Buy all your VW California Accessories at the Club Shop Visit Shop

Know how to Macgyver nearly broken awning clip?

Canary Bird

Canary Bird

Messages
175
Vehicle
T6 Beach 150
I have had less than wonderful experiences with the "factory" awning that came with our T6 (Thule 5102, VW606). We had to have the cloth removed out and sown together where glue separated and it began pulling into two pieces.

Now the soft plastic clip on the drop down legs that is used to hold the height of the leg in place (see image) is cracking and ready to break. There is no Thule dealer in Tenerife Island. I will have to replace entire leg from a company in the UK, if I can't Macgyver a way to fix or replace the clip that holds the height.

I need Macgyver!! Has anyone Macgyvered a cracking/broken leg clip? I would appreciate any ideas you might have to repair it or some homemade replacement. THANK YOU!!!! :)

Screen Shot 2020-11-10 at 4.03.50 PM.png

Screen Shot 2020-12-12 at 5.18.55 PM.png
 
You can buy replacement clips for about £15 (eBay)
very easy to fit.
i am sure the club shop would be able to supply or rose awnings.
 
Every time I put out my awning I think these clips are going to break!

Sent from my CLT-L09 using Tapatalk
 
You can buy replacement clips for about £15 (eBay)
very easy to fit.
i am sure the club shop would be able to supply or rose awnings.
thanks, i will run with this lead
 
Every time I put out my awning I think these clips are going to break!

Sent from my CLT-L09 using Tapatalk
i had the t5 "factory" awning and felt they would break, but they never did after much uses ... i have used awning of the t6 for 4 years and it is about to crack across ... i love thule products, but the thule awning i got with my t6 has been problems :(
 
Perhaps someone can 3D-print it for you? Since it's made of some sort of plastic already, a #D-printed replacement will probably work very well.
 
Perhaps someone can 3D-print it for you? Since it's made of some sort of plastic already, a #D-printed replacement will probably work very well.
if you have anyone i could contact, i would greatly appreciate it. 3-d printers are not so common in the islands. :/ ps i contacted rose awnings to see if that might be an option.
 
You could consider asking @Bigted. He is a member here and I believe he 3D-prints stuff for the California as a little commercial (side-)business? He migth be able to take the part of his own van, scan it, print it and send it your way. But only he knows if that's possible and how much it would cost.
 
I don’t think a 3D printed one would be strong enough
 
I have had less than wonderful experiences with the "factory" awning that came with our T6 (Thule 5102, VW606). We had to have the cloth removed out and sown together where glue separated and it began pulling into two pieces.

Now the soft plastic clip on the drop down legs that is used to hold the height of the leg in place (see image) is cracking and ready to break. There is no Thule dealer in Tenerife Island. I will have to replace entire leg from a company in the UK, if I can't Macgyver a way to fix or replace the clip that holds the height.

I need Macgyver!! Has anyone Macgyvered a cracking/broken leg clip? I would appreciate any ideas you might have to repair it or some homemade replacement. THANK YOU!!!! :)

View attachment 70643

View attachment 70644
Part 3 £12.50 from Rose Awnings. But check.

55C86F32-CDA0-4A49-9FD5-AC1F6F0FDC0C.png
 
I don’t think a 3D printed one would be strong enough
Depends very much on what material is used to print with. In the end though, it'll probably cost (quite a bit) more then when you can order one from the manufacturer or Ebay.
 
Thank you everyone for the lead and ideas! I now have a solution and back up to get it fixed! :)
 
I have had less than wonderful experiences with the "factory" awning that came with our T6 (Thule 5102, VW606). We had to have the cloth removed out and sown together where glue separated and it began pulling into two pieces.

Now the soft plastic clip on the drop down legs that is used to hold the height of the leg in place (see image) is cracking and ready to break. There is no Thule dealer in Tenerife Island. I will have to replace entire leg from a company in the UK, if I can't Macgyver a way to fix or replace the clip that holds the height.

I need Macgyver!! Has anyone Macgyvered a cracking/broken leg clip? I would appreciate any ideas you might have to repair it or some homemade replacement. THANK YOU!!!! :)

View attachment 70643

View attachment 70644
One of mine broke while on holiday a few years ago and I managed to lock it so it stayed in position with a tea spoon handle jammed in a gap between the clip and leg and later found that a screwdriver also worked.
When back home we had the whole awning replaced under warranty for this, at the time it wasnt possible for VW to replace parts and they could only replace the full unit.
 
I love the tea spoon idea! I carry a tea spoon in my driver's side door along with other misc. items that work to "Macgyver" all sorts of things! Great idea! If I have too many more problems with the awning ... I may goto the dark side and get a Fiamma. I'd actually like a longer awning but it might be too dorky to have an awning that stretches towards the front bumper. :/
 
I love the tea spoon idea! I carry a tea spoon in my driver's side door along with other misc. items that work to "Macgyver" all sorts of things! Great idea! If I have too many more problems with the awning ... I may goto the dark side and get a Fiamma. I'd actually like a longer awning but it might be too dorky to have an awning that stretches towards the front bumper. :/
I remembered more detail now, the lever on mine developed a crack so locking and unlocking was difficult as leverage was reduced / lost (it did eventually snap), wedging the spoon handle behind the plastic clip gave me back the leverage as I could get the clip to move and continue to use the awning. Towards the end of the holiday the lever started to twist, I think I eventually damaged the pivot pin or rivets by using the spoon which is why I thought the warranty claim might have been rejected.

If repair / replacement of mine had been refused under warranty I was going to identify a couple of positions that were used most and I was going to drill thru the leg so I could use the hole to lock in position using something like locking nut and bolt but I haven't explored this further to confirm that it would work. At the time a replacement would have been £800.
Obviously spares are available now so the awnings are more serviceable.
 

Similar threads

M
Replies
4
Views
1K
flying banana
flying banana
flying banana
Replies
21
Views
3K
flying banana
flying banana
S
Replies
3
Views
1K
calikev
calikev
D
Replies
6
Views
2K
DrSunshine
D
Back
Top