Lightweight extendable awning poles - DIY

I have a desert trip coming up (leaving tomorrow for the drive out) and wanted to be able to throw an awning up next to the truck.

I picked up three telescoping aluminum painter's poles. Two will be legs on the outside corners, and the third will strap to the roof bars to extend the length of the inside edge.



I modified the heads on the two verticals with two double ended 5/16" studs (male/male coarse wood and machine threads), some fender washers, thumbnuts, and marine shrink tubing.



Pop off the thumbscrew and washer, put the loop or grommet on the peg (heatshrink keeps the threads from abrading soft loops), washer and thumbscrew back on.

The heads had a hole in them in the right place from the manufacturing process, but you could drill easy enough if you had to. Glob 5 minute epoxy in the hole, drive the wood end in, then stack the first washer and trimmed heatshrink. I drove them in one at a time with the thumbnuts double-nutted (one upside-down), first by hand then with a wrench on the top thumbstud.

I forsee potential issues over time with the friction twist lock mechanism, but nothing that can't ultimately be solved with pins when the time comes.

I'll update how the whole setup works out when I get it put up in AZ.

Edit: I paid $100.23 at a local hardware store for the three poles and all the hardware. I had epoxy and shrink tubing already, so $10 more maybe.

 

I never updated this post. They worked great in heavy wind and I still use them.

I used a little trowel to make divots for the bottoms to sit in and guyed them appropriately. Heavy zip ties for the roof bars on the shell, with the end extended over the hood and guyed to the loops on the front bumper.

The only thing I would change is putting an eye bolt on the head for the roof pole, but it works just fine without it and I haven't bothered to do so yet.