Adding awning to 3800 over slideout

The 3800 we are buying has two awnings, one on each side of the living room slideout. My wife is concerned that we will wish there was one over those big picture windows. Has anyone added an awning to the slideout or over the slideout? I'd like to get it done before we take delivery, and I'm looking for any suggestions. Thanks!

We don't have a Cyclone but yes, we added an awning to the living slide. Makes a huge difference with the 2 big picture windows.

I talked to the service department today, and it sounds like it will be insane expensive to add a power awning. He suggested window awnings, but my wife doesn't like the look. I may look into a manual patio awning. Does anyone know if these can be hung on the slideout itself? It doesn't look like there is room to hang it between the other two awnings...

Found out today that I cannot put an awning on the slideout. I need a 10.5' awning, and they come in 10' (would cover window) or 11' (too wide for slideout). Back to the drawing board. My wife just doesn't like the look of window awnings, so I hope it doesn't get too warm in there.

We added a 2nd awning to our 3812, but not on a slide. We went with a manual one from Carefree. If you have the fabric trimmed and cut the spool accordingly, you could build a 10.5' awning I would think. Maybe it's more work or expense than you want, but it's an idea.

Bksvo said:

The 3800 we are buying has two awnings, one on each side of the living room slideout. My wife is concerned that we will wish there was one over those big picture windows. Has anyone added an awning to the slideout or over the slideout? I'd like to get it done before we take delivery, and I'm looking for any suggestions. Thanks!

Click to expand...

If you have not yet purchased the 3800, check both the current awnings as mine are so high off the ground that they are basically worthless and provide no shade at all. Talk to dealer or manufacturer to see if something can be done to make them useable. I tried adding additional screens to mine (2012 3800) to get some shade, but they are so high I had to purchase a longer ladder and awnings collapsed when I placed ladder against the awning and I tried to attach the screen. Still trying to figure something out to get shade.

Whirly

Whirly said:

If you have not yet purchased the 3800, check both the current awnings as mine are so high off the ground that they are basically worthless and provide no shade at all. Talk to dealer or manufacturer to see if something can be done to make them useable. I tried adding additional screens to mine (2012 3800) to get some shade, but they are so high I had to purchase a longer ladder and awnings collapsed when I placed ladder against the awning and I tried to attach the screen. Still trying to figure something out to get shade.

Whirly

Click to expand...

We took delivery on Friday. They are high, and I'm not sure they'll do much more than shade the trailer. We're taking our shakedown trip this weekend up to Williams, AZ.

I've done a bit of work on the 'high awning' question. Our 2011 3812 has a 20 ft awning that runs over & above the front door & kitchen slide. It is a Carefree power awning and runs out horizontally; very high. It's short on shade and awkward to add/remove lights or auxiliary screening. I found out that Carefree has a 'steep pitch' version (won't work, would foul with the slide) and an 'adjustable pitch' version. The adjustable pitch one has the lower legs (the ones with the rollers at the bottom) built such that they can be set shorter with a pin & a series of holes. This in turn should allow setting the pitch lower. It looks like I could get about 15 degrees before the slide gets in the way. They won't sell parts directly, but I got pricing on the 'adjustable pitch' legs which only come with the electric motor. It's pretty steep at well over $800, and I have no idea if it will work well. Maybe the 1st adjustment will already be too steep, and maybe the small amount of pitch won't add enough shade. It will certainly make it easier to add screening & lights.
I've thought about trimming my legs a bit to make a one-time pitch change, but am not sure I trust my geometry skills enough.
This info may not help you. One thought would be to ask for a manual awning if it's not too late. We added a manual awning to the side of the garage and it works very well. You can set the pitch of those wherever you want.

Here is how I did mine, it stays on the awning and rolls up with it.

Yours has some pitch, so it can be reached to put the screen into the roller slot. I'm going to try some clips to attach our screen to the fringe piece that's hanging down. With my 6' step ladder even this is a 'high altitude' adventure....