Quote:
Originally Posted by cramar
Just a tip for anyone that has or will in the future experience a breakdown of their solera awning. One of the support arms (cheap POS) on my awning split in half due to cheap material and also having holes drilled near the end by a connecting pin. Trying to find a replacement was impossible through my searches and Lippert/Solera was no help either except offering a complete arm and support system for close to $500 to replace a less then $10 piece of mild or cheap steel tubing. Not having a welder and knowing I would have to wait a day to purchase a piece of sq tubing from a local steel supplier, I chose instead to use a piece of JB Weld SteelStick from the toolbox for emergencies. After removing the connecting pins and the split support arm I molded a piece of the steelstick and inserted it into the sq tube and then hammered the split piece together, the steelstick stays soft for a few minutes and allowed me to insert a screw into the drilled holes and the steelstick before it hardened so that the hole was clear but had steelstick to completely surround the hole front and back of the screw/pin connector when it was time to assemble.
After the steelstick hardened I then put the arm back together and everything is as it should be. In my searches for the part I read others who had the same part break or split so I think it will be a future happening to any Solera Awning because of the cheapness of the part. The split is on the end right in the middle of the piece but because I hammered the two pieces together it is hard to see.
The bottom picture shows the tube and its thickness or lack thereof.
After I get back from a planned trip I will disassemble and repaint.
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I’ve probably got the part your needing. Wind caught mine and tore up on side pretty bad. I was forced to buy a COMPLETELY new awning.
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