While campers love RV parks and campgrounds with abundant trees, that’s not always possible, especially if you’re camping in the American Southwest. That’s why RV awnings are a great addition to motorhomes and towable RVs.
Awnings are great for providing shade and protection from light rain. They’re easy to operate, but a few important safety precautions must be considered. RV awnings are NOT meant to withstand high winds and heavy rain. If the forecast calls for either, retract your awning to be safe.
Prepare Before You Open an RV Awning
Regardless of your awning type, you must level and stabilize your camper properly before extending an RV awning. Here are some helpful resources to help you set up your RV in a campsite:
- Picking the Best RV Wheel Chocks
- How To Level and Stabilize Your RV
- How To Use a Lippert Auto Leveling System
Once your recreational vehicle is leveled and stabilized, perform an RV walkaround to ensure all awnings have enough clearance to extend completely. Also, ensure your RV door isn’t in the way of your awning’s extension path.
It’s good to watch power awnings as they extend, but their switches aren’t always reachable from your RV’s door. You may need to keep the door partly ajar to monitor your awning’s progress, especially if you’re a solo RVer.
If you have a partner with you, you’ll have extra help monitoring the awning as it extends. The main things your spotter should look for are (1) obstructions and (2) that you don’t overextend your awning.
How To Open the Awning on an RV
When your RV is parked, leveled, stabilized, and you’ve ensured proper clearance, here are the basic steps for extending RV power awnings:
- Locate the awning switch inside the RV on your control panel.
- Push the ‘Extend’ side of the switch to roll the awning out.
- Watch the awning to ensure it extends evenly and doesn’t make contact with obstructions. This is when it’s helpful to have a spotter outside your RV.
- Extend until the awning fabric is completely rolled out and you can see the awning tube (also known as the barrel).
- Don’t overextend! Overextending could cause the awning to start winding up backward, which creates issues you want to avoid.
How To Close an RV Awning
When a storm is rolling in, or it’s time to pack up camp, follow these steps to retract RV power awnings:
- Ensure no obstructions are in the way of your awning and its components. For example, entry doors, pine cones, recreation equipment, other passengers, etc.
- Push the ‘Retract’ side of the awning switch.
- Visually confirm awning is retracting evenly.
- Retract until the awning makes contact with the exterior wall of the RV.
- Don’t continue pushing the switch once the awning is retracted. Doing so can damage the awning’s electric motor.
How To Manually Open an RV Awnings
Manual RV awnings with pull straps are more common on older RVs, but these steps will help you extend yours if you have one:
- Make sure the awning has clearance and the door is closed.
- Loosen knobs on awning arms (2-3 turns are enough).
- Open tabs to separate the inner arm from the outer arm.
- Use the awning rod to engage the Roll up/Roll down switch to the ‘Roll Down’ position. This switch looks like a small lever on the forward end of the awning tube/barrel.
- Use an awning rod to pull the awning strap and extend the awning. You may need to pull one side 1-2 feet out and then pull out the awning arm on the opposite end to even the awning up before pulling the strap to extend completely.
- Extend completely until the flap at the front edge of the awning fabric unfurls.
- Slide vertical arm pieces forward to the ends of the horizontal arms. Make sure they are latched in place.
- Tighten the knobs that you loosened to begin.
- Open the handle on one end to extend the awning upward. Located on the horizontal arm at the end closest to your RV
- Move to the other end and extend the opposite arm until the awning is even.
- You may need to go back and forth until your awning is at the height you want it to be. Make sure both arms are extended evenly.
How To Close a Manual RV Awning
Simply reverse the steps above to roll your awning back into place. Pay extra attention to ensure the tabs holding the awning arms together are closed and the knobs are tightened before driving.
Remember that manual RV awnings are spring-loaded, so make sure to hold the strap and slowly let the awning roll up. If the lever is flipped into the roll-up position and the awning strap is not held tightly, the awning could slam against the coach, possibly causing damage to the awning, the roller tube, or the coach itself.
A Note on Newer Manual RV Awnings
Some newer RVs also have manual awnings. These are more common over the entry door on class A RVs, and brands like Oasis and Thule are some of the best-sellers in this category. These newer manual camper awnings feature a crank handle, making operating them even easier than traditional manual awnings.
Their main benefit is not worrying about the electric motor on a power awning failing. If you have this type of awning, ensure your crank handle is onboard before setting off on your RV road trip. You should also consult your owner’s manual for model-specific operation procedures.
Enjoy these additional RV awning resources:
- Choosing a Replacement RV Awning
- RV Electric Awning Troubleshooting
- How To Clean an RV Awning
- How To Replace RV Awning Fabric
- How To Replace RV Awning
Do you have any questions about RV awnings? Let us know in the comments below!
What if there’s only ONE of you… which would be me … and the tether is wrapped up into the canvas bcuz it got away from me? How can one person open it. Please help.
Hi Rita!
I’m really sorry to hear about this experience. My first thought is that this would be a great case for one of those telescoping RV ladders! I grabbed one for my travel trailer because it doesn’t have a fixed ladder for roof access.
Let me know if you’ve been able to solve this! I’d also say that stopping into your local Camping World is a great bet for finding someone willing to lend a helping hand!
First time opening poptop and the awning slammed up against the van and we lost our awning strap. How do we now open the awning and close our pop top?
Hi Michelle,
So sorry to hear about this. It reminds me of the fateful time I left the awning on my ’83 Tioga out and a proper Texas monsoon came in overnight and ripped it off the side of the motorhome. The mistakes of the early days!
I reached out to our technical service team to get their thoughts. Here’s their reply:
In most cases when this happens, 2 people (one at each end) can flip the switch to the extend position, grip the awning tube and slowly rotate it outwards until they finally reach the strap. They can then use the strap to fully open the awning. Care should be taken when closing to not loose control of the strap and therefore control the awning as it closes.
Let us know if this solution helps, or if you have any follow up questions!
You forgot to mention keeping one end of the awning slightly lower than the other to avoid damage from the weight of rain water collecting on it.
My instructions are that the first thing to do before extending the awning is to loosen the 2 knobs, one on either side, that tighten and loosen the awning arms. Once the awning is extended, the knobs are tightened to add extra tension to the awning rods. My instructions also say to tilt one side a bit to allow any wetness if it’s misting or rainy to roll off. Loosen the knobs when rolling the awning back up, and then tighten the knobs to provide extra tension to keep the awning from extending during travel. Perhaps some awning don’t have any additional support like mine does.
This is a great point and most pertinent to manual awnings. Many of the newer power awnings remain slanted from the roof line to shed moisture, but not all offer the ability to lower one side. It’s also good to bring your awning in if you encounter anything heavier than a light mist, as heavier rainfall significantly increases the chances of water accumulation that leads to awning damage.
Thanks for sharing your awning experience! It is important to note that awnings made by different manufacturers may have slightly different instructions. And your point about tilting the awning is a good one, especially for manual awnings!