Awning brackets RUST

[BlkShn]

Hi Folks

anyone having trouble with steel brackets that SM uses to mount the awning to SM ? Mine are one year old and rusting. The black paint is peeling off the brackets and rust is transferring to my van rain gutters.

SM rep says it's just surface rust...what kind of answer is that?

Brackets were painted or powdered dirty. SM needs to use stainless steel and/or place a plastic/rubber spacer between bracket and van paint.

[daveb]

Yep, it’s a big gripe and even the new brackets are the same. Have a shop make some out of SS if you wish. Most of the rust on mine came from the thread area by the bolts. Another item to check is if the bottom of the plate actually contacts the body. With flex it will wear off the paint. I had SMB add rubber washers to keep it off the body, but then cracks developed which started that post.
DaveB

[Joanna]

This happened to me, the rust was developing quickly. Since I live in a salty atmosphere, (and since I had not used the awning once in the 7 months I've had the van) I had SMB West take it off. They said they'd sell it for me.

[Greggd]

Joanna,
unfortunately you live in one of the harshest environments in the United States .We have done a great deal of accelerated testing of our products and their ability to withstand the combination of UV degradation and air born salt contamination in the Corpus area over the last 30 plus years . You might consider custom fabrication of your bracket's out of a Marine Grade Stainless Steel as the milder grades of Stainless will fail in your area . You could contact Peter at SportsMobile and see if they could make your bracket's out of SS . If you like you could give Peter my name and I could make the test info available to him for consideration .I have close friend's and customers thru this area of Texas and all will validate the corrosive nature of your environment .
Greggde

[Joanna]

Thanks for the validation on my opinion of the climate, Greggde. I wonder if it's worth all the trouble to get the awning put back on if I'm just risking cracks which will then become sites for more rust.
My SMB is parked in full sun 25 yards from the Gulf of Mexico 24/7. Blowing sand is also a factor. I've had the van undercoated, wash it 3x/week and have it detailed every 6-8 weeks. Still...

[Greg In Austin]

If you decide to go for stainless brackets, lett me know, I might be up for that idea and replace ours also.