Awning Season is almost here.....

20/02/2025 •

Will the real slim SHADY please stand up?

Besides Eminem's platinum haircut, what else comes to mind? Hot sun? Yea, us to. Here's a how to guide to make sure your build includes an awning this season.

Awnings 101:

If you haven't heard yet, they make some really awesome aftermarket awnings for vehicles. When they're undeployed, they look like a long tube, wrapped in canvas.

They're typically encased in waterproof shell that includes a zipper running the length of the awning, on the bottom. On the back side they have a track system, that allows you to attach to either a bed rack or a roof rack.

Once unzippered, what comes out is either a 180 or 270 degree awning.

What's the purpose of the awning? Well besides protecting you from the sun, they do offer shelter from rain, generally create a homier environment for your camp, and they look cool. It's a great spot to place a few chairs or a table for your food, to protect it from Mother Nature.

Difference in a 180 vs 270 degree awning

90 degrees. Below is a photo of a set up with a 180 degree awning. It's great if you want something budget friendly, that won't add a ton of weight to your setup.

You can see in the photo that this awning (from ROAM Adventure Co.) is braced via aluminum adjustable supports along the upper edges, and has legs (also adjustable). You may need a hand getting this set up but if you're a pro you could handle it on your own. Great option if you're looking for shade on one side of your truck.

The 180 degree awnings come in different shapes and sizes but the rule of thumb is that they only provide coverage on one side of the truck or vehicle.

A 270 degree awning goes beyond one side of the truck - it actually opens to the back of the truck, covering not only one full side of the truck, but the tailgate as well. In the photo below, you can see the 270 awning providing shade on the passenger side and the tailgate.

270 deg awnings weigh almost twice as much as an 180 deg awning, but they can often be easier to operate by one person, due to their "swing open" design. Some models don't even require opening the support legs.

Putting them back in the canvas can be tricky, but it's imperative it's done correctly, to make sure moisture isn't creeping in.

Here is a full list of the aftermarket awnings that we resell.

How to mount your awning

Assuming that you're driving a truck, your two options will be mounting your awning to a bed rack or a roof rack. We don't make roof racks, so we'll stick to discussing options for bed racks.

Most of the bed racks on the market are cab height, which would make it high enough to be practical if you're mounting the awning towards the top of the rack. A lot of bed racks will offer some mounting option for the awning - if not, your awning should come with a mounting L bracket that you can bolt on (see below for reference).

We started by making low profile bed racks (truck bed bars) that are also tonneau cover compatible. We also quickly realized that if you have a low profile bed rack, your awning won't be nearly high enough.

Bill designed an adjustable awning mount that attaches to our low profile bed rack, allowing you to clear the cab with the awning, and still have a low profile system.

It's capable of extending 19.75" above the crossbars. So if you're running our 5" system, the base of your awning will be roughly 24" above the bed rail. Our 8" system would allow you to extend close to 30" above your bed rail.

A reminder that our 5" and 8" bed racks don't require a tonneau cover but are compatible with:

trifold tonneau covers
roll up tonneau covers
some retractable covers

If you want to learn more about our bed racks, click here. If you want to see our tonneau cover fitment guide, click here!

We also have cab height bed racks, but they require a tonneau cover with integrated t slots along the bed rail, such as the Retrax XR or Roll N Lock XT tonneau covers.

If you go with the 24" height bed rack, you can use the base of the crossbar to use the awning mount provided from the awning company, and you'll be good to go. Shown below.

If you go with our 11" or 17" bed racks (again, you'll need a tonneau cover with t slots running along the bed rail to run this bed rack), you'll want a little more height for the awning. We came out with a specific awning mount, shown below and found here.