In 2008 I needed to replace a broken awning strap on a small Carefree of Colorado awning (bedroom window) -- not the large awning. After I purchased a Carefree of Colorado replacement strap I realized that what should be a SIMPLE job was going to be a MAJOR undertaking.

After contemplating my problem for a few days I submitted my problem to several online forums to ask for help.

Bottom line I did not get any useful answers on those forums.

However, I did receive a personal note from Thomas Bain. It is as follows:

Mike,
Saw your post about replacing the awning strap on a carefree awning.
You might want to review this site before you remove the whole
awning. I am having the same problem and will probably try this as it is
much simpler.
http://www.coilnwrap-rv-accessories.com/awning/windowpullinstructions. htm

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That link, that Thomas Bain provided was exactly what I needed.

For those of you not familiar with replacing the awning strap on a Carefree of Colorado bedroom awning it is a BIG time job. You have to remove two rivets (as in drill them out) just to remove a cover over the slot that the strap goes into. In addition you have to remove the spring tensioned roller from the arm. That is something that I did not want to do by myself. That is why I asked the question.

When I went to the above website they were selling a replacement strap for a Carefree bedroom awning and they gave installation instructions. Their solution to the totally asinine procedure designed into the Carefree awning was to drill a hole in one end of the slot then insert their strap into the hole and slide the new strap into position. Once the new strap was in position they recommended cutting the old strap and leaving the old rubber thingee in the slot.

What a brilliant solution. However, I had already purchased a Carefree strap ($6.50 for that silly strap was highway robbery), and I certainly didn't want to purchase another strap. My solution was to drill a hole in the slot just like the instructions above and insert the new Carefree strap (the one I had already purchased) in the hole.

Bottom line, I was able to drill a 1/4-inch hole in my awning slot (just like the directions in the above link said) wallowed out the hole a bit and angled the hole toward the center of the awning. Next I inserted the rubber thingee that secures the strap to the awning, and slid it into the hole/slot. It didn't slide right in but with some silicon spray and some gentle persuasion with a hammer it did go in. Like the instructions in the above link said I cut off the old strap leaving the old rubber thingee in the slot.

For those of you that might be inclined to replace your own Carefree "bedroom" awning strap I would probably make the hole a bit larger than the 1/4" hole that I drilled. Probably no more than wallowing out the hole with the1/4" bit and I would angle the hole in the direction I wanted to insert the black rubber thingee that holds the strap in the slot.

Replacing the awning strap in this manner is MUCH easier than the prescribed Carefree method.

Please let me know if this helps you.

HTH
mike