Well, sometimes disaster turns out OK. Our old awning was a good price, but some of the parts were missing and the tension was weak. Finally on our last trip we couldn't get it to roll up right and the awning paid the price on the way home. This new one is MUCH easier to use and way nicer, plus it's a checkered flag design and it looks great on the trailer. The install on these things is really straight forward, especially on this one where we had all the parts and the spring was pre-tensioned and pinned so it wouldn't roll up on us until we got it mounted. Basically if the rail is already mounted on the trailer, you just drill and bolt on the 8 bolts, feed the material onto the rail and away you go. We spent a little more to get the metal weather guard so that when it's rolled up it's protected from the sun and wind. We hope this one will last longer and be a lot more fun to use than our old one was. Oh, and as you can see we ended up getting a checkered flag mat to go under the awning to keep the dirt out of the trailer and give us a place outside that's not in the dirt.
