Universal Awning Fit Kit for Rhino-Rack Vortex Aero, Heavy-Duty Crossbars, and Pioneer Platforms

Video Transcript for Rhino-Rack Platforms Universal Awning Fit Kit Review

Hey everyone, it's Evangeline here at etrailer and today we're gonna be taking a look at our universal mounting bracket for your Rhino-Rack roof racks or for different awnings and we'll see how this will work for yours. So I just did a video about the Rhino-Rack Sunseeker awning and it was great because it all worked together. It worked well with the Rhino Rack Vortex crossbars. All the parts we're included. I didn't need to get anything else. No, that will not always be the case.

Maybe you're mixing and matching things. Maybe you have a different awning, you wanna try it out on your Rhino-Rack crossbars. Maybe you have different crossbars. You just wanna make sure your awning gets onto your vehicle someway, somehow. So this is where we're gonna have the universal mounting bracket for awnings.

Hopefully this will work for you too. So here's some things you first need to check to make sure it'll work for you. And that's gonna be the distance apart of the bracket. So this is a traditional way of putting the bracket on. And if your awning has a open track like this, just measure that track to see if it'll work for you.

So that track is gonna be an 1 7/8 of an inch apart. So this is a traditional way of using your bracket. It slides through the T track channel and then you have those two holes for how high you want your awning to be. But depending on how your awning sits or what else you have on your crossbars, you can move this around. You can even if you have channels underneath, put it through there too.

It really is up to you how you want to use this. Next for that track, also, take a look at the opening on the inside of it and see what will fit. So we have some different plates here, some different bolts that will slide through different tracks differently. We also have a hook as an option, so just double check that. So your thicker block that's usually used for C channels, commonly found in a pioneer platform. And then this T track bolt this goes into most of your T track crossbars. You also have this hex head bolt and this is used for more off brand awnings, I would like to say. And finally, you have this nut here that can work for both T track as well as this hex bolt. So hopefully the measurements for the holes as well as a look at the different types of plates this comes with will help you figure out if this will work for you. This will work for most applications but there's different situations, unique situations where maybe you have solar panels on your roof or you have different accessories up there and you need it to fit into a different spot. So Rhino-Rack does have other brackets, for example an angled bracket that will help push that out of the way. Those are worth taking a look at for those unique situations. Now installing it can be pretty simple. I'm gonna guide you through that process. Depending on which hardware you're using, you may need to use a different wrench. This kit uses a 13 millimeter wrench to tighten down those nuts. I use a 10 millimeter for a different brand. Now let's take a look at that process. So the very first step is figuring out what hardware you need. So for your universal adapter, you have a bunch of different options here in terms of holes in terms of plates, in terms of hooks. Now with the awning we have, those don't actually fit. What does fit is just this little bolt and that slides right through the awning. So we're going to use the hardware that came with the awning. Now we're gonna install the bracket onto our roof rack. So this might look a little different depending on if you have the pioneer platform or if you have Rhino-Rack vortex bars like these or if you have another brand's roof rack. So it's pretty much as long as you have T track channels, this should fit in there. So we're just gonna get this into the crossbar and tighten it down. Now line this bracket up to where you want it to be and tighten it down. Now for putting your awning up, that is up to you too with how much help you have or if you're doing it all by yourself. Now with our situation here, we actually have it where this fits perfectly into where our awning track is. So I am going to set up the bolts first and then slide the awning through. Some people like to have their friend hold up the awning as they mount it down. It really is up to you, whichever is easier. So this is actually a really good example of how the mounting process can be easier depending on how your awning or your brackets look. So in our case here, there is no opening on the inside. You just have to go all the way from the end. Plus, these are so small that's actually really hard to slide them through. The easiest way to get this onto your bracket is to line it up with the hole and push it through. So definitely keep that in consideration. So no matter how you get that bracket and that awning and that crossbar together, once you have them all in place, just tighten them down. And just like that, you're able to mount an awning of a different brand to your crossbars. With this being a universal kit, you should be able to use it in most applications but not all of them. It really will depend on how far apart your brackets are and if you do have the right hardware. Hopefully this video with the measurements and showing you how to install it was able to help you out with seeing if it'll work for your application and if this is the best fit for you. And that right there was a look at the Rhino Rack universal mounting bracket for your different awnings here at etrailer. My name is Evangeline and I hope you enjoyed the journey..