BAC Forum
General Boards => Technical Support => Topic started by: Rick Daniels on July 19, 2022, 04:13:28 PM
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I have a 1999 Marquis Jasper. I need to access the awning motor (G2000) end of the awning and in order to do so I must loosen the awning from the coach a few inches in order to access the screws to remove the end plate. I have read most all post regarding this task on coach assist but could not find out where the other two anchor points appear inside the coach. I believe the motor end anchor point is above the stairs behind the coach monitors but have no idea where the rest are. Any help would be appreciated.
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Rick,
If you look inside the passenger overhead cabinets you will see where beaver build cover boxes over each of the attachment points. You should be able to remove all the forward bolts to extend the box outward enough to shim to hold to remove the motor. If you are going to remove the awning, you will have to remove the refer to get to those bolts.
Fred.
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Thanks Fred, I just want to access the end of the motor as I believe it needs repair or replacement. The Black box type end of the motor now turns with the awning motor therefore the manual crank receiver turns with it. Now the manual crank receiver doesn't hank down but points to the side prohibiting insertion of the crank. Removing the refer is not yet an option. Any tricks on pulling the motor end out. I have pushed on the loosened bolts inside, nothing.
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Rick,
The folks at Girard are pretty helpful. 800-382-8442, Give them a call and have them email the repair manual. Caution: the arms are spring loaded. The awning will toss you off the ladder if you are in the line of fire. Extend the awning 12 inches. Ty wrap the arms so they can't extend. The motor comes out the forward end. Be careful, Fred
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Rick,
I believe that I had to loosen but not remove the first 3 bolts in the and then pry the end out with a screwdriver. I put a wedge of wood behind it which was enough to get the screws out of the cover plate and then get the motor out. You will probably want at least 2 people, 3 is recommended from Girard.
Hopefully this is helpful.
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Awning housing GLUED and bolted to the coach! On My 2002 Beaver Patriot Ticonderoga I have a Girard 2000 with burned out retract windings on the motor. I am in Phoenix and called a local company recommended by Girard. When their workers came and looked at my awning they said they couldn't access the motor to pull it out because my awning is recessed into the side of the motor home and they couldn't get to the mounting bolts. They said all the other Girards they had repaired were mounted on the RV surface. They would have to talk to their company owner. After they left I looked up information on the forum and found posts that talked about the bolts being accessible on the inside of the coach and being able to loosen them and pry the awning out far enough to do the repair. I found the covers and the bolts inside mine and took photo's and sent the info to the repair company owner. They came back yesterday with the owner, loosened the bolts, and tried to pull the end of the awning out but could not pull it out at all. The owner said that on my coach the awning was also glued in place with adhesive. They cut off the end cap of the awning housing to try to pry it out but it didn't work. The owner says that the only thing he can think of is to completely remove all the components from the housing so that only the empty housing is still glued to the motor home. He would plan to then pry it off but he says that he may bend and warp it if he does and that it will probably not work correctly after that. Does anyone have any ideas or info that would help?
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I think they have overlooked some mounting bolts. I ran into that on the first motor I replaced 20 years ago. As I can recall there is another set above the passenger seat? There is absolutely no reason to glue the awning that is already trapped inside a box. Sorry for the difficulty. Fred
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Fred, Thank you for your help. I reviewed the Girard installation manual and am confident all of the nuts were loosened. I doubt the awning itself was glued to the motor home, but apparently the awning mounting brackets were. The owner of The RV Awning Company, Chester Douglas, said they couldn't get it loose and, as I said THEY CUT OFF the end of the housing without asking me first. Then they told me they could try coming back ( by this time it was starting to get dark) with more people, ladders etc. They would try removing the guts of the awning, and remove it, but that it would probably get deformed and would never work right again. That would cost about $2200. He said instead I should file a claim with my insurance company telling them that the awning had been wind damaged. He said this was perfectly normal, he had done this before, and was what insurance was for. He said he would work with the adjusters to have the entire awning removed and replaced including body work and paint, and that it would cost $18,000. This company will never work on my motorhome again. The website of The RV Awning company says they are a certified Girard Service company and they were referred to me by Girard Tech support.
Now the front of the awning is gone, and when it rains water pours out right onto my door seal. I have called Trailer Supply, a local location of a national company that does in house service work. They say they have fixed Girard awnings before. I will have to take the motor home to them and leave it. My appointment is for March and since I am a full timer I will have to find a place to stay while they work on it. I would appreciate any further advice and I want Beaver owners to know NOT to use the RV Awning Company of Gilbert Arizona.
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Gilbert, I will go to my coach tomorrow and take some pictures. I will show you where it is sealed where the awning assembly is recessed into the cavity box installed by the factory. Fred
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Enclosed are the pictures that indicate with arrows where you have to take a utility razor knife and cut thru the silecone seal around the perimeter of the awning box where it is installed in the recessed cavity box. Fred
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Fred, thanks for all your work. I'm attaching 2 pictures of the end they cut off. Maybe they were trying to pry it out at the wrong place?
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Gilbert,
Ouch, apparently, they did not know it was in a recessed cavity. Beaver coach engineers thought that was a good idea for aerodynamics but not so friendly to technicians. I would go back on the company that destroyed the end and have them make it right. If not, I would contact Girard and see if the parts are still available. I am not sure about the insurance angle that this repair facility has suggested. Sorry you are going thru all this. Fred
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I'm really confused. They did know it was recessed and were trying to pry the end out far enough to remove the motor. I had given them copies of posts from this forum that described doing that. Apparently when they couldn't they decided to cut the end off I guess _ they didn't tell me they were going to. While I would love to have the company PAY to have someone else fix this, I wont let them do it. I don't understand what Girard parts I would ask for. Do you mean a whole new awning? This awning still functions in that it will extend OK but will not retract. I think a new end piece could be fabricated by a body shop.
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What is the model number? Fred
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I cannot see a recessed cavity behind my three automatic Girard awnings. All my other awnings are Carefree of Colorado topper awnings... and they do not appear to have recessed cavities either. Two model years apart and our Beavers seem to have significant engineering changes... at least having to do with the Girard awnings' method of installation.
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Fred - My awning is a G-2000 about 20 ft long. It is mounted from the front of my motorhome over my door and extending toward the back.
the first two bolts are behind a cover over my door with the others behind box covers inside my overhead cupboards and the last one in the bathroom medicine cabinet. The nuts were loosened on all of them. Were they prying in the right places? from your photos it looks like you would have not have been prying in the same place. Do you think it is still possible to get it out far enough to remove and replace the motor and reattach and seal it?
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Gilbert,
Under normal circumstances, the brackets are mounted to the wall and then the awning is hung on the brackets. Then an insert is slid in place to trap the awning from lifting up. Safari mounted the brackets with the bolts already sticking thru them to the awning first. Then they install the awning into the cavity thru predrilled holes in the cavity. To the best of my memory. I cut thru the silecone the entire way down the top from front to rear. Then cut thru the silecone on the front and rear ends. After removing the mounting nuts and washers, I installed a block of wood just past the exposed bolts on the inside and used a pry bar to leverage the bolts outward. Seeing how the bolts are trapped between the awning case and the mounting bracket if you move the bolts you move the awning outward.
Once you get the awning out far enough to replace the motor, that would be the time to get a piece of 16 gauge flat aluminum sheet and fabricate a new end piece and install it. Fred
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Thanks Fred. That clears up a lot. If I understand correctly you fastened a block of wood INSIDE the motorhome and used that to pry against the ends of the bolts to push them out. Is that correct? Here is a picture of the inside of mine.
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Gilbert,
Before you go thru the trouble of mounting a block of wood on the inside about 3" from the threaded bolt, try putting the nut back on about 3 or 4 threads and take a rubber mallet and hit the bolts and see if there is any movement of the awning outside. (If the silecone is not completely cut thru, the awning will not move). Behind the upholstry is a 2" by 2" by 1/8" thick metal beam that runs the entire length of the roof. Be patient drilling into it. You may want to install a 1/4" self tapping bolt instead of a block of wood. The whole idea is to give you an anchor point to pivot the pry bar or crowbar and push against the bolt to move the awning. Fred
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Fred, Would you please go back and look at your two photos of where to cut the silicone and at my two photos of where they had tried to pry it out. On your photos the arrow is pointing to the inside corner of the housing but there is a kind of flange around it that is against the motor home body. When you pry out the awning does that flange come out with the housing or does it stay attached to the body of the motorhome? They were prying BEHIND the flange. Regarding the adhesive, some has slightly oozed out around a couple of the bolts so the brackets are probably glued to the motorhome. When you pry out the awning are you also prying out the mounting brackets?
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Gilbert,
The riveted flange IS the mounting of the recessed cavity box. It DOES NOT COME OUT. Where the awning box fits into the recessed box is where you cut thru the silecone bead seal along the entire length of the top and both ends. My arrows point directly where you put your razor knife. Fred
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YAY - That's good news! They were prying in the wrong place. If they had a clue about what they were doing they MAY have been able to pry out the awning and TRY to replace the motor. Now I think there is a good chance my awning is repairable. I am not going to attempt this by myself, but instead will print out all of this and give it to Trailer Supply for my appointment with them in March. I haven't yet told Girard support about the performance of their recommended repair company but I will.
Thank You for everything.
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Fred, Today I had my instrument cluster above the door out and discovered what may be two more awning bolts that I didn't know about. Here's the picture of the two bolts above the door that I had sent previously, and two more of the cabinet just above that.These are higher up and smaller than the two in the photo above the door. What do you think?
Gil
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Gilbert,
These are the 2 mounting bolts that I was refering to you in my reply #6. When you remove the nuts in your 3rd picture the awning will come out. Fred
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Thank you Fred. I'm still looking for another company in the Phoenix area-or elsewhere that can do this as I'm not able to do it for myself. If anyone out there knows of a reliable and honest company that can do this please let me know. Thanks
Gil
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I've had good service with Luxury RVs and RV Renovators. Both are on Main in Mesa between Gilbert and Lindsey Rds. Luxury RVs used to be the Beaver outlet in the Phoenix area.
Steve