ThePewterPalace Our Love Affair with Avions

We have owned two Avion travel trailers. Below is an article about our history with awnings on both trailers. At the end, I have included a quick reference “our tips” for trailer awnings-which actually can help even with modern RVs.

Our Experience with the CAREFREE Awning system: Our first trailer was a 1973, 28 foot LaGrande.

It came with the original Carefree awning system hardware, (Patio awning only). The person we bought it from had replaced the original rotten awning with a vinyl modern replacement. It was dark brown to burgundy stripe, hot, soggy, never dried out well. We highly recommend NEVER buying a vinyl modern awning replacement. It also was super heavy!

The Carefree systems are no longer made, and parts are hard to find if something breaks. The arms are very heavy and the deployment and retraction we found it very hard for one person to do by themselves. We decided to ditch the Carefree system, and sold it to a horse show vendor who we happened on in VT who sold items out of her 23 ft Avion.

After just one season, we decided to replace the patio awning system with a new complete system from ZipDee Awnings and also added window awning systems to the side and rear windows- where none had ever been. There was a time when ZipDee would do installations at the Indiana facility. They stopped doing that many years ago. We enlisted Chuck Cayo, of Cayo RV in Watervliet MI to do the installation. Chuck as many know is considered the “Avion Guru” as he is the grandson of one of the original founders of the company and has worked on them forever.

Ordering from ZipDee was super easy because this company made the awnings for Avions for sets of time, including our 73 models. Other companies that Avion Corp used included A & E, Carefree and ZipDee. We believe they used the ZipDee products the longest. ZipDee does not do online sales but their website is very extensive. They are not the cheapest route to go for awnings but the quality, ease of use, less weight and long standing excellent customer service is worth it in our opinion. They have online, printable PDF’s that include every nut, bolt, fastener, arm and spring that goes into making their products. A simple call to their sales department was all that was needed. We told them what year, model and length of Avion we had—they have nearly ALL the templates and files still so it was easy to order over the phone exactly what we needed. We did verify window sizes and patio hardware locations just in case though.

NOTE: Avions use the CONTOUR style of ZipDee awning system. Here is the link to their parts page where they break down the Contour line by year of trailer manufacture as well as have other parts for other components, etc. listed.

We selected a striped Sunbrella canvas fabric from their links and placed the order.

Solids

Stripes -this linked page is to the Sunbrella fabric store directly. (we see that ZipDee no longer carries anything but solids which is too bad. We suspect economy of scale was just too expensive to keep so many stripe variations on hand. However, when we needed them to make up our tire shades for our current 1987, 32S we simply told the ZipDee sales person what fabric # we needed (to match our existing awnings) and they could order it from Sunbrella as a special order and had it shipped to the ZipDee factory. We did have to pay an upcharge for that but to have them match was a no brainer.

In hindsight, we realized after a few years of our new awning that while we loved the dark green and rust stripe (it was identical to my memory of lawn chairs my gramma had) it was dark and darkened especially over the window/driver side windows a bit more than we liked. If we ever were to order awning material again we would go with probably a lighter beige and colored stripe pattern to allow more light in and to have less heat absorption too

Here is a slide show of the new ZipDee awning system and green striped fabric we installed on our 1973 Avion. We did this install in 2017 and it cost us about $4K which included all hardware (patio, rear and side window awnings) and awning materials. That price did not include labor for install.

What we immediately found once the driver-side window awnings were installed was that we could literally lower the inside temperature of our trailer by 8-10 degrees when in hot sunny weather. The awnings are so good at reducing the amount of heat and sun coming into the trailer, and of course, also do wonders for protecting your fabrics and cabinetry from fade and dryness. When ZipDee makes these awnings, they include 2 loops at the end of the fastening strap for the window awnings. This allows you to make some adjustment when deploying the awning as to how far down you want it to be. Lower down, it will drop the awning lower onto the window therefore reducing even further the amount of sun that can get in, but it does also block your view out the windows a bit more too, so that is a trade off.

ADDED benefit of a REAR WINDOW AWNING on a rear bath Avion model??? These windows are sliding windows and cannot be left open in rain. However, if you have a rear window awning you CAN leave the window open even in most light to medium rains without your sink vanity getting soaked or bathroom flooded with rain!!!

What about Windy weather?? We have found that the way the window awnings and their hook system works we can have them out in far windier weather conditions than the patio awnings. We will often leave our window awnings deployed even if we are leaving for the day. We NEVER leave our patio awning out if we are not at our trailer or at least at the campground for fear of a freak wind gust that could ruin the patio awning and/or its hardware.

***Again, if we had to do it all over again, we would go with the more traditional off white/beige and colored stripe to allow in more filtered light on the patio and windows.

The ZipDee system has many advantages. Note, we are not paid by, nor are endorsing this system for any purpose or reason other than we have had experience with comparing the Carefree over the ZipDee systems.

Advantages to the ZipDee Awning Systems:

• The awnings can be deployed typically by one person, even the patio one! Luise does the window ones by herself all the time.
• The company knows Avion trailers and has templates and hardware ready for 99% of years and models. Avion’s use the curved, “CONTOUR”, style of ZipDee hardware so be sure you are looking at the correct part sheets.
• They make these awning systems the same as they did in the 70s and 80s, Nothing has changed, you can still get all the parts, even down to a tiny bolt or screw from their parts list PDF’s simply by calling in the part # you need. They will ship it to you where ever you are quickly. We know this from experience!
• Their products are well made and sturdy. Their sales people and tech people know their products and can trouble shoot a lot with you.
• The patio awnings can be deployed in several ways from fully extended, or to the “rally mode” which only comes out about 4 feet making a nice bit of shade even when in tight camping spots. One end of the patio awnings can be tipped down slightly to allow for better rain run off.
• The systems are lighter in weight than other similar awning systems.
• Their latching system is more foolproof, though we also have installed the ZipDee safety travel latches. See our other tips in the list at end of this article.
• They use Sunbrella brand canvas which in our opinion is the best in the business.

FAST FORWARD TO 2019! We bought our 1987, 32S model Avion just as the COVID pandemic was swinging into gear.

The previous owner had replaced all the Sunbrella canvas when he owned it and our ZipDee system was in great shape and canvas only 5 years old and had been well cared for. As mentioned, we did want tire shades to cover our tires while parked any length of time. We were able to special order our matching Motive Denim fabric so that ZipDee could make up the tire shades for us. Ye, we did have to pay a small upcharge for them to do this but it was worth it. See our TIP for Tire Shade install in the tip list at end of this article! Here is the photo slide show of our ’87 Avion with our full awning setups and tire shades.

Gotta love the one of Kevin washing the streetside shades when it was raining…but it was the perfect time to do it! (we have since removed the rub rail blue stripe sticker)

Our AWNING TIPS AND TRICKS:

• WATCH the many video’s on YouTube done by the ZipDee staff on how to set up and take down your awnings. Know what you are doing, and doing correctly before you start! Here is their YouTube Channel and here is the link direct from their website where they include many instructional videos too.
• ONLY put your patio awning out when you are at your trailer or close by in your campground.
• Purchase a spring style awning stake tie down system and use if you plan to be set up for a week or so and have your awning out regularly. Its a good safety protection against a quick wind gust.
• Keep your awning rod handy when your awning is out so if you do need to bring it in quickly due to weather you can!
• One person can deploy a patio awning. Lengthen the awning arms a little bit on each side alternating side to side as you extend. DO NOT try to fully extend one awning arm at a time, do each side incrementally to avoid stress on the arms and brackets.
• Purchase the helper handles from ZipDee, they really do help with the patio awning set up and take down.
• Be sure your door roller is working properly so that it glides underneath the awning when deployed. Here is the ZipDee part, but they can be found at many RV supply outlets and online.
• Be sure to always allow your awnings to dry out before storing if at all possible., Often, we will stow our awnings the day before we are leaving a campground so that we are putting them away when they are dry rather than waiting till the morning we are leaving and have to deal with morning dew on them or an overnight rain.
• Be sure to allow the patio awning to “snap” back in place with the internal spring in the big roller bar doing its job.
• Install travel latches on the window and patio awnings for added security during travel. We actually installed a front and rear window awning safety latch on our two large street side window awnings. These latches are listed respectively on their window parts PDF (part #12)and their Patio Awning PDF (part #7) here is our Video on the latch install we did.
• OUR ADDITION to the patio wheel latches that come with the kit, we also add 1″ wide velcro buckle straps to 3 places on each of the vertical arms when locked in place for travel. 1 goes at the place just above the rub rail area, one goes around the helper handle and the third does just below the contour bend in the arm. It takes only a few minutes to put these on but we have known people whose awnings have blown open as they have rolled down the road in high wind conditions. Having these straps secure is added peace of mind for pennies.
• Check and double check that your wheel latches are secure when storing your patio awning.
• TIRE SHADES: We strongly suggest making up tire shades for your Avion. ZipDee used to make these up for retail sale. They no longer do that but they still have all the patterns to make them up on special order. We DO NOT recommend getting the snap on style because over time your shades with shrink and then the snaps will not align well with those mounted on your trailer sides. Instead we HIGHLY recommend purchasing the slide in track from ZipDee sold by the foot. Then instruct ZipDee (or if making by yourself) to simply sew a top casing and insert the hard plastic solid tube like they use at the top of all their window awnings. Then that casing easily but securely slips into your track you have riveted onto the outside and above your wheel well area. This allows for easy insertion and removal and no issues with future shrinkage of the canvas. Keeping your tires out of sunlight with extend the life of the tires tremendously. If in doubt about what parts you need to make your own, call ZipDee and explain to them what you plan to make.
• Perform annual or 2 times a year maintenance on your awning arms and roller end areas. More frequently if close to salt water or windy desert type conditions. Kevin uses BoShield T-9 spray and a microfiber cloth. He takes apart the side arms and wipes each one down, he shoots solution into all working parts as well at the end cap area and wheel locks. see video below.
• Our Video on annual maintenance and other tips on putting out and in your awnings.

LASTLY, just for fun, I am including a slide show collection of various styles of awnings from my collection of vintage trailers. Those of you who own 50-s60s era trailers know that most if not all had the track to slide in your awning for when you wanted to use it and then use awning poles and ropes on the corners and middle edge to hold it up. I have some examples of those as well! Enjoy!

We hope you have enjoyed this article on trailer awnings. Perhaps you found a tip useful? or a link helpful for a future project? Please let us know in the comments below. Please give us a “thumbs up” if you liked this article as it will help others find it on the www!

As always, safe travels and we hope someday to meet you on the road!

Kevin, Luise and Nutmeg