Hey everyone just got back from a trip and man it was nice to have the awning on the rig. We chose Eli's brackets because we did not want to have to drill through the rig and remove all the interior pieces to get to the nuts. His gutter attachment method worked great for us and literally took minutes to install. I will be honest and say that for some reason the brackets were a little close to the penthouse which resulted in me bending the brackets outward a tad, but that could have been cause our awning is lighter than that of a Fiamma 45i and maybe the Fiamma hangs the brackets out further with its weight. Overall we are happy with the product.
That said, here is our setup in Big Sur over the past 5 days. It worked out real well. The awning is a Mombasa and it's perfect for us too. Super reliable, closes into a bag and sets up super quick. Let me know if you're interested and i can see if i can get a group deal for anyone thats interested.
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Dave and Yoshi [Ki6LBB] https://www.adventureduo.com
2003 Baja Tan SMB EB50 V10 (SOLD in 2008)
2003 Baja Tan SMB EB DYO 7.3 Diesel
Im interested in the awning and the mounting system. I like the idea of not having to drill holes. It looks lighter then the standard awnings which most SMB's use.
Any pics of it all put away?
Where did you get it from and how much? If you wanna hit me back channel, go for it.
I will shoot close ups this weekend and post them. As far as pricing , suggested retail is $280 for the awning (*yes i know, a helluva lot cheaper than the Fiamma). Talk to Mel over at car-top-tent.com and tell them Dave @Adventureduo sent you and he'll give you a discount. It's the same awning as the ARB awning, ( http://www.arbusa.com/Products/Touring- ... gs/42.aspx ) however it's not the same size. The Mombasa is only 6.5 wide so i dont know if thats large enough for you guys (the ARB is a 8 footer and goes for over $300). For the price, i don't care. Mombasa has always been good to us, so for now we will run it.
Ray, we camped up at Prewitt Ridge. It was spectacular. I will save the rest for the trip report. The temps were in the mid 40's at night and high 60's during the day.
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Dave and Yoshi [Ki6LBB] https://www.adventureduo.com
2003 Baja Tan SMB EB50 V10 (SOLD in 2008)
2003 Baja Tan SMB EB DYO 7.3 Diesel
Hey Adveturduo
I have a Mombasa awning arriving on Monday and I contacted Eli for a set of his brackets. The info you provided on the awning was great and its the perfect size for my use and the price was great!
Looking forward to seeing the pics
Gary
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2000 RB SMB 7.3 Converted to 4x4 in 2010!
2001 KTM EXC 520
2008 Ducati Hypermotard 1100
2006 YZ 250f
2011 Modded KLX 110
2009 CRF 150r
Ok here are my pics. Remember i had to bend the brackets outwards because i couldn't get my penthouse to close properly without hitting. So in turn that crinkled the paint and i have not had time to uninstall and re-paint. Hence the rust spots (first trip was in the rain!) and stress cracks in the paint. I also installed rubber pads under the brackets to protect the paint on the rig.
When i first installed the brackets directly from Eli they were positive into the center of the truck. I had to bend them so that they were negative towards the outside of the truck. Even straight up and down i still have to watch how i lower the penthouse (manual penthouse) not to hit the brackets or awning. It's a close fit for sure.
Like i said, im very happy with the product. It just needed some fine tuning for our rig. All in all, way cheaper than running a Fiamma and their brackets. You can actually install this entire setup in 1 hour vs. whatever it takes for the Fiamma.
Also for those interested in the Mombasa awning, it does use 4 bolts per bracket, but because of the time crunch i was in for leaving for Big Sur i didn't get a chance to drill out all 4 per bracket. The awning is extremely light ( i can install by myself basically ) so i dont see a need for all 8, but i will take it off and use all the bolts in the future.
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Dave and Yoshi [Ki6LBB] https://www.adventureduo.com
2003 Baja Tan SMB EB50 V10 (SOLD in 2008)
2003 Baja Tan SMB EB DYO 7.3 Diesel
Is Eli a person or company?? Got an address?? Brackets look good. I also do not want to drill into my van for awning brackets. Today our bag awning (7' x 10') is mounted to bolt on car top carriers. When we get our penthouse that attachment method will no longer be an option.