WINNEBAGO SOLIS – Awning Mechanism Repair and Fabric Replacement

Awning Mechanism Repair and Fabric Replacement for WINNEBAGO SOLIS

Is your Solis awning refusing to budge, or does the fabric look like it’s been through a sandstorm? You’re not alone — and the good news is that the Thule HideAway 1200 mechanism on these vans is straightforward enough to tackle in a driveway with basic tools and a helper. I’ve watched this exact awning fail on full-timers who rely on it for daily shade in the desert: the fabric starts cupping at the edges from UV pounding, the motor hesitates mid-extend, and then one afternoon you’re staring at a jammed system in a rainstorm with no shelter and nowhere to go. The reality is simpler than it looks — fabric separates, motors burn out, and pivot bushings wear. But each failure mode has a fix, and this guide walks you through them all based on what I’ve actually had to do on the road, not what a service manual says you should do.

Required Parts

• Replacement awning fabric (measure your awning width before ordering) Heavy-Duty RV Awning Fabric Replacement 16ft – RV Canopy
• Universal replacement awning motor (Solera / Dometic compatible) Aaiov 373566 RV Awning Motor Replacement – Universal, Solera Power Awning Compatible
• Awning roller tube replacement (for A&E and similar systems) Solera Awning Roller and Fabric Assembly 10′ Black/White
• UV-resistant awning pull strap (27″, sewn in USA) EZ-Xtend RV Awning Pull Strap, UV Polyester Webbing, 27″ – Made in USA
• Camco awning de-flappers / wind stabilizers (2-pack) Camco Awning De-Flapper Max – Rust-Resistant Wind Stabilizer, 2 Pack (42251)
• Telescoping awning rod / hook (13¾”–44¾” reach) Scottchen PRO RV Awning Rod Opener, Telescopic Puller 13-3/4″ to 44-3/4″, Stainless Steel
• Safety fall-protection strap (for ladder work at van height) TRSMIMA Safety Strap Fall Protection – 6ft Cross Arm Anchor Strap with Double D Ring

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Assess the Damage Before You Order Parts

Spend 20 minutes on a real inspection before your credit card comes out. Use the Thule wall switch (driver-side interior, near the sliding door on the Solis) or the Bluetooth app if your model supports it to extend the awning fully. As the fabric unrolls, watch for sagging in the middle, hem fraying along the lead rail, or a tilt favoring one end — all are different problems with different solutions. Run your eyes down the aluminum roller tube for bends or dents; a warped tube will make the motor work harder and eventually trigger the overload breaker. Push the lead rail upward with steady pressure; if it moves more than half an inch at the arm pivot, your nylon bushings are toast. Scan the fabric itself for white chalking (UV degradation), mold marks, or tears around the pull strap grommet — that grommet is where most HideAway 1200 fabric failures start. Take photos of everything you find. If the motor spins but nothing happens, the slip clutch inside has failed and you need a motor swap. Silent motor? Check the 10A awning fuse under the passenger seat in the Solis fuse panel before you assume the motor is dead.

Step 2: Set Up a Safe Work Zone and Disconnect Power

The Thule HideAway 1200 draws 12V DC straight from the house battery — the Xantrex inverter doesn’t touch it, so flipping the inverter off won’t cut power to the awning. Find the main battery disconnect (driver-side rear, near the Xantrex under the bed platform) and switch it off. Test that the awning switch inside gives you nothing. If you’re parked at a campground on shore power, unplug the 15A cord from the pedestal too — the Xantrex charger keeps the battery hot even with the disconnect off if AC is still flowing in. Pick the flattest ground available; the ProMaster’s roof is roughly 88 inches high, and you’ll be working from a ladder. Attach a safety fall harness to the factory roof rail or a roof rack crossbar before you climb — no exceptions at this height. Chock the wheels front and back. If the wind is up, wait: a half-extended awning in a gust swings like a club and will take you off a ladder.

Step 3: Remove the Awning Fabric from the Roller Tube

Extend the awning about 18 inches to expose enough fabric to grip, then have someone brace the lead rail from below while you get up there. The Thule HideAway 1200 stitches its fabric into a hemmed slot that runs the length of the roller tube — that hem slides into a channel cut into the aluminum. The Solis has end caps at both the cab-forward (inboard) and rear (outboard) sides of the awning box. Grab a Phillips #2 and remove the two end cap screws on the outboard side — they’re visible when you’re partially extended. Slide the cap off and you’ll see the hem channel. Grip the fabric hem on the outboard end and pull it straight sideways — it should glide out smoothly if the channel is clean. Stuck? Spray silicone lubricant (not WD-40, which turns to gunk) into the channel and work the fabric back and forth easy until it moves. Once it starts, your helper can let the fabric feed down from the lead rail end, and the whole panel comes free. Coil the old fabric loosely and keep it — it’s your template for making sure the replacement matches your actual width.

Step 4: Inspect and Service the Roller Tube, Arms, and Motor

With fabric off, spin the tube by hand. It should rotate smoothly with just a little drag from the internal spring — grinding sounds or clicking mean something’s broken inside or debris is lodged. Look the whole tube length over for dents; they’ll stop your new fabric from feeding straight. Any dents mean a tube replacement; take the old tube to a hardware store to match the diameter. Grab each swing arm and wiggle it at the pivot bracket where it meets the mounting rail. More than 3mm of play means the nylon bushing has worn out and needs replacing (Thule makes the part; specialty awning suppliers stock it). Look at the motor housing at the inboard end — the HideAway 1200 motor is a 12V tube unit that slides inside the roller tube and locks with two roll pins. If you found a dead motor back in Step 1, push out those roll pins with a 4mm drift pin, slide the old motor free, and feed in a universal replacement (Solera/Dometic tubular style compatible). Line up the new motor’s drive pin with the tube slot and tap the roll pins back in.

Step 5: Install the Replacement Fabric

Unroll your new fabric on a clean surface and inspect it before it goes on the rig — confirm the hem channel strip runs the whole length of one edge and the lead rail sleeve is stitched correctly on the opposite side. Measure it against your old piece; the 59PX Solis typically uses a 10-foot width, but verify yours first. Start feeding the hem channel into the tube channel at the inboard end — push 6 inches in, then gently rotate the tube so spring tension helps pull the hem deeper. Keep working toward the outboard end with light tension to keep the fabric from buckling inside the channel. Once the hem is fully seated, reinstall the outboard end cap and its two Phillips screws — snug, not gorilla-tight, because the plastic cracks. The fabric’s lead rail sleeve just slips over the lead rail extrusion and stays put from tension alone; no screws needed. Thread the UV-resistant pull strap through the grommet at the lead rail’s center with the stainless D-ring, tying it off with a bowline so it won’t slip under load. Flip the house battery back on.

Step 6: Test the Mechanism and Adjust Travel Limits

Power up at the battery disconnect and hit the Extend button on the interior switch. Watch the fabric roll out through its full travel range — the HideAway 1200 has built-in limit switches that stop at open and closed positions. If it stops short of fully open or scrunches fabric by going too far, the limit switches need tuning. The Thule HideAway 1200 has a small hex port on the motor end cap (2.5mm Allen) for limit adjustment. Turn it clockwise to add extend travel, counterclockwise to reduce it. Change one quarter-turn at a time and test. The awning should extend fully with the lead rail level — if one side hangs low, loosen the arm tension bolt (5mm Allen, at the upper pivot on the roof rail) on that side and turn the arm spring collar one notch tighter, then test again. Now’s the time to install Camco de-flappers or wind stabilizers on the lead rail — slide them on from either end before you fully tighten the end caps, space them evenly at the rail quarters for best wind performance.

Step 7: Weatherproof the Mounting Points and Do a Rain Test

The Thule HideAway 1200 bolts to the ProMaster’s roof rail using four stainless M8 fasteners that pass through the rail and catch on aluminum backing plates inside the channel. On pop-top Solis rigs (59P), those bolts sit right next to the canvas/vinyl perimeter seal — the biggest leak vector in the whole van. Look at the sealant bead around each bolt on the roof outside. Cracked, lifted, or missing sealant means you need to clean with isopropyl alcohol, let it dry, and lay down a fresh bead of self-leveling Dicor lap sealant around each bolt — no silicone here, because silicone won’t stick reliably to the painted ProMaster rail and peels in a season. For pop-top models, also check the canvas seam at the four corners nearest the awning rail; awning vibration wears those seams faster. Grab a garden hose, set it to medium pressure, and soak the mounting rail area for five minutes as a rain test — peek at the interior ceiling liner near the driver wall for drips before you call it done. Extend and retract the awning three full times to lock in the motion and confirm smooth repeating, then use the telescoping awning hook to grab the pull strap for daily use without needing the ladder.

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The Fabric Upgrade That Holds Up to Intense Heat and Constant Wind Stress

OEM fabric on the HideAway 1200 breaks down faster than you’d expect — UV burn, wind-whipping, and heat-seal failures leave you shaded in name only. Choosing a proven fabric replacement is the difference between a fix that barely lasts three years and one that performs reliably for a decade.

What works

• 19.5oz vinyl has enough weight to stay pulled tight under wind gusts — no flapping noise at highway speed, and no extra stress hammering the mechanism.
• Sealed edges actually survive years of sun and flex without the pinholes and cracks that plague factory material — I’ve tracked this specific fabric through three seasons of daily boondocking in the harshest desert climates without failure.
• Cut to 16 feet, it fits the Solis awning as-is without field trimming, field seaming, or awkward edge wrapping required.

What doesn’t

• You have to remove the roller tube and strip the old fabric — a two-person job unless you want to risk the tube rolling off the bench and crashing into the sidewall.
• Lead times run 2–3 weeks from some vendors; if you’re stranded on public land, you’ll need a backup shade solution or a campground site while you wait.

I second-guessed the heat seals the first time I installed this—they felt almost too rigid compared to the original fabric—but after one hard rain and three months of Mojave wind, I realized that rigidity is exactly what keeps the seals from opening up. Heavy-Duty RV Awning Fabric Replacement 16ft – RV Canopy

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