Date:         Mon, 13 Jun 2005 12:12:54 -0700
Reply-To:     Loren Busch <starwagen@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Loren Busch <starwagen@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Fiamma awning F45i
Comments: To: jpbeauch <jpbeauch@gmail.com>
In-Reply-To:  <42de3a9305061311236cc7d38e@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

RE: Mounting the Fiamma F45i
I have the same Fiamma on my '90 Westy.  If you have the mounting kit
that Fiamma provides there should be a good set of instructions with
it.  If not, you can find them on the Fiamma site.  Mine was shipped
without the instructions and there were problems, later fixed.
Make sure that if you are using just the two support brackets that one
goes between the front door and the slider and the other goes all the
way to the back between the back of the side window and the air
intake.  The large mount goes at the back.  This is important to keep
the body of the awning from being able to twist under load when the
awning is extended.
Mount the brackets first.  BTW, they are more than strong enough to
hold and the load is taken by the bracket against the body and not by
the rain gutter.
After mounting the brackets then mount the awning itself.  Open the
awning far enough to get to the inside, place a piece of wood behind
the bracket to protect the van and drill the holes, one in each
bracket.  With the holes drilled insert the bolts from the front, put
on the nuts, tighten, and you are done.
One dilemma you face is do you mount the little brackets that the feet
of the awning uprights can fit into instead of  setting them on the
ground and staking them down.  With the long awning that you have, the
front leg will normally line up with the door!  I have seen one
installation of a long awning that had the back end of the awning
sticking out past the back of the van so that the front foot could be
mounted on the body between the front door and the slider.  Looked
weird.
And a caution.  If you use the center rafter in the rain as Fiamma
suggests, it is very easy to build up a very heavy collection of water
on one side, enough to cause damage to the whole system.  Either don't
use the awning if there is any chance of heavy rain, or slope the
awning a lot, and I mean a lot, to keep the rain water from building
up.  Don't ask me how I know this....
BTW, if you have trouble finding the instructions on the Fiamma
website I think I have them bookmarked and can send them to you.