R40 awning

[blackpoodle]

Hi
Finally got round to trying to upload the photos of my Riviera awning purchased from Riversway (Preston) on the rear of my R40. Hope this is of interest to any other R40 owners. Goes up easily but you need 2 people, one on each side to get the tunnel over the top of the van (we use the canopy poles through a loop on the tunnel to ease it over and then attach the guy lines to the mirrors prior to pegging them down) If I'm being fussy (which is usual) colours could be more matching but if Royal/Riversway bring out one in grey/burgundy then I would consider replacing. It was £149 which wasn't too bad even if it hadn't worked but I must say the lads at Riversway were brilliant and came out and measured the R40 and spent ages working out trigomonetry to make sure it'd fit. (we'd done this but wanted to check)

[Guest]

That looks a good fit, does it clear the rear door OK? and have you tried it out in the rain? Our past experience was that the water collects on the 'tunnel' and, on one van, it became so heavy it pulled it off the roof. When we got the R40 we bought a small stand alone tent, mainly for the dog if it was very wet or very hot, but so far we have only used it for the first holiday week a year ago and it has sat in the luton ever since. This week it comes out to be replaced by the little trolley, which I have missed when transporting water cubes.
Colin
PS Be interested to know what work needed doing on the van.

[blackpoodle]

That looks a good fit, does it clear the rear door OK? and have you tried it out in the rain? Our past experience was that the water collects on the 'tunnel' and, on one van, it became so heavy it pulled it off the roof. When we got the R40 we bought a small stand alone tent, mainly for the dog if it was very wet or very hot, but so far we have only used it for the first holiday week a year ago and it has sat in the luton ever since. This week it comes out to be replaced by the little trolley, which I have missed when transporting water cubes.
Colin
PS Be interested to know what work needed doing on the van.

Hi Colin,
Actually I was quite surprised but the Riviera fits really well and yes, clears the rear door fine, though you have to position it right and move the awning to make sure tunnel isn't baggy which stops rain pooling.
Originally my brother and myself put the awning up with a bit of help from Mum but when Mum and I went away without Peter we managed it on our own. Worst thing is getting flexible poles through the sleeves but it gets easier with practice.
Have used it in Lake District and IOW and despite lots of rain on first trips there were no leaks or pooling on the tunnel as long as we positioned it OK to keep it taught. This last trip was wall to wall sunshine and we needed to put up the side door as a sun canopy as shown on the picture. Main problem we had was ensuring that the pitch booked was long enough or wide enough to fit on as we were 9m long with awning- had to ring ahead.
I will put reviews of our sites stays on IOW and in Hampshire on the forum if I can find a place to do it.
l can PM you about work done on van if you are OK with that as I prefer not to discuss on public forum yet as still making sure things are sorted.
Janet
PS more pics available at different angles if anyone needs a closer look

[Graham]

Hi Colin,

I will put reviews of our sites stays on IOW and in Hampshire on the forum if I can find a place to do it.

You can fill out the review form here: http://www.smallmotorhome.co.uk/revi...itereview.html and Pauline will put it on the website, when she has time.

[blackpoodle]

Thanks Graham, will do it as soon as I can spend some time on the computer.
Janet

[Guest]

Hi Janet
Thanks for the detail on the awning and the PM about the problems. One thing is obvious from everybody who I have spoken to with an R40 and that is the problem with batteries. And it doesn't seem to matter which charging configeration is installed, the batteries all discharge very quickly and are then diagnosed as faulty. The standard answer is that YOU have not used it enough. This is patently rubbish as no battery should fail because it hasn't been used for a few weeks. And in the first year the battery should be replaced by the Dealer free of charge - as happens if you persist with you complaint.
And it is not only the R40. At Comberton a couple of R30 owners told me the same tale. I do not know what is going on here with these batteries, but if anybody if fobbed off with the tale of 'poor underused batteries' then ask if they would like to explain that to Trading Standards, a body that gets my vote for getting results every time.
Colin

[blackpoodle]

Hi again Colin

I agree, lots of people seem to be having battery problems. I have to say that according to Rob at Romahome mine is fine but I will wait and see. Certainly I've had no fuses blowing since the zig was replaced so hopefully that was the underlying problem with mine rather than a faulty battery.

The luton creak is an issue yet to be fully sorted (though I drove it a couple of days ago when it was slightly cooler up here and there was no creak-not ideal if I want to go to Europe in the summer if it happens any time temps >
23C) I've used 30% of my holiday entitlement, 1200 miles and 24hrs of driving time trying to get these issues sorted and I'm getting to the end of my tether.I must admit I'm happier approaching Romahome direct rather than the dealer as I feel I've lost confidence in them and I've found that they have been very helpful.

If the creak is genuinely sorted then I'm hoping that the rest of the summer motorhoming will be more enjoyable than the last few months. We want to revisit childhood haunts-been and done the IoW (twice) but my brother is keen to go to Portpatrick in Galloway to see as if it's as lovely as the other standout 1980s trips we had. We will try to prove this one way or another in early August.

Janet