Bunk Cover Awning for Hybrid Camper
- Daniel Soulbuilt
- May 21
- 2 min read
My hybrid camper is a 2015 Rockwood Roo 19 by Forest River. I suspect that the hybrid bunks are built similar amongst most manufactures, so the following should work for most hybrid campers.
There's an aluminum gutter in the frame above the bunk opening. It's a perfect place to clip an awning to, but I don't want damage the aluminum or the coating. A plastic channel could clip over the gutter edge and be tied down at the ends to prevent liftoff.
This is what the top right edge of the aluminum gutter looks like. You can also see the door seal, and the bunk door. Relying on the seal alone to keep out water is a stupid design. The top gutter should have a lip and drip edge that goes over the bunk door and protects it from rain. Car doors, and RV entry doors have a gutter that protects the door seal, to minimize the amount of water that reaches the door seal. The door seal should be the last layer of protection against rainwater.
The easiest solution to remedy this problem on existing campers when the banks are closed is to use a U channel that will fit into the gutter and over the door, as shown in red below. The blue is an extra sheet of plastic or tarp that is glued under the channel and covers the door and side gaskets. The red channel should be long enough to extend far past the edge gaskets to protect them also from the rain.
If the blue material is flexible, like a tarp, then when the door is lowered, bunk open, the tarp can be stretched out over the bunk roof. The channel needs to be raised up before the door can be lowered.
The U channel has to be wide enough to fit over the door edge and gutter.
A plastic angle could also work. One leg goes in the channel and the other above the door, as shown in red. Tarp fabric is glued on the underside as shown in blue.
A narrow plastic channel that clips into the gutter rail, shown in red. The blue tarp fabric is glued to the plastic channel. The channel can be left on when the door is closed or open. The tarp covers the door and gaskets when closed. The tarp covers the bunk when open.
With bunk open. (Door shown closed).
With bunk closed.
To adhere the tarp to the plastic, it's possible to use glue or tape. The tape should be designed for intense outdoor use, like sail repair tape.
This shows how the tape, shown in yellow, would be applied to hold the tarp to the plastic.
This U channel may be
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