Carefree vs Solera Awning

[LockChuck92]

I won’t go into my over-six-month ordeal with CW, mainly because it’s just going to make me mad again. But, long story short, the Carefree patio awning on my 17 ACE 30.2 got destroyed (won’t go into that either). After going round and round with CW, I ended up with a Solera Power Awning as a replacement. I realize what’s done is done, but has anyone else replaced their original Carefree with Solera? Pros? Cons? Regrets? Satisfied/dissatisfied? TIA

[Beau388]

Originally Posted by LockChuck92

I won’t go into my over-six-month ordeal with CW, mainly because it’s just going to make me mad again. But, long story short, the Carefree patio awning on my 17 ACE 30.2 got destroyed (won’t go into that either). After going round and round with CW, I ended up with a Solera Power Awning as a replacement. I realize what’s done is done, but has anyone else replaced their original Carefree with Solera? Pros? Cons? Regrets? Satisfied/dissatisfied? TIA

Your coach side was designed and built to support the Carefree patio awning. Another manufacturer of a different type of awning will probably use different mounting points that are probably not stresses for the different awning.
The above is an engineering guess made on watching the walls being laid-out laminated at the factory.

[javelin]

If the structural and footprint issues noted by Beau388 are not already a deal breaker for using a Solera replacement for your Carefree, I do have one other consideration for you. On my old ACE I have a Carefree Travelr awning that has never been an issue to date. The two things I don’t like about my Carefree is that when the awning is fully “retracted” you cannot access the cap screws to open up the motor drive if you needed to replace the motor. Accessing the external electrical motor drive pins (in case of power failure) may also be very difficult when fully retracted. The other thing I don’t like about my Carefree is you cannot use a drill to engage the gear drive, if the motor fails, in order to retract or extend the awning. Maybe current models of Carefree awnings have corrected these issues......I don't know. So far these design issues have not been a problem for me......knock on wood. I think the Solera (Lippert) units do allow you to use a drill and appropriate bit to extend and retract their awning in case of power or motor failure issues......which could be very useful when you need to leave your camp site.