anyways I have the 4m F80S and it works fine.
Click to expand...
We have the Thule awning 3.75m fitted to our Fiat roof mounts, and it’s fine.
 
Offagaingr8 said:
We have the Thule awning 3.75m fitted to our Fiat roof mounts, and it’s fine.
Click to expand...
I wasn't bothered either way but did think it surprising Thule did not have a Fiat roof mounting kit. Clearly it was BS!

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
We have a Fiamma f45s and after 4 years the end plates and some of the other metal components have deteriorated and will need replacing and that is annoying. Really odd thing is that the blind material looks like new ,
 
On our first van we had Fiamma but the last two vans have had Thule Omnistor and they do seem more robust, famous last words! They are more expensive of course by a couple of hundred pounds if I remember correctly for a 4 metre one which is what we have on our 6.4 metre van. All our vans have been PVCs.
 
We had a Fiamma one years ago and it got damaged so we had to replace it.
The modern Fiamma ones are not as good, quality is down and the legs collapse as the screw that stops them lets go!
Anything like that is a pain in the a….se in windy weather!
 
Just fitted a new gearbox on our four year old Thule 6300, cost £86, not impressed.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Otter Spotter said:
We have a Fiamma f45s and after 4 years the end plates and some of the other metal components have deteriorated and will need replacing and that is annoying. Really odd thing is that the blind material looks like new ,
Click to expand...
They even know about this design fault because they sell a spoiler to keep the weather off the front end.
 
The reason for my question is an issue with our drive away awning. We've had 2 vans previously with Fiamma and had no problems. Our new pvc came with a Thule awning and we've found that attaching the drive away to the slot on the bottom of the Thule fouls the sliding door. Unfortunately we've managed to break an arm on the wind out and may have other damage which could result in having to replace it. We wondered if Fiamma might be a better replacement as it has slots on the front edge to attach the drive away which might lift it clear of the door. We've seen people leave the wind out sticking out a few inches with a drive away attached but not sure if that's a good idea.
 
Shrimp said:
We had a Fiamma one years ago and it got damaged so we had to replace it.
The modern Fiamma ones are not as good, quality is down and the legs collapse as the screw that stops them lets go!
Anything like that is a pain in the a….se in windy weather!
Click to expand...
I have a 1 foot (ish) length of plastic window trim in my legs that hold them at the height I want and don't need to overtighten the knurled screw just to keep them secure.

Using bolts like this to hold things from moving simply with friction is bad engineering. You would think a massive company like Fiamma would do better.

Thule is better engineered and has cam locks for the legs and sometimes has Y shaped awning arms for more stability.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Last week through rhino installs I ordered fiamma a f80s 4metre long to be fitted in October .the extra cost of the others I could not justify. There also seems to be plenty of fiamma ones when I look at other vans. Whichever you chose they are both extraordinary expensive. Mine is to cost 1035 pounds fitted.
 
Allybob said:
The reason for my question is an issue with our drive away awning. We've had 2 vans previously with Fiamma and had no problems. Our new pvc came with a Thule awning and we've found that attaching the drive away to the slot on the bottom of the Thule fouls the sliding door. Unfortunately we've managed to break an arm on the wind out and may have other damage which could result in having to replace it. We wondered if Fiamma might be a better replacement as it has slots on the front edge to attach the drive away which might lift it clear of the door. We've seen people leave the wind out sticking out a few inches with a drive away attached but not sure if that's a good idea.
Click to expand...
Ah!
 
georgio said:
Last week through rhino installs I ordered fiamma a f80s 4metre long to be fitted in October .the extra cost of the others I could not justify. There also seems to be plenty of fiamma ones when I look at other vans. Whichever you chose they are both extraordinary expensive. Mine is to cost 1035 pounds fitted.
Click to expand...
You tend to find Thule on the better make of vans.
 
VXman said:
The purpose of mine is to provide shade when camped up in a nice hot sunny country. Also needs to be easy/quick to set up. Does those thing nicely.
Click to expand...
Yea they are a good idea don’t get me wrong, they could just be built a lot better, more substantial and sturdy.

I saw someone with another make I’d not seen before so I went over, a GH awning, now there was a better more sturdier fit for purpose awning.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Otter Spotter said:
We have a Fiamma f45s and after 4 years the end plates and some of the other metal components have deteriorated and will need replacing and that is annoying. Really odd thing is that the blind material looks like new ,
Click to expand...
My Fiamma f45s has been on for 13 years. No problems at all.
 
Langtoftlad said:
Is there anything specific you're critical of with the Dometic?

Surely that would equate to more weight?
Click to expand...
I’m not sure but probably yes, anything that’s sturdier and better made will no doubt be heavier.
 
KUSKUS said:
Just fitted a new gearbox on our four year old Thule 6300, cost £86, not impressed.
Click to expand...
My previous Fiamma needed a new gearbox at before 1 year, had it repaired under guarantee. I've mostly had Fiamma, which I liked more than Omnistor, but now have a Dometic. Mostly because of the naff weather we've experienced, we have barely used it this year, it seems so lightweight, with spindly legs and no means of pinning them down. The biggest advantage of the Fiamma was the curved rafter I had, which stopped the fabric flapping and the water pooling. I've not seen anything like it for the Dometic. Also the storm straps are so lightweight too.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
We have a Dometic with an electric motor. The plastic gear stripped and the whole awning shot out of its casing on a site in France. Luckily no one got hit. I had to call out the breakdown service to retract what was left of it. After a protracted negotiation Dometic replaced it FoC.
 
We have had Fiamma on several motorhomes, Dometic on one and Thule on one.

The Thule is far superior in our opinion.
 
Can only comment on Thule, we have the omnister 8000 and it has been fantastic. Previous comment about being flimsy, if you roll out then tighten it back it is solid, peg down correctly and always use storm straps, never had any flapping in the wind or anything. Been using for 2 years regular. Excellent quality and would highly recommend.
 
I fitted a Thule 6300 to my Fiat based PVC. We bought the awning and Fiat fitting kit from Perfect Awnings as a complete package and would highly recommend them. Aside from the weight of the thing, fitting myself was fairly straightforward.
 

Join us or log in to post a reply.

To join in you must be a member of MotorhomeFun

Join MotorhomeFun

Join us, it quick and easy!

Join us

Log in

Already a member? Log in here.

Latest journal entries

Back
Top