bent awning arm :(

[gbaglo]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

NOW they tell me they dont have the arms, and want me to order them from Carefree and ship to Escape for the bending.

yeeesh.

Well, we don't have a second amendment in Canada.
Yeeesh is right.

[Rossue]

Uh oh, and didn't Carefree tell you they don't make them anymore? Saw your stumpy arm in your Lake Casitas post on fiberglassrv. Feelin' for you and hoping for a minor miracle. A real miss Reace moment!

[Allan Bornestig]

Miss Reace and Tammy.
Seems like they could fix anything for me.

[Ron in BC]

Well that's frustrating.

Looking at the photo again I think that it's worth trying to take the twist out.

I would put a block of wood inside the "U" first where it's not bent and move it along as it's unbent. I think that there's a reasonable chance that it can be saved.

Nothing to lose trying.

Ron

[Centex]

....

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

.....
yeeesh.

Commendable restraint there, John.

[gbaglo]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

Looking at the photo again I think that it's worth trying to take the twist out.
Ron

You have the right to bend arms.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by Rossue

Uh oh, and didn't Carefree tell you they don't make them anymore? Saw your stumpy arm in your Lake Casitas post on fiberglassrv. Feelin' for you and hoping for a minor miracle. A real miss Reace moment!

no, Carefree still makes the Fiesta, but they didn't bend the arms, that was Escape.

they appear to have JUST the piece I mangled for $120, which would sure beat ordering two complete arms for $530.

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

no, Carefree still makes the Fiesta, but they didn't bend the arms, that was Escape.

they appear to have JUST the piece I mangled for $120, which would sure beat ordering two complete arms for $530.

Try calling Carefree customer service. They were great when I called about something a few years ago.

For anyone who might need a Fiesta awning part:
https://www.e-carefree.com/ecarefree...?productId=34#

[mfschu]

Is Carefree the current Escape supplier for the manual awning? Thanks!

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by mfschu

Is Carefree the current Escape supplier for the manual awning? Thanks!

Yes they are. Only difference is straight arms due to the new mold with straighter sides.

[John in Santa Cruz]

so indeed, Escape was good with my plan to just get the lower/inner arm replacement part, its been ordered from Carefree to be shipped to Escapes' Washington state address. $120 for just that part sure beats $530 for 2 complete arms I don't need.

[Ron in BC]

Ron

[Rossue]

Nice to hear ETI stepping up given they will no longer do other service/upgrades. Did you get the door fixed?

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by Rossue

Nice to hear ETI stepping up given they will no longer do other service/upgrades. Did you get the door fixed?

not yet, I meant to call them today and schedule the work. didn't do that before because we were heading down to Lake Casitas for a week...

[UncleTim]

Thank you John for sharing all of this. Showing off mistakes takes a big person and it makes me feel a little better about myself. Every time I am not perfect, and something happens, I beat myself up over it for weeks.

And it is all but impossible to be perfect with a trailer. My awning is in for repairs right now. It seems to help to know others are going thru tribulations too. I hope it works out. I wonder if placing reinforcing behind the soon to be fixed fiberglass would provide for a more stable mount.

Please give us a follow up image of the fixed fiberglass when completed. I have always wondered how they would fix a hole.

One last thing. It seems like it makes sense to approach Escape Trailer Industries about this change in policy regarding repairs. There are an awful lot of new owners now and this seems like a sustainable business. Maybe we could ask them to reconsider.

Or maybe there is someone willing to start an Escape repair business. Maybe affiliated with Escape so things are done properly. I would be more than willing to wait to come up to Chilliwack to get repairs done. And I would greatly love the piece of mind that was in place when i purchased the trailer to begin with.

[cpaharley2008]

Originally Posted by UncleTim

Or maybe there is someone willing to start an Escape repair business.

There is a forum member here that buys wrecked Escapes and repairs them....I'll have to research his name and get back.

[John in Santa Cruz]

well, my fiberglass is fixed good as new. Santa Cruz Marine Services, right down the hill from me, and around the corner. Chris is the man. Everyone I asked locally who knew boats recommended him, and yup, he made it so good, I can't tell. ok, I need to wash and polish and wax the rest of the trailer to match, THEN I won't be able to tell, hah hah. he was afraid he was going to have to pull the "Escape" and pinstripes from the front end of the curbside, but he found an exact match gel coat, and it blended so well, he didn't have to do it up to the belt seam. wasn't cheap, but our trailer is on our homeowners insurance and it actually covers it.

still going the rounds on the arms with Carefree, and I just saw what I posted last year about the High-Low arms, and omg, I totally spaced on that whole thing..

yes, I'm going to have to cut down on the 'new' outer/upper leg, its 62" long, and the old one is 57" long, or something. the ugly part is, the curve starts just ABOVE where the locking handle's pin goes in, so I'm going to have to drill out the rivets and relocate the locking handle. I do have a drill press, but I'm gonna have to get creative with jigs to drill it because its the top of a C section piece.

I'm almost thinking of taking my angle grinder with a cutting disk, and leaving the arm too long but trimming the sides away so the bend will fit farther up it. I might have to widen the hole in the bent lower leg that the locking lever pin drops into, but that can be done with a dremel or a round file or whatever, its aluminum.

I can't cut the top of the outer/upper leg as it has a pressed in rivet-nut and a cute square notch I'd want a milling machine to reproduce. the bent inner leg will be too short, so I'll have to be careful not to fully extend it, I'll probably swap this short leg to the rear side of the awning, since I often leave that a notch or two lower than the front side for drainage.

[John in Santa Cruz]

p.s. I'll replace this post with pics of the FG repair, I just realized I haven't taken any, because its so good there's nothing to look at.

here's the wide shot of the damage, although it doesn't show the leg anchor was ripped out (he fixed that with a proper anchor of 1/4-20 threaded fiberglass nuts, and used nice marine stainless bolts to secure the new anchor point).