[Richard]

To remove the monster, start with the window awnings for practice.

It will take two people and two 10 ft stepladders to do it safely.

Remove the awning arms from the attachment on the coach. One of them will be spring wound, figure out which one, and be prepared to stand on the ladder and unwind it. I usually have Rhonda hold the awning strap and pull the awning away from the coach so the rotating arm doesn’t hit the coach.

Once the arm is unwound, let the awning hang straight down.

Take the vise grips, and undo the crimps, including the ones under the awning in the middle.

One person stands on a ladder right at the edge of the awning, and starts pulling on the key in line with the channel to slide it out. The second person positions the ladder a couple of feet away and holds the awning once it reaches them. The first person moves the ladder and plays leap frog.

Do this until there is about 2 ft left in the channel. Now you need a person at each end before you pull it out of the channel.

Sounds a lot harder than it is. If it won’t budge, make sure you have uncrimped ALL the crimps.

And besides, you have to do this anyway to paint the coach regardless of your intent to replace.