Drive away awnings

[Lillythefrenchie2026]

Looking at adding more room to our campervan, and the wife has seen these drive-away awnings. Are there specific ones for the T25 LHD, and how do they attach to the van?

We’ve had a look on Marketplace and eBay, but they always seem to be attached to newer VWs.

Ideally, we’d like an air one, as I couldn’t bear the arguments that come with putting poles up

[jrt]

We have an air awning. It slides into the c channel fixed to the van and with a drive away strip allows you to drive off and leave it standing if you have one that has a gap between the main room and the van which I think most have.
It fits older and newer vans.
David.

[R0B]

We have a vango airbeam. Its a doddle to erect.They are not cheap though.

[TwinTurbo]

Vango Manra Airbeam Got it last year in spring as aold stock ( model year ) for about £200

Easy to put up, slight ly difficult on the rain gutter each time but not a huge hassle.

Most fir any van in the size class. Some come with throw over straps for the tunnel ( magra does but never tried may be easier overall.

 

[Lillythefrenchie2026]

We (I) ended up pulling the trigger on a 2026 Vango Faros III Low Poled Awning, as they have only two poles so should be easy to set up, the deal also came with a free drive away connection set, I’ve just attached a awning rail to the van which I got from amazon for £27.

[TwinTurbo]

You will be briefly p...ed off every time you try to connect unconectt, but once your doen you will be conversly more happy with the result. It transforms an awkwrd van arangement in to a relaxing space. 

I was amused to find out that Vango was a mangling of "Govan" near glasgow where the company is based ( not a location you would associate with a top outdoor living manufacturer  )  . my first experince was thier Force 10 canvas ridge pole tents 35 years ago and by christ where they heavey when DRY!!!

[pirate-pete]

Well I bought one of these back in 2010 soon after I got my first van.  Was an Outwell one and was sold very cheap in the off season (about £120 new) as they advertised it as  LHD only and with Spanish instructions which was fine for me as I have such a van.  When it arrived it had English instructions sewn in to the bag even though it would have been obvious how to put up  anyway. Also I cannot see what difference it would make if attached to a RHD van as it was pretty symmetrical.  It attached to the van via a pole that clamped onto the gutter with three little thumbscrew clamps.  Was easily able to put this up myself by putting in all the poles when on the floor then lifting up to the van and attaching to the gutter, then walk out and peg the rest.   Three guy lines to hold it in place when the van was driven away.  Used to mark  on the ground where the drivers wheel was so could easily line the van up when coming back to site.

This was great when we used to camp with a baby / toddler and also when on overseas trips as loads of space to dump all the  luggage like pushchairs, child seats or even the portaloo.   Came with a zipped in  groundsheet and also a sleeping inner tent that got used a few times when visitors camped with us.  Unfortunately after 15 years or so the material had been affected by the UV sunlight and  the roof is pretty brittle now feeling more like paper than fabric.  Often nowadays we just use a tarp with a couple of King poles as a sunshade for shorter breaks as we don't need so much to store.  Was about to take the outwell  last week on an extended family meet-up as the awning was useful for everyone to sit and eat in out of the rain/sun but a couple of days before the trip I managed to borrow a suitable looking tent from the local scouts with a door that could easily clamp onto the van and had removable inners and groundsheets that I did not need.  Tent make was Rage Lofoten 6 which I have never heard of but someone in the scouts picked it up 2nd hand for £25.  Think from now on I will borrow that one if we do any long trips.

Pictures attached of the old Outwell drive away and the so called tent we used last week. Tent looks a bit bigger in the picture than in real life but the hardstanding was 5m wide and the tent was 5m square apart from the doorway/porch bit that connected to the van door. Same daughter though in both pictures despite being 16 years apart!