Awning coming off:Reflection 337 RLS

Hi Chuck,
I also tried to find Molly rivets and ended up getting them from Grand Design. The advice at the time (over a year ago) was to replace all screws with rivets. (which I did) I learned at the Rally factory tour that they use rivets in the three end positions on each end and screws for the rest. This will probably work too. These rivets are easily handled by a standard rivet tool. I drilled each screw hole, to accept the rivet, and never felt any evidence of a metal backing strip.
Rob

Edit: if there had been a metal backing strip . . . the screws would have probably held :).
 
I replaced all of mine, plus adding one at each end with rivets provided by GD. They sent more than enough to do the whole awning. Simple enough, remove screw, drill out hole with #10 drill bit preferably. 3/16" bit will work but be a little tight. Install rivet. The rivet heads are quite large and some had to have a slight flat filed on one side not to interfere with a raised portion of the rail. No big deal, it is very slight and can be done by hand as you are installing the rivets. Put a little silicon sealant in the hole before pushing in rivet and a little over the center of the head after it is installed. I think there is a backing strip as I don't think the fibreglass layer alone would hold either a screw or rivet for very long. A sheet metal screw is a poor fastener when used in tension compared to the proper rivet. The Oscar rivet supplied has a larger mushroom than a standard pop rivet. It doesn't surprise me the screws at the ends came loose but the rest would probably be OK.
 
Hi Janice,
The awning track issue has reared its ugly head on my 303, just got home from FL, didn't use the awning down there but both ends are pulled loose now. I've been unable to find molly rivets, searched locally & the internet with no luck. I have a pop rivet tool and will do the repair myself if I can get the rivets. Is there a metal backing strip on the 303?

Chuck

Hi Chuck (@Clsfly),

I've taken the liberty of asking Ryan Prough, the Warranty Manager here at Grand Design RV, to contact you. Or if it is more convenient, please feel free to contact Ryan at our Customer Support direct phone number (574) 825-9679.

Best regards,
~ Janice
 
Hi Chuck,

Edit: if there had been a metal backing strip . . . the screws would have probably held :).

Rob--thought I did the magnet test when I fixed ours last spring......you may have to check yours.....I am curious now if some have it and some do not.

Dan
 
Hi Janice,
I installed some rivets in the awningrail and they pulled the rail up to the wall very nicely, my question is should I cover the rivet head with a sealant and if so what sealant should I use? THANKS FMF
 
Last edited:
Hi Frank,
Not Janice.....this is Chuck, I sealed mine with good exterior silicone caulk along the entire top side of the rail and the rivet heads
 
Hi Frank,
Not Janice.....this is Chuck, I sealed mine with good exterior silicone caulk along the entire top side of the rail and the rivet heads

Thanks Chuck I will give that a try I sure miss Belle Parc and the good friends I met there as well as the weather[emoji106]FMF


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Yes - Janice left GDRV a couple years ago and we have had a few others "take her place" relative to forum communications/support/help/etc. but not sure who is monitoring/responding in her place now. Tucson Jim mentioned some changes taking place at GDRV but have not heard from these new GDRV folk(s) yet on the forum.

Dan
 
Hi Dan,

I'm sorry for our absence in recent weeks. Believe me the customer service team will be much more involved moving forward. Thanks for sticking with us while we work the bugs out.

Brad
 
Hi Dan,

I'm sorry for our absence in recent weeks. Believe me the customer service team will be much more involved moving forward. Thanks for sticking with us while we work the bugs out.

Brad

Brad - appreciate the response and yall new folks getting back in the saddle again.

I think Frank is waiting for feedback as noted in his post #66.

Dan
 
Hi ffarkas,

Once you install the oversize rivets and pull the awning rail in, the butyl tape on the backside of the rail will seal the rail to the wall. The screw cover will cover the rivet heads. Hope that answers your questions!

Brad
 
There is no screw cover unless it is something new. it is just an open channel approx. 1/2" wide
 
If your awning rail does not have a screw cover, you can use silicone sealant over the rivet heads to prevent water infiltration.

Hope that helps!

Brad
 
If your awning rail does not have a screw cover, you can use silicone sealant over the rivet heads to prevent water infiltration.

Hope that helps!

Brad

Hi Brad Our unit does not have a cover over the screws as stated by others I have filled the rivet holes with silicone, thanks to all


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We've had our new 303RLS for exactly 3 weeks. When I saw these posts about the awing coming loose I didn't think I'd find an issue since there were posts from GD saying they'd changed their assembly process to add rivets. Sadly when I looked at our awning attachment this weekend I found it coming loose at both ends and in the middle....and no rivets anywhere just screws that were stripped and backing out. We've only been out once with our new camper there was not even a slight breeze the entire weekend.

Pretty disappointed that this has happened on a 3 week old RV that was supposed to have had process improvements to prevent this from happening. Could somebody from GD reach out to me to send me the rivets and I'll repair myself please? I'd rather do the 15 minute job myself rather than driving back 90 minutes to the dealer.
 
. . . since there were posts from GD saying they'd changed their assembly process to add rivets. Sadly when I looked at our awning attachment this weekend I found it coming loose at both ends and in the middle....and no rivets anywhere just screws that were stripped and backing out.

And this was discover and "fixed" back in 2014 !!! Yikes!!

Rob
 
Zenasboy - Please contact our customer service department 574-825-9679. Just tell them you spoke with me and need some oversized awning rivets. Shouldn't be a problem to send them your way.

Thanks,

Brad
 
Loose awning continued

Sure was glad to see this thread as I found our awning doing the same thing on our 2015 337RLS. I will be calling Customer Service at GD on Monday.
 

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