Vango Galli Low - Drive away awning. Anyone got one?

We are currently in Cornwall enjoying the summer downpours! Totally agree the Galli design is flawed. Water pools on the tunnel as it's too flat . I've had to strap ours down to prevent it happening. Had this happen many times now and a bit fed up with it.

methley said:

We are currently in Cornwall enjoying the summer downpours! Totally agree the Galli design is flawed. Water pools on the tunnel as it's too flat . I've had to strap ours down to prevent it happening. Had this happen many times now and a bit fed up with it.

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Designed by someone that has never camped I suspect.

On the last two occasions that we have used our Galli Low we didn't bother to use the connecting tunnel. The awning is vast and the tunnel is a bit of a faff to connect so is it really worth bothering to connect it? Just asking.

Borris said:

On the last two occasions that we have used our Galli Low we didn't bother to use the connecting tunnel. The awning is vast and the tunnel is a bit of a faff to connect so is it really worth bothering to connect it? Just asking.

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We only bother connecting when it's raining. Very handy for keeping the grass dry where you step out of the van.

We have tried several methods of connecting over the years, but by far the easiest and fastest is pole and clamp. It felt a bit Heath Robinson at first but works really well. I can park up the van and have the awning connected within 30 seconds.

How does that work? Wrap the door flap around a pole then use plastic diy clamps to attach to the awning? Might try that with my quencha air base

Simply a fibreglass pole is fed through the dedicated "tube" on the awning tunnel and it's clamped to the channel. I have a Reimo rail but I believe similar can be done on the Cali with the rail insert. It's a bit dark now but hopefully you can make it out....

methley said:

We are currently in Cornwall enjoying the summer downpours! Totally agree the Galli design is flawed. Water pools on the tunnel as it's too flat . I've had to strap ours down to prevent it happening. Had this happen many times now and a bit fed up with it.

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I'm with you on the design flaw of the Vango Galli Low - I spent most of this morning removing large pools of water from the awning tunnel. Completely fed up with it.

I like your solution, but we shouldn't put up with this. Has anyone had any communication with Vango on the issue? Or another solution... I think they changed the design for 2017.

The other feature the Galli is missing when compared to all other Vango air awnings is the bracer beams between the main air beams. We have also experienced water pooling in the main roof, fixed by purchasing a bracer beam for another model, which is slightly too long but does the job of tensioning the fabric.

Oh, one more point, the Galli has a large mesh vent at the top of the rear wall, with no way of closing it off. The wind blows through nicely on cold winter camping trips!

samdb said:

I'm with you on the design flaw of the Vango Galli Low - I spent most of this morning removing large pools of water from the awning tunnel. Completely fed up with it.

I like your solution, but we shouldn't put up with this. Has anyone had any communication with Vango on the issue? Or another solution... I think they changed the design for 2017.

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Mines being picked up on Tuesday to go back to vango.
We had problems with leaks whilst away in Cornwall and water collecting on the tunnel. I've got to list all the problems so they can investigate. Let's see their response!

Fantastic driveaway awnings 20-30 mins to pitch loads of space

Just returned from a trip to North Wales where we tried out the Galli Low for the first time. Found it easy to put up and connect to the Beach and loved having the extra space as a dining/storage area. It was also great to have a place to sit when our boys were asleep in the van especially as the weather meant sitting outside wasn't an option. We didn't get any leaks even though there were some heavy downpours but experienced the same problem with water pooling on the awning tunnel. Thought we were doing something wrong but clearly it is a design flaw. We also had a problem with the zip on the front door jamming all the time. Will now get in touch in Vango to see what they have to say.

We are really pleased with our Galli Low and have used it 3 times this year in very heavy rain. It is easy to put up and down and provides a great living area to compliment our Calli.
The water does pool on the awning tunnel, to the point I think the fabric may tear under the strain, so I will be interested to hear what Vango have to say.
The only other problem we have is stopping the sliding door catching on it when its fully opened. We don't have a wind out awning, so attach it to the black rail running down the side of the roof. Does anyone have any tips to avoid this happening.

Hi anyone had success in getting vango to change theirs if found to flood?

We’ve just had a nightmare with ours this weekend, in pouring rain we were alerted to crashing at 04:30 am. The main body had succumbed to huge pools of water collecting, this caused the rear section to collapse and the water poured in through the vent.

Hasten to add many personal possessions including electrical goods ruined.


We paid a lot of money for this in November and this is the first chance we have had to use it. I’m pretty appalled and I will be looking for resolution from vango about this as it seems we are not alone in Cali 2 problems!

methley said:

Oh, one more point, the Galli has a large mesh vent at the top of the rear wall, with no way of closing it off. The wind blows through nicely on cold winter camping trips!

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Gaffer tape.

I had mine replaced after a camping trip last September. The place I bought it from arranged for it to be collected and sent straight to vango. It took about 5 weeks but without warning had a new one delivered. We’ve yet to try it out to see if this ones ok. Good luck you shouldn’t have a problem then changing but as to your damaged goods I wouldn’t like to say.

We used ours extensively during last years wet summer.

It survived some fairly heavy downpours, we also suffered the aforementioned pooling though not the the extent of collapseI But it was fairly significant on several occasions. We had a couple of small leaks, fixed with seam sealer, I also treated it with Fabsil Gold. It did seem to condensate, even with all vents properly open.

Easy to put up & take down, bit of a pain to dry at home (if put away wet), takes up a lot of space when travelling, but roomy when put up - so I guess you can’t have it both ways.

Alfiesbuddy said:

Hi anyone had success in getting vango to change theirs if found to flood?

We’ve just had a nightmare with ours this weekend, in pouring rain we were alerted to crashing at 04:30 am. The main body had succumbed to huge pools of water collecting, this caused the rear section to collapse and the water poured in through the vent.

Hasten to add many personal possessions including electrical goods ruined.


We paid a lot of money for this in November and this is the first chance we have had to use it. I’m pretty appalled and I will be looking for resolution from vango about this as it seems we are not alone in Cali 2 problems!

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Sorry to hear of your problems with your Galli. I hope that you get some satisfactory answers from Vango.

In the mean time here are my thoughts on your issue. Please feel free to ignore them.

1. Were the air beams fully pumped up to the green section on the guage?
2. Was it pegged down securely to ensure that the roof section was reasonably taut?
3. Was your awning connected to your Cali?

Fully inflated air beams are higher than the awning roof that stretches between them and because the roof is curved from side to side most of the water will tend to run off. For your awning to have collapsed due to excess water on the roof suggests to me that either the air beams weren't inflated fully and/or the awning wasn't securely pegged down to ensure that the roof was taut I enough.

The other factor that may have contributed to this issue is if you had your awning connected to your van. As the connection tunnel is a recognised water pooling issue, it may prove to have been the route cause. If the connecting section roof had filled up, the weight of water could have pulled the rear section towards the van and in doing so dislodging the securing pegs.

We've used our Galli on numerous occasions, many times in heavy rain, and the fully inflated air beams are very rigid indeed. We have never experienced any problem like you have described. However, we have only once connected our Galli to our Van. We just find that process just too much messing about and a waste of time, especially if you need to drive away regularly.

Good luck.

We have used our Vango Kela III extensively in heavy rain.

We usually use it with the wind out awning fully extended, sometimes with side panels, but this set up means the huge porch area cannot be made fully weatherproof.

To prevent rain pooling on the wind out awning and the Kela porch area we fully extend the wind out awning legs.

Over the year, the seams of the Kela have lost their waterproof, but this could be remedied with seam sealant. In heavy rain we get drips, but no pooling on the tent and no serious flooding except in the huge non weatherproof porch area. We mitigate this with a tarpaulin, a better mitigation would be interlocking awning tiles.


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Borris said:

Gaffer tape.

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Or they could have designed in something like this...

Our Kela connected to our van with a massive porch area without side panels.


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Amarillo said:

Our Kela connected to our van with a massive porch area without side panels.


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I notice your Vango is nice and level on the floor, what’s your secret as mine always end up raising an inch or so where the vango writing is on that end......maybe I’m trying to pull it all to tight from the van. Also is it possible to drive away with it connected to the porch? Or would this be a 3 persons job.

Billywizz said:

I notice your Vango is nice and level on the floor, what’s your secret as mine always end up raising an inch or so where the vango writing is on that end......maybe I’m trying to pull it all to tight from the van. Also is it possible to drive away with it connected to the porch? Or would this be a 3 persons job.

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1. Make sure the awning legs are fully extended and perpendicular to the front of the wind out.
2. Peg the groundsheet to the awning leg feet.
3. Pull the groundsheet tight and peg at rear.
4. Attach awning to the front of the wind out.
5. Peg out front of awning keeping adjusters slack.
6. Peg out rear of awning tight to front.
7. Inflate rear arch to full pressure.
8. Inflate front arch to full pressure.
9. Peg out arch feet, and two rear points.
10. Insert roof support
11. Peg out rear straps and 4 guys.
12. Wind in the wind out to fully tension.
13. Tighten porch adjusters.

Method has been developed and refined over a years' near continuous use and I continue to refine.

Detaching for driving away is easy and a one minute 1 person job.

1. Slacken wind out.
2. Remove kador.
3. Unpeg and roll in porch.
4. Wind in wind out.


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Amarillo said:

1. Make sure the awning legs are fully extended and perpendicular to the front of the wind out.
2. Peg the groundsheet to the awning leg feet.
3. Pull the groundsheet tight and peg at rear.
4. Attach awning to the front of the wind out.
5. Peg out front of awning keeping adjusters slack.
6. Peg out rear of awning tight to front.
7. Inflate rear arch to full pressure.
8. Inflate front arch to full pressure.
9. Peg out arch feet, and two rear points.
10. Insert roof support
11. Peg out rear straps and 4 guys.
12. Wind in the wind out to fully tension.
13. Tighten porch adjusters.

Method has been developed and refined over a years' near continuous use and I continue to refine.

Detaching for driving away is easy and a one minute 1 person job.

1. Slacken wind out.
2. Remove kador.
3. Unpeg and roll in porch.
4. Wind in wind out.


Follow my blog: www.au-revoir.eu

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Thanks so much what a great help in detail, I have screen shot this for reference for when I’m out next. Safe travels