ARQ4wd 270* awning

[Scott]

My arq awning finally arrived after some delays from dhl, who quite honestly is probably the worst shipping company on the face of the planet. The box arrived destroyed but luckily the only thing broken were the plastic end caps to cover the holes in the awning poles, which is no biggie to me. The welds on the mounting brackets are very sloppy but I have no doubt it'll hold up the awning just fine. I only got 3 mounting bolts but I got 5 washers and 6 nuts, so I'm not sure who is on thier hardware control but they failed. Luckily I had some of my own hardware to use. They tout on thier Instagram page that the hardware all come neatly packaged in a little wooden box... My hardware was loosely wrapped in plastic wrap, so it wouldn't surprise me if some of the hardware was lost in transit. Overall the awning welds looked decent, I installed the awning myself in about an hour, and it works great. I have some minor modifications I am going to do to make it more user friendly, like put a buckle on the far end that's over the tailgate to make it easier to tighten Up the entire awning when it's deployed. Overall for the money, I am more than satisfied. Durability remains to be seen. I didn't get a lot of pics but here is what I have...

Initial thoughts are this.. For the price it cant be beat, it's quick and easy to deploy and put away, and thus far the build quality looks good, especially for 1/3 the price of a foxwing.

Scott

Sent from my LG-H810 using OB Talk mobile app

 

[Raul B]

The actual awning looks good but those brackets..... Lol

Sent from my SM-G930T using OB Talk mobile app

 

[Scott]

The actual awning looks good but those brackets..... Lol

Sent from my SM-G930T using OB Talk mobile app

I agree the brackets look like poop.. But.. They are strong enough and you can't see them anyway with the awning mounted... They aren't pretty but they will work...

Sent from my LG-H810 using OB Talk mobile app

 

[DaveL]

That's a nice addition to your setup. I know we love the feeling of a roof over our heads in our outdoor kitchen (though our Fiamma cost a small fortune!)

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[Daniel Etter]

I have been intrigued about this awning for awhile now. I've heard about the long wait times and not getting info from the company so it is good to see one on a rig. Looking forward to seeing your review of it after you use it for awhile.

 

[Scott]

I have been intrigued about this awning for awhile now. I've heard about the long wait times and not getting info from the company so it is good to see one on a rig. Looking forward to seeing your review of it after you use it for awhile.

Yeah they are fine tuning stuff with the awnings so far. My awning was ordered from www.aidenjamescustoms.com on Feb 26th and I got it today, March 31. So the long lead time is accurate.. So far though I am happy with it, especially for the price.

Sent from my LG-H810 using OB Talk mobile app

 

[Scott]

That's a nice addition to your setup. I know we love the feeling of a roof over our heads in our outdoor kitchen (though our Fiamma cost a small fortune!)

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

Yep.. I'm excited to try it out on my next camping trip..

Sent from my LG-H810 using OB Talk mobile app

 

[Christian Schrader]

Appreciate the info and great overview/pics. I have been going back and forth on this and am thinking I too will pull the trigger and snag one. Does it feel relatively sturdy/stable when deployed?

 

[pierceg]

Nice, agreed those welds are not pretty. But as long as the awning material is solid and rhe aluminim is good. You can make it work.
Thanks for the pics. Nice to see one actaully installed in the real world.

 

[BWR1975]

Those welds are shameful!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using OB Talk mobile app

 

[Scott]

Appreciate the info and great overview/pics. I have been going back and forth on this and am thinking I too will pull the trigger and snag one. Does it feel relatively sturdy/stable when deployed?

I haven't put it through a lot yet but I would say it's pretty solid for an awning that does not have legs. Up in looking at it, you could easily add adjustable legs to the ends of you wanted to and could source them.

Sent from my LG-H810 using OB Talk mobile app

 

[Oreo58]

Looks similar to the Foxwing. It'd be cool to have a quick video of you opening and closing it up. Sucks you had some crappy hardware to deal with but hopefully the thing works great for you.

 

[GrizzCamp]

That looks pretty sweet, so the arms collapse down and fit in a 5 foot enclosure? Im liking that greatly. Do they make any attachments or could it be easily modified for awning walls?

 

[chrispartida]

Good thing I did my search fu, before starting a new thread.

I got my ARQ90 in a few days ago, also sans that cool little laser cut hardware box. But all my hardware was accounted for.

The brackets are atrocious, and I'll definitely be using something totally different. Probably gonna switch out the hardware for stainless as well.

My biggest gripe was that the zipper on my cover arrived broken, and missing a tooth on one of the corners.

Today my replacement zipper pulls came in via Brown Santa, so I got out the needle and thread and got to work.

Everything is replaced, and I added a 2nd zipper pull to meet them where the missing tooth was. I actually like this design better and can now lock the cover closed.

-CP TACO

OB #2376

 

[pierceg]

Looking forward to the arrival of my arq270. Ordered 2 weeks ago.

 

[Scott]

Looks similar to the Foxwing. It'd be cool to have a quick video of you opening and closing it up. Sucks you had some crappy hardware to deal with but hopefully the thing works great for you.

I will see if I can figure out a way to take a video of me opening it up and closing it up. Its pretty simple to operate.. And yes the awning poles extend and lock into full extended position when you expand the awning.

Sent from my LG-H810 using OB Talk mobile app

 

[Scott]

That looks pretty sweet, so the arms collapse down and fit in a 5 foot enclosure? Im liking that greatly. Do they make any attachments or could it be easily modified for awning walls?

That's the only down fall to this one.. I'm not sure there's really a way to fit awning walls to it.. I'm sure If you are creative enough you could figure something out.

Sent from my LG-H810 using OB Talk mobile app

 

[Christian Schrader]

That's the only down fall to this one.. I'm not sure there's really a way to fit awning walls to it.. I'm sure If you are creative enough you could figure something out.

Sent from my LG-H810 using OB Talk mobile app

I bet some tarp and hoop and loop fastener could make for some nice side walls?


Sent from my iPhone using OB Talk

 

[chrispartida]

I bet some tarp and hoop and loop fastener could make for some nice side walls?

Probably could. Just practice caution, as this is an upright pole free design. If you add extra weight to the aluminum extensions, it could do some bending you don't want. Could be a good idea to add aftermarket uprights, in order to add any weight.

 

[chrispartida]

Could anyone chime in on how they went about choosing their bracket mount locations, and how they executed it? Did you do anything to make the hole water resistant?