Fun with Fiamma awning mounts

[boywonder]

.....like people with EV's having range anxiety, I have wind anxiety when I have my awning deployed.....

It's summer and I've got time on my hands, so I've been playing with awning leg mounting methods that are simple, robust and don't require drilling holes in the body.

Here's one iteration:

Scrap delrin block mounted to the side steps for Fiamma front mount and tail pipe for rear mount. The tail pipe has a rivnut installed and the thumbscrew goes through one hole on the foot of the Fiamma leg.....crazy simple.


One downside of this setup is that you can't open the passenger door very far...and the mount is kinda hanging out in the breeze....working on Rev #2 to solve that issue......

 

[boywonder]

Owl vans has a magnetic mount.....another interesting idea. I bought magnets to Home-Brew one of these but they got used on another project.

 

[BrianW.]

I seem to recall someone posting (years ago) a cool extendable leg mount...

Edit: Found some pics, but not a write-up on it. Very cool mod, though, that I've thought about doing but never got around to it (my Fiamma is currently not mounted on my van). Pics attached are from the post noted below, just adding them here for archival reasons. These are NOT my pics/my van.

See post #5 at https://www.sportsmobileforum.com/forums/f19/awning-leg-body-mounts-yes-or-no-9610.html

 

[bigriver-SMB]

The magnets are brilliant

 

[boywonder]

Ok...next iteration.......

Brian..thanks for those pics. One interesting thing in those pics is that moving the front mount aft maybe 5-6" allows the passenger door to open, likely worthwhile to do.

...and those tubular steel outriggers are stout.

So here is my slide gizmo......1/8" thick wall 6063 channel....slides on the delrin block about 12-14". Loosen knob and slide then tighten knob.

Besides moving the slide aft a little for better door clearance, I'm thinking about 2 more modifications:

I can get it to tuck in better under the side step......and angling the silver Fiamma receiver thing so the top is angled inboard helps lots in ease-of-use (getting the foot in the receiver)

 

[doublevan2]

Better get your "jig" set up for quantity production ! I'll take a set ! See what happens when you experiment too much ! ha - ha !

 

[MarinBlaine]

Nice work boywonder.

The absolute gamechangers are the fiamma tie-down straps I picked up from 1der after we saw the video of one of our board members’ fiamma become a spectacularly airborne in Baja..(wish I could find the drone vid)

Game.Changer

Windy day at the beach? No problem
Windy day in Winter in Anza Borrego or Quartzsite? No problem.

Just do it.

My wife and I can’t believe they just don’t include them stock.

I’ll dig up some photos.

Full Disclosure: the first summer I owned my rig, we just had no idea. Went to bed on a quiet evening, left the awning up…in the mountains above Boulder Utah (I know…I know…), huge gust came in the middle of the night and bent the sh** out of my whole awning case. Fool me once…

It resulted in one of my first posts on this forum! (https://www.sportsmobileforum.com/forums/f14/gone-free-in-sf-bay-area-fiamma-10-awning-22842.html)

Never again. Tie down straps are easily one of our best rig upgrades ever

 

[martinli]

@MarinBlaine I do not like the original Fiamma tie down straps because of that plastic brackets. I combined the Fiamma special metal bracktes (the one which slides into the awning rail) with Thule tie down straps. Thule is all made of steel.
All that can hold a lot of wind. But in heavy windy situations we usally close the awning anyways.
Once I had heavy wind where the massice tent pegs got loose. Depends on the ground.

 

[1der]

Martinli - the Fiamma Kit S is all metal including the upper tab that hooks into the slot in the awning panel that extends out. The part number is 98655-567 Yellow or black strap.



The leg mounts that boywonder is using have a locking feature that hold the pivoting leg base in the mount. They are as solid as the fasteners used and the surface they are mounted to. I have almost always refrained from installing them due to having to put holes in the van sheet metal and especially the door. The outrigger system boywonder is designing (similiar to jwintersteller's) solves the making holes in the side of the van issue. Having side steps makes it much easier to mount an outrigger system. Otherwise, using the pinch seam and another underbody surface (not the frame) could be made to work.

Another, but no where near as secure as the leg tab mounts, way of providing some additional hold down is weight. I used a four old dumbbell plates at 5lbs each and cut a slot into each of them which fits around the leg and rests on leg foot tab. It is a quick way to add 5 to 10 lbs of holding. But in a very strong gust they will not be enough and I have added 10 to 20 lbs of weight to the load of stuff to carry.

 

[boywonder]

The leg mounts that boywonder is using have a locking feature that hold the pivoting leg base in the mount. They are as solid as the fasteners used and the surface they are mounted to.

....Yes...a very simple, elegant design. The feet won't pull out of the mounts once the mount is slid closed.

 

[arctictraveller]

Great food for thought. I think ill play around with ways to attach the mounts to my Aluminess side steps, that wont be lower than the bottom of the tubes to prevent catching on things off road. It might be as simple as making them removable while driving. My current solution uses two ratchet straps on each corner at a 90 degree angle with 1/2 inch 8 inch long bolts pounded into the ground with a BFH. That makes everything very solid, but it takes a bit to get it all set up and its a trip hazard in the dark, but i always take it down before bed anyway.

 

[martinli]

@Ray The probably weaker thing of the Fiamma tie down straps is the black plastic junction, see picture. Since I allready owned a thule tie down strap I just combined them.

Also I added the Fiamma aluminium wall brackes to the door and the sheet metal in the back. This is ery usefull in some situations and prety solid.

Cheers,
Martin

 

[doublevan2]

Just wondering aloud here - DANGEROUS ! - so envision those "T" couplings that hold tent or swing set poles together - at a "T" junction of the poles - large enough to fit around the round (only) running rails on SMB rigs. Picture a set (2) of those wrapped around your running board rails - and an anchor point/bolt (?) holding your Fiamna awning leg to that "T" - when awning not deployed make sure your "T" is pointed to the sky so as to minimize the chance of grabbing rocks, tree stumps, etc., as you're traveling down the forest service roads, etc. Yah - I'm crazy ! I am in awe of boywonder's mounting fabrication(s) - and his continued contribution to this forum ! NOT trying to hijack his ideas and threads - just amazed at his input and give him all my thumbs up !

 

[MarinBlaine]

@Ray The probably weaker thing of the Fiamma tie down straps is the black plastic junction, see picture. Since I allready owned a thule tie down strap I just combined them.

Also I added the Fiamma aluminium wall brackes to the door and the sheet metal in the back. This is ery usefull in some situations and prety solid.

Cheers,
Martin

The weak point for me on this second Fiamma awning was the plastic mounting bracket on the inside of the metal case to attach the optional middle rafter. We like the stability the middle rafter offers. Since we have become more bold leaving the awning up in the wind, clearly there is more strain on that part of the system.

The attachment point inside the awning case is plastic, and it broke when we were in some wind on the Carrizo Plain this spring. 1der quickly hooked me up with a replacement. But there is a bit of a design flaw I think, and a thin part on that bracket is likely prone to breaking. We shall see. Luckily the replacement was pretty darn cheap, I think under $20.

As for the plastic snap brackets on the strap that Martin mentions, those are pretty darn beefy and I have confidence in them.

 

[arctictraveller]

Just wondering aloud here - DANGEROUS ! - so envision those "T" couplings that hold tent or swing set poles together - at a "T" junction of the poles - large enough to fit around the round (only) running rails on SMB rigs. !

Thats a great idea. This chainlink fence bracket could easily be modified to fit, i used several of them when fabricating my exo skeleton tube work rather than welding so everything is easily removeable.

 

[doublevan2]

Hey Jeff - thanks for feedback - but I'm finding that this may not work due to max diameter of bracket opening being like 2 7/8" - my round running board must be like
3 1/2 to 4 inches !? Van in storage so can't measure - told you my idea could be dangerous ! Still looking - maybe "butt joint band clamp - stainless steel - I used those to secure my home made CAT protector cabling - I'll keep looking !

 

[arctictraveller]

Hey Jeff - thanks for feedback - but I'm finding that this may not work due to max diameter of bracket opening being like 2 7/8" - my round running board must be like
3 1/2 to 4 inches !?

Those things are easy to bend. Just find something of the correct diameter and use a hammer to adjust it around the pipe.

 

[boywonder]

Those things are easy to bend. Just find something of the correct diameter and use a hammer to adjust it around the pipe.

...I prefer a bit more finesse.....lol

Pipe hangers....Mcmaster sells many styles in many sizes.

This style is interesting, santoprene with stainless fasteners. Replace the hex heads with knurled thumbscrews for easy on-off, and drill and tap the other end plate for the fiamma mounts. Mount the Fiamma mounts on there and stow them inside when not in use.

https://www.mcmaster.com/3063T26/

https://www.mcmaster.com/products/p...-damping-threaded-rod-mount-clamping-hangers/

 

[boywonder]

...picture is worth 1000 words.......

 

[arctictraveller]

Pipe hangers sound like an even better idea, thanks