I did some searching around and found out that not many people had posted how they mounted their awnings, so here's how I did mine attaching a series 2000 2.5M to Yakima bars.
This is the backside of the aluminum case. As you can see it has an aluminum welt as part of the case extrustion, this is how the Eezi-Awn factory mounts attach, plus they use a bolt thru the bottom, like I did. I figured if the engineers in South Africa are going to do this, I should rely on the strength of this extrustion too! So I did. I didn't have a lot of time and I have lots of scrap, so:
1 I grabbed some 1.5"x2" tube and some 2"x2", cut it at opposite corners so I had a z shape.
2 welded it together so that the bottom edge of the z went under the case and the top edge of the z sat flush with the case top.
3 drilled a hole just larger than the welt into a piece of 3/16" bar stock
4 cut the bar stock into a triangle thats made by the verticle of my z bracket and the top corner of the awning case where the welt is.
5 cut a notch into my triangle piece so it can slide onto the welt,
6 then tack it on
7 drilled holes for the stainless U-bolt on the top z
8 drilled a hole on the bottom of the z for the bolt that will go into the case.
9 all welded up and paint is drying.
all in all it didn't cost me anything and the awning is nice and secure. Note: if I werent using the Yakima feet as intentional contact points I would gusset the brackets to eliminate any flexing.
I have more images at Expedition Ops.
1 I grabbed some 1.5"x2" tube and some 2"x2", cut it at opposite corners so I had a z shape.
2 welded it together so that the bottom edge of the z went under the case and the top edge of the z sat flush with the case top.
3 drilled a hole just larger than the welt into a piece of 3/16" bar stock
4 cut the bar stock into a triangle thats made by the verticle of my z bracket and the top corner of the awning case where the welt is.
5 cut a notch into my triangle piece so it can slide onto the welt,
6 then tack it on
7 drilled holes for the stainless U-bolt on the top z
8 drilled a hole on the bottom of the z for the bolt that will go into the case.
9 all welded up and paint is drying.
all in all it didn't cost me anything and the awning is nice and secure. Note: if I werent using the Yakima feet as intentional contact points I would gusset the brackets to eliminate any flexing.
I have more images at Expedition Ops.