I got a
Fiamma 45S awning and installed it last weekend.
DIYVan came out with a slick awning mount that made me finally pull the trigger. The whole thing was the single most expensive item for the van so far but it is pretty spiffy. The mounts slip under the roof rack supports and the awning hangs from the side of the van. Why not just hang it off the rack itself you ask? Well, two reasons: I would have to build some kind of custom mount, which I didn't want to do for something big and heavy that might fall off and hurt somebody. And secondly, Fiamma recommends you set the awning legs down with only 3 feet of the awning out and I'm too short to reach that high if the awning is above the roof. So store bought mounts it is. Of course the front mount came down right where I had installed an exterior light so I had to remove that.
Hein @DIYVan did some nice bending to get these to align with the curves of the van:
Tada!
I've got a little more drag now, we'll see how that affects the mileage.
We took it up to the cabin last weekend to make sure all the bolts stayed tight on the highway and no problems there. The awning itself rattles a little on dirt roads and the mounts transmit the sound right into the van. It quieted down a little by the time we got home so the awning might have found it's level, so to speak. We're going camping this week so we'll get to try it out.
I'll let you know if it was worth it.
Bruce