Modified Eli's Awning Brackets

[Ford_6L_E350]

First, let me say that Eli's brackets are much better than the ones SMB supplied with my van. I did have some cracking of the body with the SMB brackets.

When I mounted Eli's brackets the awning was too close to the penthouse. In fact, they touched:


You can see how close it is.

So, I took the awning off and modified the brackets. Basically I cut the offset in half and welded them back together. At the same time I added a 3rd bracket. This 3rd bracket came from Fiamma and was made for a new Vanagon, but it is the same concept as Eli's brackets.


You can see where the brackets were 'doubled' up and welded. The 3rd bracket had to be cut and welded and the small clamp for it was modified also.


See how the awning is moved away from the penthouse. Only 1/2", but it looks like more.


The 3rd bracket is mostly to hide the holes from the SMB brackets.

Because of the way the brackets support the awning it was easy to mount it. The awning hangs on the brackets without any fasteners needed. Then it gets bolted together so it won't fall off.

Mike

[cellularSTEVE]

Nice job Mike.
Wish I could get some Eli's Brackets modified by Mike.

steve

[Ford_6L_E350]

Steve,

No problem, swing by with a set of brackets and we can modify them in an hour or two.

Mike

[surfgeek33]

Awesome and clean job Mike. Great mod to Eli 2.0

[PecksTank]

Mike,

Looks great. The Fiamma is what I started with, and I modified it to fit the Fords and tried to improve it where I could. I made the tolerance close, as I did not want the awning hanging off the van to far. I think that I may increase the angle of the bend in the gutter to bring the awning farther out on the next batch. You are not the first to have made some modification for the clearance. Two others chose to bend them out farther. Thanks for the input.

Did the third mount put any bend or torsion to the awning? I never did a third because of the body contour of the Fords and Fiamma only uses 2 on the VW's.

Eli

[Ford_6L_E350]

Eli,

The 3rd bracket was adjusted to fit precisely. No more than 0.010" off from exact alignment. But, that would mean it would be slightly different for any other van. I cut the Fiamma down .250" on the large flat section, .300 out of the offset and .305 out of the clamp and then added a .255 spacer between the gutter and the 'leg' of the bracket. As you know, the gutter, van top and sides are not straight. Moving any of the brackets in any direction could change some of those dimensions.

Since I had some cracks in the sheetmetal around one of the SMB mounts I chose to weld the crack and hide my work with the 3rd bracket. I don't think it is needed, but I did it for cosmetic reasons.

Mike