Car Camping / Trip Reports / Photos / Buildouts / “Overland” / Expedition Rigs Area (homeless?)

Hi All - I figured this would be a good thread to ask a question/issue I am having with installing my 6.5' ARB awning to my roof rack. I searched the site and hadn't seen any dedicated threads about awnings, if anyone has links to better threads then thank you.

So the awning came with (6) 20mm bolts & my lock nuts. According to the instructions the aluminum mounting extrusion on the back of the awning is supposed to hold the heads of the bolts "captive" so you are able to tighten the nuts. My plan is to attach metal "L" brackets to the mounting extrusion, then the "L" brackets to my roof rack. Pictures here:




However when trying to tighten the nuts the head spins in the channel after it begins torquing a bit harder. So the heads seem like they are just a bit too small to function as I believe they should according to the instructions. Is there anything I am missing? Has anyone else who has the ARB awning had this issue or know what the issue might be?

I really appreciate any feedback and thanks in advance!

Oh, and here's a pic of the truck for reference



Cheers,

 

Replace nylock nuts with regular nuts and lock washers

 

Get a large head bolt

 

10-4, makes sense! Just thought I'd double check to see if there wasn't something I was missing. Interesting they'd include bolts that don't actually work as needed.

I appreciate the response all, thank you.

 

Here's a couple of pics

 

i'm interested to see more about the roof rack. Did you build that?

 

Productive day.

Built a drawer/ table under my sleeping platform. Still need the adjustable paint poles that I'm going to use as legs



I also mounted my switches for my roof rack lights. Still waiting on them so I can wire them up.



And I changed out the daystar switch I had for my led bar for this one

 

Do you have more pics and info on your drawer? I'd like to build one for my sleeping platform as well.

 

^^ the 3 pack of switches turned out great.

 

just plywood and 2x2 cut down to size to fit under there. It's a little to short I just made it out of what i had left laying around. I might make a longer one tho,I still have like 2 feet of room to the end of the head of the bed. Still need some expandable poles to act as legs to finish off the build.

Thanks still need to wire them up, that might be my weekend project

 

Re: paint poles for legs:
Think about the intended use for paint poles, in particular the amount of weight they are designed to deal with. No paint pole in the world could hold more than maybe ten pounds at its outer limit.
If you plan on putting the weight of a person on the drawer, you should consider a weight rating of at least 300 pounds. Perhaps some drop-down dimensional lumber or steel tube. If you really need height adjustability (say, camping on uneven ground), just shim it with wood blocks, rocks, wrenches, logs, floor mats, or whatever else is available, easy, and can be multipurpose.

 

nice work Coby!

 

That drawer is only going to be used to hold chairs and what not. Then when flipped over its just a table to set up for the cooking stuff. It prob won't have more than 40 lbs on it and the one side will always be supported by the tail gate. So to clear this up the drawer is just a table flipped upside down it doesn't need to hold the weight of a person. I might re do it this weekend with a longer piece of plywood. This is where I got the idea
http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...cing-myself-and-my-landyacht-7-3L-F-350/page2

thanks bud.


Looked what just showed up... Now I have my weekend project

 

^ rock lights?

 

Putting them on my roof rack as side lights for camping/ hunting set up/ reverse lights

 

pictures when done

 

Will do. I plan on doing a mini write up. Nothing crazy

 

sweet!

 

What did you uses for heat in the RTT?

 

Mr. Buddy heater, and a good 10 degree sleeping bag..