Fitting Fiamma Awning

WebMonkey

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Wonder if anyone can advise.

I've recently bought a Fiamma F45s awning which I'm planning on installing myself onto my VWLT35, which has the pre 2005 Sprinter body.

The guys in the shop I bought it from reckoned it would be ok to drill through the van body and inner (ply) lining and place the inner fixing plate against the inner lining of the van when attaching the awning fixing brackets. However, a friend insists I need to strip back the inner ply lining and place the inner fixing plate directly against the body of the van.

Appreciate if anyone could advise best approach.

Thanks
 
I would do what your friend says I think the ply lining will be some distance from the metal on the van
 
Deffo NOT in the ply lining in my opinion.
Depending on where you want to fit the awing, you may even need some spreader plates inside the van to stop the sheet metal from deforming.

Without taking the liners off you won't see any other braces etc which could be in the way.
 
johnkyte said:
I would do what your friend says I think the ply lining will be some distance from the metal on the van
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To be honest I've been thinking friends advice is the better option but wardrobe, room for toilet and small cupboard fitted against the lining on that side of the van which is making it a bigger job and I didn't really fancy dismantling half the inner fittings. Also ply lining has been stapled in place so stripping that off is not going to be neat! Might consider getting it done professionally.. Anyone know any good fitters in the Merseyside area?
 
WebMonkey said:
To be honest I've been thinking friends advice is the better option but wardrobe, room for toilet and small cupboard fitted against the lining on that side of the van which is making it a bigger job and I didn't really fancy dismantling half the inner fittings. Also ply lining has been stapled in place so stripping that off is not going to be neat! Might consider getting it done professionally.. Anyone know any good fitters in the Merseyside area?
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Is there a Van specific bracket available from Fiamma for your Van?
 
Teutone said:
Is there a Van specific bracket available from Fiamma for your Van?
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Don't think so. Guys in shop reckoned it would bolt straight onto van no problem. Believe there is a fixing kit for 2006 + sprinters.
 
WebMonkey said:
Don't think so. Guys in shop reckoned it would bolt straight onto van no problem. Believe there is a fixing kit for 2006 + sprinters.
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Maybe worth looking into that. some brackets utilise the roof gutter and will take a lot of stress away from the sheet metal surfaces.
Don't underestimate the wind forces with a full wound out awing.
 
I retro fitted this awning to my van-here's how its done
the awning brackets go straight on the side,they each have 2 small stainless bolts
mark the holes and drill through with a drill bit long enough to pierce the inner lining
now you can see the holes in the lining,use a multi saw,jigsaw angle grinder whatever to cut a hole about 4'' x 2'' with the drill holes central.accuracy and neatness aren't important at this stage
now tape the bolts to the brackets and push them through the holes outside
now on the inside you can get the spreader plates and nuts on
once tightened you can make a ply cover for the hole and paint it to look ok then screw it on
 
n brown said:
I retro fitted this awning to my van-here's how its done
the awning brackets go straight on the side,they each have 2 small stainless bolts
mark the holes and drill through with a drill bit long enough to pierce the inner lining
now you can see the holes in the lining,use a multi saw,jigsaw angle grinder whatever to cut a hole about 4'' x 2'' with the drill holes central.accuracy and neatness aren't important at this stage
now tape the bolts to the brackets and push them through the holes outside
now on the inside you can get the spreader plates and nuts on
once tightened you can make a ply cover for the hole and paint it to look ok then screw it on
Click to expand...


Nice one n brown. That method sounds relatively easy to manage. When you fitted yours did you pack out the outer brackets much to get them perfectly vertical as the Fiamma instructions suggest or did you just fit flush to the van? I see from your profile you also have a VW LT35.
 
I just put them straight on with a bit of mastic. I suggested taping the bolts in because you can then do the job without help.it all works ok at a bit of an angle.the bolts are long and have locknuts so having a long socket and a bit to use it on a cordless drill saves messing about
 
n brown said:
I just put them straight on with a bit of mastic. I suggested taping the bolts in because you can then do the job without help.it all works ok at a bit of an angle.the bolts are long and have locknuts so having a long socket and a bit to use it on a cordless drill saves messing about
Click to expand...

Ok think I'm definitely back on the doing it myself option, thanks for all your help ;)
 
good,it wasn't that difficult, but if you don't have a multitool,then cutting the holes in the wall may be difficult,but not that hard
 
Awning Fitted

Just thought I'd update this thread.

Fitted the awning myself last weekend and it really wasn't as difficult as I'd expected it to be.

Did have one minor calamity when I let one of the inner backing plates slip down between the van body and the polystyrene insulation but managed to make a new backing plate by cutting up a steel joist hanger and binding the pieces into a thick enough backing plate.

My main tip if doing this yourself would be shorten the bracket bolts if your inner lining is quite deep. I had trouble tightening the bolts on the first bracket as the bolts were too long for my sockets and I struggled to get a spanner onto the nuts with the small access hole I cut into the lining.

Thanks to everyone who commented especially n_brown whose advice led to me fitting the awning myself :D
 
Well done Mr Brown..................................

........................now, i've got this heap of base metal and I was thinking maybe gold?:D
 
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