r/overlanding • u/BigSandwich6 • Sep 07 '26

Gear Question Faded Awning Restoration?

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I added this awning to my car last year and it faded pretty badly. Is there anything I can do to restore it or is it too far gone? I tried a few products I had but they didn’t seem to do much. If not then maybe plasti dip?

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41

u/greatercolorado Sep 07 '26

I think the solution here is to keep the awning off of your vehicle and install it when you need it.

2

u/PonyThug Sep 13 '26

That’s a huge waste of time. The whole point of those is to have it when you want it

4

u/greatercolorado Sep 13 '26

Mine takes 2 minutes to install, it could literally be done while gassing up. The noise, mileage dip, and sun damage aren’t worth keeping it on all the time, and 2 minutes of installation doesn’t qualify as a huge waste of time.

If overlanding is an aesthetic that you value and if you need the gear to be on display, keeping it installed is totally fine. I just don’t find it to be worthwhile.

1

u/PonyThug Sep 13 '26

Mine takes 30 mins with two people. It’s 70pounds and 7.5ft long. Pain to store it

Little to zero effect on mpg. It has a 7x8” cross section while driving.

2

u/greatercolorado Sep 13 '26

I absolutely see where you’re coming from now. I’d keep it on most of the time, too.

1

u/hexiron 24d ago

If you leave it on, it will fade and deteriorate in the sun and elements.

You can totally leave it on, but it shortens it's life and utility. No way around that.

1

u/PonyThug 24d ago

Best part is a new cover is like $30-50 after 3-5 years. I’m about to replace mine after 3 years of Utah sun. Either free via warranty or $40 if I have to buy it.

3 years of swapping it out a few times a year would have cost me probably $400 of more of my labor time. 1 removal and reinstalling would take more time in time vs cost then just buying a new cover for me.

I value my time way too high and so does my GF to waste time dealing with stuff like that. We camp 50+ nights a year. When do you remove it if your actually buying gear to use it properly

1

u/hexiron 23d ago

I don't disagree with you, I have the same view. But since OP seems to care, that's the trade off they need to make. Prestine gear or gear that works for you.

4

u/BigSandwich6 Sep 07 '26

Well it’s part of my car now and I have other equipment mounted to it. So if there’s nothing to be done to bring the color back I will paint it and UV seal it

14

u/greatercolorado Sep 07 '26

Your plan is to paint cloth?

-6

u/BigSandwich6 Sep 07 '26

It’s vinyl and plasti dip isn’t paint but yeah

18

u/MassiveLuck4628 Sep 07 '26

That won't last a week

-6

u/BigSandwich6 Sep 07 '26

It’s lasted longer on my wheels and front bumper than this awning did

17

u/MassiveLuck4628 Sep 07 '26

Those are solid objects not flexible cloth

4

u/Silvertongue-Devil Sep 07 '26

If your idea is to plasti dip spray? The cloth ive done it before and the item is in my shop still years later.

Make sure to dust it as best you can with an air hose sprayer "air compressor" before spraying it with plasti coat.

-1

u/BigSandwich6 Sep 07 '26

Rubber is flexible

9

u/MassiveLuck4628 Sep 07 '26

Your stuff bro, I applied coatings and painted cars for 10 years but you do you

2

u/BigSandwich6 Sep 07 '26

If you have all this experience then what should I do?

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1

u/PonyThug Sep 13 '26

Is your bumper Flexable? Do you fold your bumper over every time you park?

2

u/DepartmentNatural Sep 13 '26

That's not vinyl & plastic dip isn't what you should be using. You can try rit dye but you need to take it off the car

2

u/Realistic-Guava-3403 Sep 13 '26

There are fabric spray pants you should investigate. I used them to change the color of my old faded carpet in my truck

2

u/Weekend_Criminal Sep 07 '26

The cover for my 270° batwing tore and I was surprised to find out a new one is only $65

5

u/FooFighter325 Sep 07 '26

Could you RIT dye the cover?

3

u/Exploreditor Sep 07 '26

This crossed my mind but I wonder if it would work on the nylon fabric and if it would stain the car if it got wet.

5

u/Ginger_SNAFU Sep 07 '26

Anything installed on your vehicle permanently is going to suffer from sun damage. Like another poster said, take it off when you're not using it. Reinstall when you need it. It will lessen the damage over time.

3

u/BigSandwich6 Sep 07 '26

I am full time and my telecom equipment is mounted to the back of it

5

u/Tropez2020 Sep 07 '26

Awnings are a tool. You are using it by having it on your vehicle full time (& I hope you are actually deploying and using it from time to time). Fading is normal and doesn’t affect performance. Treat it as a tool, not car-jewelry.

6

u/BigSandwich6 Sep 07 '26

I agree but if there was something easy I could do to make it look nice then why not

1

u/Tropez2020 Sep 07 '26

Fair enough.

There’s just a ton of folks (both locally and online) who treat things like awnings, rotopacks, and RTT’s like car jewelry. It’s getting exhausting.

2

u/DepartmentNatural Sep 13 '26

Umm you reading this post?

1

u/Possible-Friend-8915 Sep 13 '26

Try to Tie Dye it.

1

u/casey_h6 29d ago

Not sure why this just now showed up in my feed, but I'm kinda bummed to see all the stupid "itS A tOOl bRO" comments. Some people take pride in their things and want to maintain them. I would recommend trying something like one of the 303 aerospace uv products. I use their parts on the black plastic trim pieces of my trailer and it helps quite a bit.

1

u/TruCrimson Sep 07 '26

From the photo, it looks like the strap dye bled into the awning, not that the awning is faded. Though I don't know what color the awning originally was.

If you really want to keep the awning attached to the vehicle at all times, see if they have an awning cover for your size that can still be mounted on the rack.

2

u/BigSandwich6 Sep 07 '26

The straps stopped that part from fading

2

u/TruCrimson Sep 07 '26

Ngl, that's funny since it's the opposite of what I thought.

I would get a cover for the awning. The brand of awning you have might already sell a cover, and a plus if it also allows you to mount it while in the cover.

3

u/BigSandwich6 Sep 07 '26

This is the cover that came with the awning

1

u/Ok-Boysenberry3948 Sep 13 '26

Well, then a new cover is all you need then, isn't it? Even if it's a hundred bucks, that'd be the easiest and quickest "repair" of the faded cover. Plastidip? Dyeing? That's too labor intensive, your times more valuable than that.

1

u/BigSandwich6 Sep 13 '26

I already sprayed it using the can I had in about 20 minutes, it looks brand new now

https://www.reddit.com/r/overlanding/comments/1wewr9e/update_plasti_dipped_my_faded_awning/

1

u/TruCrimson Sep 07 '26

O. I would probably find a new cover that would be better to last in UV.

0

u/FreebirdMTG Sep 07 '26

Awnings, rtt, anything exposed to the sun is a wear item and should be expected to be replaced at some interval.

0

u/steelio91 Sep 07 '26

Idk why you're getting downvoted, and no helpful information shared. People need to chill and keep quiet if they can't just try to be helpful.

Anyway. RIT Dye is unlikely to work well or last. In my experience, they are unable to achieve a neutral gray/black, since they use green to get darker tones.

My best suggestion is dupli color vinyl and fabric spray paint. I've used this on a few projects and it applies easy, achieves true neutral grays/blacks, holds up well, and is cheap. Just mind the over spray and expect to have to redo it occasionally. Sun on fabric is always tough.

https://a.co/d/0cRyOJh3