ouR escaPOD mods

Who wants to go out and spend several hundred dollars for an awning? I certainly did not. After completing my slide-out cover, I thought, "Why not make an awning using the same fabric?" So I did.

The fabric is a camouflage, carbon fiber reinforced, rip-stop coated, waterproof fabric. Like the slide-out cover, I decided to use rope to fit the rail. It was, of course, a larger one than used for the slide-out.

The first thing I did was do a rough cut for length. I used a "hot knife," which in actuality was a smoothing tool for a wood burning iron. When turned on edge, it worked great for cutting the fabric, sealing it so that it will not unravel.

I folded the fabric, stitched it, and then folded it over the rope and sewed it using a zipper foot so that the seam could be as close as possible to the rope. The outside edge just got a double 1/2" fold. The two ends are the cut ends since they are sealed.

After looking online for ideas, I had decided to use PVC pipe for the supports. I changed my mind in the middle of things so I need to get some 3-way connectors in 1" size to replace the 4-way connectors which I currently have. I had originally thought to have a free-standing frame, but that ended up being too cumbersome. I now have two sections of 1" PVC pipe stretching the front of the awning with short stubs to reach the ends and make the curve to follow the gutter. For legs, I have three 1" PVC pipes with holes spaced every 6" for adjustments. These slide into 1-1/4" PVC pipes and 1/4" x 2" wire locking pins (rounded) are used to secure them in place.

The foot end of the supports got a cap, drilled to go over a pin which slides into the lower track. I still have some final fitting to do so that they will slide in smoothly over the screw heads. These were made of 1/2" round welding steel rods and 5/16" round welding steel rods. The part that slides in the track was cut to 6" and the other part was cut to 8", welded into a hole drilled in the 1/2" rod pieces, and bent to make a suitable angle for the awning when it is set up.

Now for some pictures:













To do yet: make tie-down ropes to use either with weights or stakes to help hold the outer edge. Also, re-sew one of the seams where it isn't holding properly. This is on one of the end rod pockets.

Perhaps it is time to change the name of our R-Pod to CamoPod.

Edit: I am adding a picture of the awning in use at the Whispering Winds RV park in Newark, NY recently. It shows how I add tension to the awning without stakes.



The red cans are plastic Folgers cans from a local restaurant. I made four of them. Each has a quarter-bag of ready-mix and an eye bolt with two nuts holding a fender washer. The fender washer was sunk into the wet concrete and the lid held it in place while the concrete was curing. I made ropes sufficient in length to be able to adjust the poles. I use a tautline hitch to tighten the ropes so I can easily adjust them as needed.

This one is not for the trailer, but is quite useful.

What do you do with the hitch when you are not towing? That was the problem I had. in my 179, I was beating up the bottom of the storage area opening trying to get it in and out. the bars were not a problem. It was the shank and head. I did not want to leave the hitch attached to the car. That would not be good for it. I did not want to leave it outside, and I certainly did not want to put it in the trailer.  I decided to do something about it.

First, I was having a problem with the bottom of the shank scraping on our driveway when we pulled in or out of our driveway. The Ford Escape is low enough that the shank did not need to be so long. I used an angle grinder with a cut-off wheel to cut 2" off the bottom of the shank. Then i smoothed and painted the cut area to prevent rust. This served two purposes. The first is to eliminate the scraping of our driveway. The second was to make it possible to finish this mod.

I purchased a Ridgid 22" tool box from Home Depot. I used some scrap wood to build a cradle for the hitch. Then i put a plastic bag in and filled it with Great Stuff insulating foam. I sprayed it with some water to speed the curing. I had previously found that if I did not spray it with water that it would not cure, probably because the plastic bag kept moisture from the air out. After it expanded and cured, I had a custom-formed cushioning cradle for the hitch. There is room inside for me to keep my Hitch Grip (which I highly recommend) and the hitch locks, pins, and covers. The end result is a place where I can keep my hitch head that is clean, watertight, and which I can keep in the back of our Escape while traveling and in the R-Pod when at home. Since it is watertight, I could also keep it outside, under the R-Pod, but I would want a good cable lock if I were to do so.

Now for some pictures:

I used Arrow 18 GA Brad Nails, 5/8" #BN1810 and a Black & Decker PowerShot stapler to attach the strips. I did not use glue on them.

Okay, here's another one for those of us frustrated by the plastic track and sliders for the curtains. In our 179, it was the curtains behind the kitchen counter. After seeing that Forest River has finally addressed this in the newest R-Pods, I decided to do something about it. I purchased Cafe Curtain Rods. If you do this, make sure you get ones long enough to cover the window. They are really inexpensive at Wal-Mart.

First, remove the end clip on the plastic tracks and remove the curtains.
Second, remove the tracks.
Third, using 1" molding, cover the screw holes. In my case, I decided to place the molding all the way across.
Fourth, Attach the mounting clips for the curtains. For the center clip, I slipped one end behind the window frame and only used one screw. The others used two screws.
Fifth, remove the plastic slider material from the back of the curtains. Fold and sew a casing on top and bottom. This will need to be just big enough to fit the rod.
Sixth, slide the curtains onto the rods.
Seventh, snap the rods into the mounting clips and adjust the curtains to cover the window evenly.

Enjoy being able to move the curtains without them catching on the screw heads.

Note: This made for very tight curtains. We will be making new curtains in the near future which will have a little more ease in them so they will fit better.

Thanks -- it may come to that, but I'm likely to mess up something worse when I get tools in my hands.