Tarping a Jayco wind up camper

[Argle]

Hi guys and girls, as the title implies I'm wondering if anyone has/does use a tarp over a Jayco wind up camper?  I have a Swan that I am thinking it might be better to use a tarp rather than the bag awning to give me more shaded area outside - i.e from bed end to bed end rather than the smaller area that the bag awning gives.

I have the Jayco Roof Rack fitted and was thinking along the lines of attaching the edge of the tarp to the rack which would keep it off the roof and using poles to support the rest.

My only concern is would this be too much weight on the roof? I would be removing the bag awning from the side which i think is actually heavier than the tarp.

I have a tarp and heaps of ropes/poles etc from the Tent - just wondered if anyone has done this and had any problems?

Cheers
Scott
 

[Swannie]

Hey Scott, how much room do you need under the tarp mate? I reckon the standard bag awning do a good job. I have to admit I haven't seen anybody using a tarp instead, but some use a tarp to add an area at the drawbar end if it wet & they are cooking outside.
Swannie

[Argle]

Swannie,

Its mainly for living space outside - when we have me the missus the two kids and maybe a friend or two plus cooking gear tables, chairs its starting to get cozy under the awning! My thoughts where by having a tarp to go the extra length would also help stop the (sometimes sideways) rain coming in under the awning.
I also figured it would take a similar amount of time to put up a tarp as it would the awning?

Cheers

[Swannie]

Mate I hear ya, but I also have a missus and 3 kids under 12. We also set the swan up for over 20 days over the Xmas/new year period. We have a portable wardrobe along the back corner, a table that runs from the door to the back of the annex and the ARB fridge in there & we still have room to sit and eat dinner if its wet ( albeit a tight fit

I also have a full annex that I put up so If you don't have an annex I suppose it limits what you can put where under an open awning

Swannie

[Bird]

Buy an external gazebo and that would be much more useful and moveable as the sun moves...

[scohill]

Hi Argle,

This is exactly what I do for my Windsor Escape wind up camper (about the same size as Jayco Swan). I use a 24x20 green and silver tarp and it covers the bed ends and main body whilst also giving me a reasonable size open awning for table chairs fridges etc. Only used the original awning once and found couldnt fit everything i wanted under there comfortably.
I just rope it to the ground with 3-4 pole ropes/springs on the back side of the camper at the roof line and pole it across the front.

Works well

Scohill

[thecamocamper]

Hi Argle

I do not know the size of your awning
is it a roll out style or a canvas pull out
if it is a pull out style (only a suggestion)
take your awning to a canvas company and get them to make up one the size you want
it is marvelous how much more room an extra metre gets you
some people say size matters
attach it to your original position ? sail slide
and then if could fit into your bag or maybe a new larger bag to be made

Rob

[darrenh]

I have a jayco flamingo and often camp for 2 to 3 weeks on stradbroke island. I pull a 30ft x 24ft silver tarp over the camper leaving just 1m overhang on the offside. This balances the load on the camper roof and makes the tarp almost storm proof. I find this makes a great covered area, keeps the camper cool and clean. Best thing I ever did.I only use the bag awning for long weekends only.


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[briann532]

I have a jayco flamingo and often camp for 2 to 3 weeks on stradbroke island. I pull a 30ft x 24ft silver tarp over the camper leaving just 1m overhang on the offside. This balances the load on the camper roof and makes the tarp almost storm proof. I find this makes a great covered area, keeps the camper cool and clean. Best thing I ever did.I only use the bag awning for long weekends only.


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x 2 but not on straddie.........somewhere else not as glamorous....

[Spartan]

Buy an external gazebo and that would be much more useful and moveable as the sun moves...

X2

That's what we do. We have a 3x3 Oztrail one that gets tied onto the roof rack of the camper while travelling and it's one of the first things to get set up when we arrive.

[@fnq4now]

We have an 09 Dove and have had sail track attached along the roof line. I had a tarp made up that slides in and uses the poles from the bed Fly's (plus a few others). Works well and gives us a huge shaded area. For over nighters and shorter stays we also have a fiamma installed.

[Argle]

I have a jayco flamingo and often camp for 2 to 3 weeks on stradbroke island. I pull a 30ft x 24ft silver tarp over the camper leaving just 1m overhang on the offside. This balances the load on the camper roof and makes the tarp almost storm proof. I find this makes a great covered area, keeps the camper cool and clean. Best thing I ever did.I only use the bag awning for long weekends only.


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Sounds pretty much what i had in mind Darren/Brian cheers, although due to the TV antennae being in the way I wont be able to get the overhang like you. We do have a kitchen awning on the camper so that's fine - I think a couple of ropes from the edge of the tarp down to help balance will be the go.

FNQ4now - that's an interesting idea too i like the sound of what you have - cheers!

Rob, its the standard Jayco bag awning - the length out from the camper is ok - I just want to extend the cover to cover each of the bed ends, starting to think I could get a tarp made/modded to allow use of the bed end poles (plus extras) and maybe even a little hole for the TV antenna to poke through! (hey its not my fault it came with the camper - plus I love watching the footy while camping)

I do have one of those Oztrail type gazebo's but really want to cover a bit more area than that.   

Appreciate all the replies guys you have given me some good (bad) ideas to go away with!

Cheers
Scott

[griz066]

The short answer is Yes, we used to do it all the time without any problems at all.
The tarp in the pic is 30'x24'

[Argle]

Cheers Griz - In the picture is the tarp sitting on the roof of the van or have you got the poles just a bit higher? I was looing at using the roof racks on the van as a support rather than a ridge pole.

Cheers

[griz066]

Cheers Griz - In the picture is the tarp sitting on the roof of the van or have you got the poles just a bit higher? I was looing at using the roof racks on the van as a support rather than a ridge pole.

Cheers

The roof supported the tarp, I had a pole in the corners though to keep it taut.

[Nutto]

Argle
what you want to do is exactly what I have done with mine.
I have a bag awning too, and have a 2.4m x 3.0m tarp that extends perfectly at whatever end I put it on.   How it works is that one corner of the tarp goes over a bag awning corner pole, before the awning goes over it.  The tarp is then cable tied to the end awning spreader pole along the 2.4m length back to where it meets the camper roof (which matches how far out my awning goes).  The side flap of the bag awning then sits up on top of the tarp, with the tarp on the 'inside' so as to have no gap for rain to get through.  I then just use 2 poles for the other end corners of the tarp.  I carry these 2 extra poles in the RHS bumper on the back of the camper, as the main pole holder is full and it saves putting on an extra pole holder when Jayco Outbacks have one ready made   Quick easy way to double the awning area without any rain gaps
I have a 2.4m sq oztrail gazebo that I can use too for the other end or if it is not going to rain.

 
Nutto

[Argle]

Griz, cheers mate that's what I had planned too.

Nutto! What a great idea - although I am thinking that I like the idea of having both the bed ends covered as well with the one big tarp.

Thanks again for the replies guys - all much appreciated!

Cheers