Our Girard awning leaks badly at the front. I am headed to San Diego, so I called Andre at Girard to make an appointment hoping to fix this problem. He told me that the main issue is with the original Beaver inner tray that is set into the side of the coach. This is not a Girard part. Beaver for some reason decided to recess the awning mechanism. The seams were only tack welded, especially the ones at the ends where the flat end meets the radiused back part. The fix is to remove the entire unit and weld the seams properly and then reinstall with more advanced sealant. If you have an original 2000 coach as I do there is an issue with the awning drive motor. The plastic housing will likely break when the awning is removed. If you are the original owner there is some relief from the motor manufacturer. I am the second owner and therefore face a $650 bill to replace the motor. Girard will not remove the entire unit though, just the front end to access the motor. One hours labour is about right for this job.
Andre suggested that we take the coach to Beaver or a very reputable service shop, and get the tray removed, welded up and reinstalled, as there is no way to seal the seams properly with the awning installed. He further suggested that we should consider having the cutout filled and faired up, and then reinstall the awning on the exterior as, most awnings are now installed . If anyone has any more info on this, I would most appreciate it, as a proper fix looks very spendy indeed.