New awning

WilliamA

Hi all,
Just got back from REI where I grabbed this:

I'd been looking for a side awning for the T@G for some time and had thought about making one but finally came down to the Yakima or the ARB. I decided on the Yakima 1250 as it will fit both my trailer and my Jeep with only a few turns of the clamps. Plus, the Yakima comes complete with mounts. I'll fit it up in the next few days and get back to you with my thoughts. I've not unrolled it yet but put the mounts together and have to say it would be on par with my other Yakima bits. Nice and solid. Can't wait to get it put up and see how it looks.

WilliamA

WilliamA

Here's how it looks on my Jeep:

As I said earlier, I want to easily and quickly be able to transfer it from my T@G to the Jeep. The Yakima mounting system is the bomb for that. It's solid and tight and comes off with a twist of the T-handles. It also comes standard with locks. The mounts are for either the aero-style blade crossbars or round bars as well as square ones. I deployed it to check things out and make sure there aren't any factory issues. Seems to be fine and is easy (relative term) to put up and stow. Like all things, it's a matter of practice. I did elect to put some cheapo D-rings on the guy ropes so I can just remove them rather than try and roll them up inside the awning. Other than a really stiff zipper (but in Yakima's defense, it is actually 20 degrees out.
I was a bit stiff myself while playing around with it) it seems to work well. I'll put it on the T@G as soon as I get to my oldest son's house where my trailer roof rack bits are in storage.
Total price I paid was $207 bucks. It was on sale at REI, down from $259. I also got a $20 dollar in-store credit as the sale price means there's no end of year 10% applied to my REI account. It's a bit more than the ARB awning even with the sale price, but it comes with these fabulous mounting brackets so it's actually cheaper in total, plus the ubiquitous mounting brackets mean easy moving and storage.

WilliamA

Michigan_Mike

Nice looking setup! Am sure with practice it'll be easier to install it, move it, etc.

WilliamA

Yeah I'm really happy with it. In addition to being able to exit the camper on dry ground, I'll be able to spend my days fishing for fish instead of fishing my head umbrella out of the river.

WilliamA

Mounted on the T@G:

Works great and rides well. I've since taken the center rack off and have only the awning and crossbars. I'm leaving it alone for awhile...

WilliamA

Fourman110

Looks nice! I’ve been looking around as well but can’t find a Yakima 1250 listed. How wide is it?

WilliamA

It measures out to be 6'x6'. About 36 square ft. I had some difficulty getting info on it. In the end, I put my money on my past experience with their products. I tried for a long time to get info on it from their website but gave up. Finally was able to get some tech info off REI's website.

WilliamA

WilliamA

Well, I'm sad to report that I am returning my Yakima awning. I like almost everything about it but have had no end of trouble with the extendable poles. Having taken the poles apart a few times now to figure out the problem, I haven't come up with any solution that I like. The basic problem is that the poles won't stay locked after extending them. I talked to Yakima about it and the only solution they could offer is for me to return it to where I bought it. I have called REI where I bought it and happened to get a guy on the phone who also has the same awning. He said his does the same thing. I, for the most part, really like everything else about the awning but I don't feel like spending a lot of time working out a good solution to the problem. I'll be looking for another awning soon and will report when I get one.

WilliamA

TomD

Nice thing about REI is they take stuff back with very little hassle.

WilliamA

Yeah, I called them and since I'd used my REI card they said no problem. Just bring it in and they'd refund me.

WilliamA