arb awning inquiry (1 Viewer)

[Paul DiNapoli]

looking to purchase an ARB (or other brand) awning to provide for shade on several road trips planned this summer.

just a general inquiry for anyone that has purchased/installed one of the ARB awnings...anyone care to share long term owner review info?

clearly they seem pretty reasonably priced...so my question is - how is the overall quality? do they last? do things start breaking 3 to 5 years out? anyone buy one wishing they'd done something different? There's several options out there for shade solutions - just wondering if anyone has any buyers remorse - wish they'd spent more money on the front end to avoid replacing later?


thanks all.

 

[caslim]

They are great. I have had mine for about two years. Love it. And, they make a great annex room for it as well.

 

[pappy]

I had one for several years. Never had a problem with it. Sold it and bought a Batwing.

 

[Paul DiNapoli]

I had one for several years. Never had a problem with it. Sold it and bought a Batwing.

batwing - only for more coverage? any field issues that made you upgrade?

i'm mostly just asking around to see if folks spent 250+ - and later wished they'd just spent the 500 the first time.

 

[pappy]

As a very wise buddy said "you cannot have enough shade in the desert." I bought the Batwing for more cover, especially off the back.

 

[ArizonaFJ]

My wife got one with her 60 five years ago (first wedding anniversary present - the 60, not the awning) and we use it often. I'd say they're decent quality. They have some plastic connectors that make me cringe every time I see them but they've held up so far. The rubberized fabric cover is pretty heavy duty and we've not had any problems with the zipper. The lightweight, rip-stop fabric that is the awning itself is holding up well, too.
It can be set up and taken down by one person but can be a bit of a struggle. With two people it's a breeze; less than five minutes. It does require two guy ropes - one off each outer corner - that you can tie to a tree, bush or large tent peg. I use 10" spikes. Despite my dislike of guy ropes, we've not run into a situation where their requirement has been a problem but something to think about if you're going to use it at the beach or very rocky ground. We've not used it in high winds but I'd guess I'd probably roll it up if gusts started approaching 20 mph. Hopefully others can chime in with wind experience.
We put it on the truck every time we head out for camping or just a day of exploring. Several times we've had 3-7 people huddled under it as a rain storm passed through. More fun than everyone going to their own vehicle/tent to wait it out. It probably doesn't shade as large an area as batwing does but a little forethought before you park allows you to use the truck and awning together to give adequate shade (although still less than a batwing).
I made a couple of mounts using Home Depot-sourced material that allows one person to install it on the truck (or move it to the opposite side of the truck) in just a couple minutes with nothing more than a 10mm wrench and socket. No pics of the mount as it's late and we're leaving first thing in the morning for Death Valley (awning installed and ready to go). I'll take some pictures and post them when we get back Sunday.
Since we didn't buy this awning seperately, we can't have buyer's regret but we've always been happy with it and never wanted more. I've never been around the batwing awnings but my guess is that they have more shade at the expense of more complex/time consuming installation, more weight, and, well, more expense. I'll let others with more experience talk about that and if they think it's worth it.
Sorry for the long winded reply but I hope it helps your decision.
Quick edit - for two people and a couple dogs it works well. If you have mom, dad, three kids and a couple dogs all trying to find shade for the afternoon it'd be tight. Tolerable for 1-2 outings a year or for short periods (half hour rainstorm) but if you have a family and plan on using it often then the added area of a batwing style might be worth it.

 

[Paul DiNapoli]

My wife got one with her 60 five years ago (first wedding anniversary present - the 60, not the awning) and we use it often. I'd say they're decent quality. They have some plastic connectors that make me cringe every time I see them but they've held up so far. The rubberized fabric cover is pretty heavy duty and we've not had any problems with the zipper. The lightweight, rip-stop fabric that is the awning itself is holding up well, too.
It can be set up and taken down by one person but can be a bit of a struggle. With two people it's a breeze; less than five minutes. It does require two guy ropes - one off each outer corner - that you can tie to a tree, bush or large tent peg. I use 10" spikes. Despite my dislike of guy ropes, we've not run into a situation where their requirement has been a problem but something to think about if you're going to use it at the beach or very rocky ground. We've not used it in high winds but I'd guess I'd probably roll it up if gusts started approaching 20 mph. Hopefully others can chime in with wind experience.
We put it on the truck every time we head out for camping or just a day of exploring. Several times we've had 3-7 people huddled under it as a rain storm passed through. More fun than everyone going to their own vehicle/tent to wait it out. It probably doesn't shade as large an area as batwing does but a little forethought before you park allows you to use the truck and awning together to give adequate shade (although still less than a batwing).
I made a couple of mounts using Home Depot-sourced material that allows one person to install it on the truck (or move it to the opposite side of the truck) in just a couple minutes with nothing more than a 10mm wrench and socket. No pics of the mount as it's late and we're leaving first thing in the morning for Death Valley (awning installed and ready to go). I'll take some pictures and post them when we get back Sunday.
Since we didn't buy this awning seperately, we can't have buyer's regret but we've always been happy with it and never wanted more. I've never been around the batwing awnings but my guess is that they have more shade at the expense of more complex/time consuming installation, more weight, and, well, more expense. I'll let others with more experience talk about that and if they think it's worth it.
Sorry for the long winded reply but I hope it helps your decision.
Quick edit - for two people and a couple dogs it works well. If you have mom, dad, three kids and a couple dogs all trying to find shade for the afternoon it'd be tight. Tolerable for 1-2 outings a year or for short periods (half hour rainstorm) but if you have a family and plan on using it often then the added area of a batwing style might be worth it.

thanks a bunch for all that info...that's exactly what I was after. I'll probably use it several times / year - camping, fishing, etc...sounds like from what folks have shared the quality is good enough and they do exactly what they should. the aluminum cased ARB awning looks like a nice option for not too much money - to make it look a little sharper and keep the whole thing more protected from the elements.

i've seen up close a really high end foxwing/batwing awning on a troopy - it was glorious...but at $1500 - too rich for my wallet. looked like a very large/heavy/complicated install that I'm not crazy about.

+ my truck needs a list of things that cost over $1000.00... i can't justify high end camping shade over suspension bushings, ome kit, water leak repairs, tune up, sound deadener, the list goes on!

 

[RFB]

looking to purchase an ARB (or other brand) awning to provide for shade on several road trips planned this summer.

just a general inquiry for anyone that has purchased/installed one of the ARB awnings...anyone care to share long term owner review info?

clearly they seem pretty reasonably priced...so my question is - how is the overall quality? do they last? do things start breaking 3 to 5 years out? anyone buy one wishing they'd done something different? There's several options out there for shade solutions - just wondering if anyone has any buyers remorse - wish they'd spent more money on the front end to avoid replacing later?


thanks all.

 

[RFB]

 

[REKCUT]

I have foxwing and love it but the accessaries are crazy expensive. almost $200 for extensions. Arb is much less expensive. Only thing i don't like about arb is the way you roll it by folding under instead of over which is just not natural and makes it difficult.

 

[RFB]

I had the ARB and the Rhinorack foxwing totally apples and oranges the ARB was cheap the foxwing was what I would have made if I made an awning ARB hencho en China

 

[ArizonaFJ]

As promised, pictures of my easy awning mounts. A couple angles from HD, shortened on one side. Some 6mm bolts, self locking nuts and large area washers, two conduit couplings and a short piece of steel tubing that the bolts will slide through. The pictures are pretty self explanatory. My cross bars are 1 1/8" diameter with a plastic coating. The groove in the couplings really grips the plastic well. I started with three mounts but now only use two and haven't had any problems even going through some overgrown trails. Using two makes it a lot easier to line up when installing and much faster if you want to be able to move it from one side of the vehicle to the other when you're in camp. If you want the awning higher you can flip the angle brackets and gain 6-8".

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

I have the ARB for its size and weight its nice. Quick and easy up/down set up for one person. With that said Im on #3 as they all leak at the center seam and most recently decided to do my own waterproof. The FOxwings are really nice but I dont want to deal with something that big but if you have the party wagon Im glad you have the FoxWing.

 

[Paul DiNapoli]

With that said Im on #3 as they all leak at the center seam and most recently decided to do my own waterproof.

woah - thats certainly useful!!! you're on the 3rd one - you're dedicated ARB buyer! a leaking awning...not cool.