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Old 02-01-2019, 07:41 AM   #1
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Award travel trailer?

One thing I notice I do these days especially when towing our Escape is pay attention to others trailers I pass along the way. Last week going down 95S to Crooked River State park I passed a trailer going N and first thing I noticed was how large from window was and also the odd shape of the front. Other odd thing was the roof was raised it the center like a home so everything on top was sideways like vent covers and AC unit, passing it like that could not tell what it was so thought I would just wonder about it. Funny thing about life sometimes when I get to my site to set up guess whats right next door another Award trailer , I mean whats the odds of that and no it was not the same one.
Owner told me they were made in Canada and they had it for about 5 years and really enjoyed it. They left the next day so never did see the inside of it but still say the roof line was the oddest looking thing and surprised the front glass does not get broken often. Wonder if the Canadian Escape owners see many of these in their neck of the woods?

Enjoy the journey.

Steve
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Old 02-01-2019, 07:46 AM   #2
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There have been several for sale over on our sister forum FGRV.
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Old 02-01-2019, 07:57 AM   #3
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I have good friends that own a 23' Award. They took out the front dinette and put in small recliners. And yes, the front window can be a PITA, they've had to seal it several times over the past five years or so. But for them, it's like being in the lap of luxury as they moved up in size from a 17' Burro.
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Old 02-01-2019, 12:20 PM   #4
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“Award...The Shape of Things to Come”

We owned a used Award for a little bit and it was way ahead of its time by North American standards. It used a light weight aerospace style frame that tapered to be very thick in the middle over the wheels or the torsion axles might have even run through the holes in the frame. It was bolted together and the plumbing also came out of one of the holes so it did not hang below.

If you search there are articles on the design. The sheet roofing was designed to overlap at the peak and the side walls. As mentioned we could not keep the front window sealed either.

The inside was the same layout as the 19 only the trailer was longer. Thus the bedroom ran front to back and the bed was joke in width.

We towed it with our diesel jeep. Talk about cabinet doors not matching...
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Old 02-01-2019, 01:52 PM   #5
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Many years ago I kinda fell in love with Award trailers and always wished to get one but never did. Three winters ago while traveling I10 in NM just before stopping at a rest area I saw what appeared to be an Award behind me (by the roof) and we pulled into the rest area and they did also, had a very quick visit with them, but they were not what you would call "friendly" so got no further information about whether they liked it.
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Old 02-01-2019, 01:57 PM   #6
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Too many seams, too many places for leaks. Not really molded fiberglass like an Escape.
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Old 02-01-2019, 02:41 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cpaharley2008 View Post
Too many seams, too many places for leaks. Not really molded fiberglass like an Escape.
I agree Jim however more than six years ago I knew nothing about FG trailers
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Old 02-01-2019, 05:40 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cpaharley2008 View Post
Too many seams, too many places for leaks. Not really molded fiberglass like an Escape.
That one isn't moulded fiberglass, but the same shape of trailer (complete with that peaked roof) was built by Sun Trek in moulded fiberglass, as the Vista. Some were moulded in left and right halves, so the seam was on the vertical plane down the centre line rather than around the beltline like an Escape (and most moulded fiberglass travel trailers), and some were moulded in one piece. The largest Vista was a 30-foot trailer.

I don't know if Sun Trek and Award were related (they may have both copied the same design from someone else, for all I know), or how similar they were under the skin. A few design features suggest a European origin to me.
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Old 02-01-2019, 05:58 PM   #9
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My Eggcamper had the vertical seam.
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Old 02-02-2019, 08:35 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by emers382 View Post
I agree Jim however more than six years ago I knew nothing about FG trailers
Hi: emers382... I think we took care of that Eh? Alf
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Old 02-02-2019, 09:36 AM   #11
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A couple of days ago we ran into what appeared to be a brand-new Award at Leasburg Dam State Park north of Las Cruces. The owner was not around when I had time to talk to him, so no discussion. It was totally mint, and I mean perfect paint, decals, trim, no color loss, but couldn't help but notice the frame was conventional, not like those I've seen in the past. My understanding was that Award went out of business. Has someone resurrected the brand?

Enjoy,

Perry
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Old 02-02-2019, 02:14 PM   #12
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Originally Posted by Perryb67 View Post
My understanding was that Award went out of business. Has someone resurrected the brand?
RV Lifestyle ran a letter and response (It's All About the Award) which claimed:
Quote:
You can contact Award RV at 220 Ramsey Drive, P.O. Box 216, Dunnville, Ontario, Canada N1A 2X5. Phone: 905- 774-9351 Fax: 905-774-4607 www. awardrv.com. They are the original builders of the Award trailer. They no longer manufacture trailers but refurbish used Awards and build custom units for people.
The RV Lifestyle item is undated, but I assume that it is obsolete, as that website no longer exists.

Dometic still lists Award Recreational Vehicles as a dealer, but that location is (or was, as of the May 2018 Google Street View image) an automotive service business plus a back-of-the-building business called "The RV Store". Given the couple of Awards outside in that image, my guess is that this business (likely related to the original manufacturer) doesn't make trailers, but services and possibly sells them, and specializes in Awards. Web search results suggest that this business is no longer operating.

A discussion in RV.net confirms that the manufacturer is gone, and details the connection of The RV Store:
Award TT parts

As for Sun Trek, the builder of the moulded fiberglass Vista, I found a couple of helpful posts in a FiberglassRV discussion:
Quote:
Apparently The Vista was built when a group of former employees of Award Trailers formed a company at the time of the first collapse of the Award company. They did not build many trailers.
Quote:
The manufacturer of the Vista, SunTrek, went out of business after only a few years. To my knowledge they last produced a trailer in 2003.
So Award was from the 1990's, and even Sun Trek has been gone for about 15 years, but someone was using the Award name to attract service business until recently.
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Old 10-01-2020, 03:22 PM   #13
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Award Trailer Brake System

Anyone know what the braking system (if any) is on the Award trailers. Looking at a 1995 23 foot model tomorrow. Is it surge or electric brakes?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Eggscape View Post
We owned a used Award for a little bit and it was way ahead of its time by North American standards. It used a light weight aerospace style frame that tapered to be very thick in the middle over the wheels or the torsion axles might have even run through the holes in the frame. It was bolted together and the plumbing also came out of one of the holes so it did not hang below.

If you search there are articles on the design. The sheet roofing was designed to overlap at the peak and the side walls. As mentioned we could not keep the front window sealed either.

The inside was the same layout as the 19 only the trailer was longer. Thus the bedroom ran front to back and the bed was joke in width.

We towed it with our diesel jeep. Talk about cabinet doors not matching...
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Old 10-01-2020, 03:36 PM   #14
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Anyone know what the braking system (if any) is on the Award trailers. Looking at a 1995 23 foot model tomorrow. Is it surge or electric brakes?
Despite the discussion here, this really isn't the forum to find that sort of information, since this forum is specifically about Escape trailers. The connection between Escape and Sun Trek Vista is that both are moulded fiberglass, but that's about all.

You can see the special actuating coupler for surge brakes on the tongue of the trailer, if you have an image of that detail. Keep in mind that there are actually three common systems:
  1. electric drum brakes (almost all travel trailers in North America)
  2. hydraulic brakes with surge actuator (mostly boat trailers and rental trailers)
  3. mechanical brakes with surge actuator (European)
The mechanical system is called "overrun brakes", and is common only in Europe... but an occasional European-inspired trailer has been sold with them here.

My suggestion would be to take this question to a more general RV forum, such as RV.net... if you can find one with Award owners in it.
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Old 10-01-2020, 03:48 PM   #15
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And the Award goes to"...

Hi: All... At one time Award trailers were made in Dunnville On., and well made for their time too. We had the pleasure to camp beside a former Award owner in his brand new Escape 21'er at Niagara Wine Escape. I'm not sure if he's a member here yet but I think he has family that are!!! Alf
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Old 10-01-2020, 03:49 PM   #16
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Sorry about that. Thought there were enough folks here commenting about their Award trailers to possibly grab an answer. Appreciate your response though. Take care.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian B-P View Post
Despite the discussion here, this really isn't the forum to find that sort of information, since this forum is specifically about Escape trailers. The connection between Escape and Sun Trek Vista is that both are moulded fiberglass, but that's about all.

You can see the special actuating coupler for surge brakes on the tongue of the trailer, if you have an image of that detail. Keep in mind that there are actually three common systems:
  1. electric drum brakes (almost all travel trailers in North America)
  2. hydraulic brakes with surge actuator (mostly boat trailers and rental trailers)
  3. mechanical brakes with surge actuator (European)
The mechanical system is called "overrun brakes", and is common only in Europe... but an occasional European-inspired trailer has been sold with them here.

My suggestion would be to take this question to a more general RV forum, such as RV.net... if you can find one with Award owners in it.
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Old 10-01-2020, 05:40 PM   #17
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Sorry about that. Thought there were enough folks here commenting about their Award trailers to possibly grab an answer. Appreciate your response though. Take care.
I would try Fiberglass forum . Pat
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Old 10-01-2020, 05:53 PM   #18
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Thought there were enough folks here commenting about their Award trailers to possibly grab an answer.
Fair enough, and it couldn't hurt to try.

As their replies suggest, both Eggscape and emers382 have had significant interest in Award trailers, and might be able to answer the brake question.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Eggscape View Post
We owned a used Award for a little bit and it was way ahead of its time by North American standards. It used a light weight aerospace style frame that tapered to be very thick in the middle over the wheels or the torsion axles might have even run through the holes in the frame. It was bolted together and the plumbing also came out of one of the holes so it did not hang below.
A bolted-together frame of steel stampings is very common in Europe, where they are sold by suppliers such as AL-KO; the system of frame sections can be combined to form the size and proportions of frame needed by the trailer manufacturer. While that suggests a European origin for Award components, and thus possibly overrun braking, this type of frame is also offered in North America by BAL as their Ultra-Frame... which could be used with any braking system. In these designs, there is normally a notch in the frame for the axle assembly, and the mounting bracket of the axle assembly effectively bridges the notch for structural integrity. It's a much more sophisticated design than a typical North American trailer.

An Award which I saw and examined had a bizarre welded tubular steel lattice frame, rather than the stamped and bolted frame or a more conventional design. I don't recall what it had for braking, however...

Thinking of that particular trailer reminded me that I might have a photo of one that I saw as a used unit at an RV dealership (likely but not necessarily the one with the strange frame), so I just searched, and found one. While most of the coupler is covered, it has a handle which is typical of European couplers. It might still have electric brakes, but there is a chance that this particular Award has Euro-style overrun braking. By the way, it also has the "gas bottle locker" (propane compartment) in the front of the body typical of European designs.
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Old 10-01-2020, 05:57 PM   #19
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I would try Fiberglass forum . Pat
The only issue is that Awards were not moulded fiberglass, so they don't fit there, either. The Sun Trek Vistas were moulded fiberglass, but they don't share much with the Awards other than the distinctive shape.
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Old 10-01-2020, 06:07 PM   #20
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Originally Posted by Brian B-P View Post
The only issue is that Awards were not moulded fiberglass, so they don't fit there, either. The Sun Trek Vistas were moulded fiberglass, but they don't share much with the Awards other than the distinctive shape.
I didn’t know I did see one at a campground once and thought it was fiberglass if I had the information I would help him though no matter what trailer I owned after all they are all RV’s In the end .Pat
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