Carefree freestyle roof mount awning on Ford transit

[AC Orange]

Originally Posted by annarborRVer

I have a 2018 Winnebago Paseo. The Carefree (not really carefree is it?) awning is getting stuck, motor runs, but won't extend. Initially when I banged on the end getting stuck it would dislodge and eventually extend. Now the motor runs but I have to manually tug on it with the motor running to get it to extend. Sure looks like a defective design to me, with all the problems reported on it throughout the internet.

I have some patience and a little mechanical knowledge so I will dig into it and if I can figure out what is going on, will share. I bought the camper used and don't believe there is any warranty left on it.

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Now my PASEO is 3 years old and the Carefree awning deploys whenever I want it to. However, once in a while I push the button and it sort of struggles for a few seconds and then it finally opens. So, not really perfect.
Could you post back here what you found if you dig into it ?

[annarborRVer]

I worked on it a bit this weekend. Got it fully extended by pulling on the lead rail while motor running. Noticed that the awning was walking toward one end (rear of coach) of roller when retracting it, causing the awning to telescope away from the end toward front of camper.

Tugged on the front outside corner of awning while retracting and pulled toward front of camper to reduce telescoping on the roller. Awning retracted cleanly and unit closed firmly. Was able to use the awning button to extend awning again, fully automatic. Repeated the tugging to reduce telescoping. Will report back if this is a long term fix or just coincidence. Having to help align the awning on the roller as it retracts will be a PITA but better than not working at all!

[Alec]

Picked op my 2018 Paseo about two years ago. The dealer is about four hours away; about two hours south of san Francisco, I'm two hours north. I was anxious to get started for home to beat the bay area traffic when I picked up the van, so I didn't try the awning before leaving the dealership. Of course when I tried it at home it didn't deploy. I never expected to use it anyway, so I intended to have a service center look at it someday.
After reading all the problems above, I think I'll just leave it as is, and avoid unnecessary headaches.

[AC Orange]

Originally Posted by annarborRVer

I worked on it a bit this weekend. Got it fully extended by pulling on the lead rail while motor running. Noticed that the awning was walking toward one end (rear of coach) of roller when retracting it, causing the awning to telescope away from the end toward front of camper.

Tugged on the front outside corner of awning while retracting and pulled toward front of camper to reduce telescoping on the roller. Awning retracted cleanly and unit closed firmly. Was able to use the awning button to extend awning again, fully automatic. Repeated the tugging to reduce telescoping. Will report back if this is a long term fix or just coincidence. Having to help align the awning on the roller as it retracts will be a PITA but better than not working at all!

Wondering how your awning is working now. I've had a Paseo for 5 years with that same awning and after countless cycles of opening and closing it just recently started acting up. One day I could cycle it 5 times with no problems, The next day it decides to hang up and won't deploy (a little scary because the motors keep turning while nothing happens). Yesterday I noticed the same thing with the awning material being a little off to one side. I was able to pull it straight again. Not sure if it will stay good though.

[Alec]

Haven't played with it, and probably never will.
Thanks anyway.