All Top awning + Wasatch Overland brackets Ford E Series.

[dbhosttexas]

First and foremost, my apologies to @1der as his clamp on brackets I believe would be preferrable simply due to not having to poke holes in my van, but here is my experience with the Wasatch Overland Ultra 4 brackets and the All-Top Overland Gear 8'2" x 10' bag type awning.

Not his is not a Fiamma setup, or even an easy to set up the first time rig so let's get the struggle out of the way. I posted a video of me setting this thing up the first time and it was like wrestling cooked spaghetti.

https://youtu.be/p6x19F49EEs

Some things I did not mention in the video...

1. The holes, once drilled to size, were deburred using a metal deburring tool, this keeps the sheet metal edges and burrs from cutting the Well nuts.
2. All Top ships the awning with 4 short bolts, 4 long bolts. There need to be 6 bolts total.
3. All Top ships with the legs not locked down so the slide around as you try to set the awning up, LOCK THESE IN PLACE COLLAPSED BEFORE SETTING UP!
4. The Ford Short brackets allow the bag for the awning to sag too low and interfere with the door operation.
5. The bolts, even the short ones snag on the penthouse roof seal raising and lowering it.

So a quick trip to my friends shop and he has a deburring tool, zipped the burrs right off and smoothed the edges nicely.

I spent some quality time with an angle grinder and a Harbor Freight cutoff wheel after all the bolts were tight cutting the bolts to just barely proud of the lock nuts. This solved the snagging on the Penthouse top seal issue.

Locking the legs in place before stowing the awning means next setup will be a LOT easier / a lot less of a figth. DO IT!

And some simple buckle / cinch straps make quick work of tightening up the awning bag and getting it out of the way of the doors.

So yeah I finally got it set up, but still had to wrangle it but once up it provided exactly the shade / shelter I bought it for. And subsequent setups knowing its quirks are now MUCH easier.





No picture taken, but one item of concern, for the front bracket, there is a LONG bolt that runs all the way through, no bid deal but the ford factory trim piece would clear this no problem, but the Sportsmobile piece, not so much... I need to mark and trim to clear the bolt to be able to get the trim piece back into place.

I have a trip coming up that will have me cold camping in either very cold rain, or possibly snow, this will allow me to set up a dry area outside where I can put my Solo Stove semi close-ish to, and enjoy a warn, dry place to sit and sip on spiced rum Egg Nog...

Mind you. I had considered building my own awning but could not figure out the 10' extension poles so this solves that for me.

I am not thrilled about the extensive use of plastics, but it doesn't appear that much different from say the ARB awnings or anything else similar.

Anyway once the interior trim gets finished, this project can be counted as 100% done. And move on to the next one.

[arctictraveller]

When i started with a bag awning, several friends mentioned they were a pain to deploy and replace, but being far less expensive i bought one anyway. After a couple years of use i discovered it I didnt use it nearly as often i would have liked due to the set up procedure. I finally bit the bullet and bought a Fiama from 1der, and now i use it all the time. I highly recomend Rays brackets and the Fiama awning if you can afford it.

[dbhosttexas]

Since the other style brackets required drilling into the side of my van I am kind of committed here...

I know the Fiamma works with these brackets, the idea here is to be able to upgrade as finances become happier...

The big issue is that the tarp rig I was exponentially harder to use. And it sucked up storage space in the van...

Overall it IS a huge improvement, but it IS imperfect.

So as I am prioritizing the 4wd conversion which includes new transmission, etc... and plumbing upgrade I opted to spend less on an awning. But let's look at this in perspective.

My other options in my budget were to keep using a tarp rig, suction cup held to the roof and the suction cups kept falling off, and it was WAY harder to set up.

10x10 EZ Up canopy. Pagoda style which actually covers 13x13. Much bigger, MUCH harder to set up, and super prone to tumbling down the campground at the slightest breeze.

Bag style awning works absolutely. It is also absolutely a pain in the rear end to set up, but not as bad as an EZ Up or a tarp rig. Plus while sensitive to winds, nowhere near as bad as the other two...

My late father in law had a travel trailer with a power deploy awning that was used almost every single day. My old pop up trailer I used to have had a bag style awning that I used nearly every day, BUT... the setup was different Not sure how to describe it... But the pivots were more flexible at the frame...

[Big_ern_101]

Man I have been on the fence about an awning with my pop-top van. Where I am challenged is a few fold:
-I don't really trust the clamp-on brackets. I is engineer, and the clamp method is fairly jank. The factory drip rails are just not an ideal spot for that sort of load long-term, and the idea of clamp-load-only on items subject to vibration and sustained wind loading gives me the heeby-jeebies.
-I dont' want to drill. If I don't like the awning, I will forever have holes in my cherry rust free van.
-I have a pop top, so I can't mount a roof rack with a 270 awning. If I had a fixed top, this would be the solution 100% even though 270 degree awnings are not super great on RB vans and really not great on extended body vans
-I want to be able to deploy quickly and take down quickly. This rules out the "tarp in a bag" solutions. Even the Fiamma has a lot of fiddling once it is cranked out. Gotta stake it down, pull it back in event of breeze or rain, so kind of defeats the purpose of a shelter for anything but sun.

So far I have ended on a genuine EZ-Up "Speed Shelter" which is the 8x12 popup. Its super heavy duty, once staked or weighted down no issues even in 20-30 MPH winds. A guy can ratchet strap it to his running boards if it can't be staked down.
Its fast to deploy and take down - few minutes for 1 person, even less for 2 people.
It was a no-drill solution.
The 8x12 footprint allows it to be run parallel or perpendicular to the vehicle based on desired layout, shading, and space available.

[arctictraveller]

Originally Posted by Big_ern_101

Man I have been on the fence about an awning with my pop-top van. Where I am challenged is a few fold:
-I don't really trust the clamp-on brackets..

I can only explain my experience with the clamp on brackets after about five years use. The first three i had a bag awning mounted and then two more with the much heavier Fiama. I likely wheel offroad harder and more often than most folks, and after untold hours and miles of washboard, rocky trails, and highspeed dirt roads, ive had zero issues with the clamp on brackets on my poptop GTRV. I will admit i do add bungy to the roof rack when on the worst trails, but i doubt it really does much to support it.

[1der]

Big_ern 101- I am chuckling ...

First, nearly every single aspect of our rigs is a compromise we make with ourselves.

Second, the Z brackets have been around for something like 15 yrs? I am the third or fourth person to taken on making the them. I alone probably have 200 units out there. I am guessing Zeta and Eli did st least that many and Van Specialties did some runs.

During that time I know many hardcore guys who have had these in very challenging trails. I would say they are proven.

Third, setting up a Fiamma has to be one of the easiest/ quickest things to do and it is definitely one person. The entire awning is outside of the cabin. Staking or weighting or guy strap is fast. And if you only have room for a limited extension due to an obstruction you have the ability to crank it out as much as you want up to 8 ft .

And if it is raining the Fiamma material is 100% water proof.

Just my two cents.

[N147JK]

Originally Posted by Big_ern_101

-I don't really trust the clamp-on brackets. I is engineer, and the clamp method is fairly jank. The factory drip rails are just not an ideal spot for that sort of load long-term, and the idea of clamp-load-only on items subject to vibration and sustained wind loading gives me the heeby-jeebies.

One thing to note.. the brackets do clamp to the drip rail, but they also have a leg that braces against the van body. I'd guess much of the load is taken up by that brace and not directly by the drip rail. Mine is solid as a rock.

As to the awning itself.. we never use it!! Same problem as with a rooftop tent - once it's set up, you are grounded and not going anywhere. The shade is nice, but I don't like becoming immobilized like that, especially in a vehicle that's supposed to maximize mobility!

[dbhosttexas]

@Big_ern_101 just to be clear, at 31 years old, with some rust, my fan is anything but "cherry" which is a term I hadn't heard used for vehicles since the 1980s BTW...

1der was absolutely correct when he sais "First, nearly every single aspect of our rigs is a compromise we make with ourselves."

I have no qualms drilling holes where they need to be. And since Rust repair and repaint is also on the agenda, not super concerned with it. More concerned with how solid the connection is. The well nuts do a good job of holding and sealing as long as the holes are reamed / deburred after being drilled and prior to installing the well nuts...

In my experience, an EZ Up is a royal PITA to set up solo, much worse than a bag type awning. YMMV of course. I rejected my old EZ Up Pagoda 13x13 (10x10 with extensions) because of how unwieldy it is setting up, and in the wind.

Runningn boards? Nope. Don't have em... Had them when I bought the van, first thing I removed as they were all mashed up and looked like they belonged on an 80 year olds van when the van was new...

For ME, and this is just me, everyone else's needs vary... My choice was between a bag type awning, or a fiamma or similar awning. The bag type are lighter, less complex, and far more affordable.

I went with the Wasatch drill through type bracket instead of 1der's Z bracket design due to availability. I am up into my camping season here in TX, and I want to take advantage of my camper NOW, and not wait for the potential to get brackets or not maybe sometime after new years. (Sorry Ray, I know I am being impatient...).

Were 1der's brackets available much earlier I probably would have gone that way and not had to worry about drilling holes. That is the ONLY areea I have any questions / doubt and it is MINOR...

The EZ Up solution makes sense if you are a couple and can coordinate setup, but even then, more staking down to do, more likely to go tumbling down the beach etc... Not for me.

[N147JK]

Originally Posted by dbhosttexas

Runningn boards? Nope. Don't have em... Had them when I bought the van, first thing I removed as they were all mashed up and looked like they belonged on an 80 year olds van when the van was new...

I'm leaving my running boards on. If I can just wait a few more years, they are sure to come back into style, or, I'll be 80. One or the other.

[Big_ern_101]

Originally Posted by N147JK

One thing to note.. the brackets do clamp to the drip rail, but they also have a leg that braces against the van body. I'd guess much of the load is taken up by that brace and not directly by the drip rail. Mine is solid as a rock.

As to the awning itself.. we never use it!! Same problem as with a rooftop tent - once it's set up, you are grounded and not going anywhere. The shade is nice, but I don't like becoming immobilized like that, especially in a vehicle that's supposed to maximize mobility!

Amen, brother. Thats another reason why I prefer the EZUp.

Glad I provided a few laughs, i still stand by my opinions that an EZUp is faster than a Fiamma, the clamp on brackets are jank, and even Fiamma themselves dont recommend leaving the awning up in wind or heavy rain. No issues with an EZUp in either of those conditions. (please note I said EZ-Up. Not the $99 "Hard-Up" Walmart specials. Those things suck. This is the $650, USA Made EZ-Up)

As far as running boards - the bottom of my running boards is 29" off the ground. I need all the ease in ingress I can get.