I recently purchased a Bush Co 270 Max XT awning and this is an incredible product. I have the V2 GFC and mounted the awning to the lower section of the GFC using the T-nut tracks.
There were two issues that came up during this mount that I need advice on.
The actual lower track on the GFC is bending out due to the weight of the awning in its deployed position. My two fixes for this are going to be to add two additional brackets to the awning to distribute the weight along the awning. My second fix is going to be to insert more screws into the GFC to secure the track in place. I am worried about doing this because I don’t want to make a mistake.
With the mounting brackets that come with the Awning, they suggest mounting a back 90-degree corner to the frame to have more fastening points for extra strength. With the V@ GFC and the way it opens, this corner mount is not possible. This is a bit concerning because the majority of the awning weight is on the back corner of the GFC T-nut track and it is literally bending out of place.
Any suggestions or ideas to help with adding additional structure, screws and security to the GFC T-nut track would be helpful information.
I think you missed the point on the issue at hand. The v1 latch mechanism wasn’t an issue and there are numerous of brackets out there - both custom made and manufactured.
v2 latch flips in a upward motion. Thus preventing a traditional bracket like in the photos above to work on new latch design.
Thank you for your replies. You are all correct in your suggestion, but as @Bryo said, the latch on the V2 latch that opens up and out. This does not allow for the bracket to wrap around the back and attach to the back track for that added support.
You would need to fabricate some kind of J bracket to create enough room for the latch. If you were to create this bracket, the room on the back of the awning would likely be 2-3" to clear the opening latch. This would create a space down the entire back of the truck where weather could roll into the back of the vehicle.
My biggest concern is that the weight of the awning is causing the actual t-nut track to flex out of its position. I see the cause of this fixed by adding some screws into the frame as you see already in the T-track.
I am going to add additional brackets down the entire arm of the Awning to have a total of 4, but I think that back corner is still not supported enough.
Hey Bryo - Keep me posted on your setup, about to pull the trigger on a ALU CAB shadow but hesitant about the mounting situation. Last i spoke with ALEXAB - that mount only worked with V1.
Oh and also did you end up going passenger or driver side mount and why? Thanks!
Do you have any photos you could share? I am seriously considering the Bush Company Max MK2 as well. In my opinion it is the best awning on the market for what I need it to do. Additional brackets would definitely help alleviate the problem. How many brackets did you use initially? I would think doubling the bracket at the rear and adding on or two more along the length would suffice.