Pete,
I'm not having any luck viewing the Carefree awnings, but let me give you
some history: About 10-12 years ago, I found on the 'net the Omnistor
awnings, made in Belgium and really liked what I saw. The sort of teardrop
shaped box looked like it would match the tumblehome of the GMC roof almost
perfectly, using the correct base mount. That base mount looked to be that
for the "Dethleffs Premium" european motor home. I finally found out that
all of Carefree of Colorado's awning hardware was made by Omnistor, so I
called them. I had no luck getting any information or cooperation from
them. Finally, a GMCer in Europe offered to guarantee payment to a Dutch
dealer who would ship awnings to me. I got 5 orders together to put the
project in motion.
Before I placed the order, a GMCer on Vancouver Island, BC tried again with
Carefree and managed to reach some VP who agreed to import the hardware
(with their periodic sea-land container load) we needed from Omnistor,
install Carefree fabric (with a much wider selection available than in
Europe), and ship them direct to individual customers. He would be the
exclusive Distributor for North America.
That worked very well for a year or more. I, of course, got one of the
first deliveries. I've no idea how many R.G.F. sold, nor for how long, nor
why he quit. And it's been several years since I've even heard of him.
I have seen Carefree box awnings similar to ours on some class B's, but
never anything nearly as long as the GMC calls for. And I've never seen
them advertised for direct sale.
At that time, Fiamma, headquartered in Orlando, FL, had similar awings,
made in Italy. I visited their headquarters and wasn't very impressed with
the products or the operation; they may have improved since then -- at
least 10 years ago.
Here's the link to my installation album (dated April '07 so my memory's
off):
http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/g4173-omnistor-installation-on-23-5c-27.html
Ken H.
On Thu, Jan 28, 2021 at 8:58 PM Pete Porebski via Gmclist <
> I have looked at the Carefree of Colorado Freedom roof mount model. It is
> a modern cannister style that deploys with folding lateral arms but also
> has fold out/down arms that attach to either brackets mounted on the side
> of the coach or can be used as ground poles. Seems to have the sleek look
> and with the reinforcing fold-down arms addresses the wind load issue. Is
> anyone familiar with this model? Thanks.
>
> Regards,
> Pete P.
>
> 1978 Eleganza II
> --
> 78 Eleganza II
> Stock 403 w/ Carb
> Single Cinnebar bags
> 6kW Onan
>
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