pyemaster
Member
Hi guys
Rather than clog up the other thread I thought I'd put up the requests for pics here.
It is stored in a bag on the side of my roof rack and pivots out from the back corner. There are three beams which have extendable sections, with a super-lightweight and ultra-thin tarp material covering the area between them.
The beams are 5ft long, made out of 1" x 0.5" box section ally, with a slightly smaller cross-section beam inside, which is 3ft long, and slides out and locks into place. Each beam is then 8ft long.
First, shots of the bag:
Here you can see the ends of the beams, with an oval hole I drilled for the supporting extendable poles to attach (I keep them in the truck, and they can be brought out to sure up the beams if it gets really windy). You can also see one of the 3M snap-fit strips I use to attach the awning material to the beams. It isn't hook-and-loop velcro, but a new one which has a stronger sheer strength:
Here's the tensioning arm which comes out and locks into place on the back of the roof rack, it keep everything nice and taught across the beams when it's fully opened.
Here you can see where the inner beam slides out to get the full length:
Coach bolt fulcrum:
Opening out:
Tensioning arm locked into place:
Fully opened:
The whole lot cost me two weekends and about £100. The setup is very light, but strong, and self supports fine in light conditions. When it gets strong I use the extendable poles I store in the truck separately, and they each guy down. It survived a big storm blowing in when I was camping in Wales in the autumn - I left it up all night and it got so strong I thought the whole lot would be gone in the morning! Luckily I only lost one of the little strips, job done.
Happy to answer any questions.
Owen
Rather than clog up the other thread I thought I'd put up the requests for pics here.
It is stored in a bag on the side of my roof rack and pivots out from the back corner. There are three beams which have extendable sections, with a super-lightweight and ultra-thin tarp material covering the area between them.
The beams are 5ft long, made out of 1" x 0.5" box section ally, with a slightly smaller cross-section beam inside, which is 3ft long, and slides out and locks into place. Each beam is then 8ft long.
First, shots of the bag:
Here you can see the ends of the beams, with an oval hole I drilled for the supporting extendable poles to attach (I keep them in the truck, and they can be brought out to sure up the beams if it gets really windy). You can also see one of the 3M snap-fit strips I use to attach the awning material to the beams. It isn't hook-and-loop velcro, but a new one which has a stronger sheer strength:
Here's the tensioning arm which comes out and locks into place on the back of the roof rack, it keep everything nice and taught across the beams when it's fully opened.
Here you can see where the inner beam slides out to get the full length:
Coach bolt fulcrum:
Opening out:
Tensioning arm locked into place:
Fully opened:
The whole lot cost me two weekends and about £100. The setup is very light, but strong, and self supports fine in light conditions. When it gets strong I use the extendable poles I store in the truck separately, and they each guy down. It survived a big storm blowing in when I was camping in Wales in the autumn - I left it up all night and it got so strong I thought the whole lot would be gone in the morning! Luckily I only lost one of the little strips, job done.
Happy to answer any questions.
Owen
thanks for the pics.
