The Autoquest had a J Rail but no awning (see photo). After seeing what friends had we plumped for a Khyam Motordome Excelsior drive-away awning which came with figure 8 lengths of plastic which clipped to the J rail. That gave us a lot more space on site with a compact van and, though expensive, was easy to erect. We found that in high winds the awning tended to part from the J rail but the use of 6 foot bungee elastics fastened to D rings on the awning and pegged to the ground solved that problem.
The Khyam proved to be a bit bulky for short stays though so we purchased a second hand porch awning (and, subsequently, another, slightly larger, one). To facilitate use of those I fitted a three piece straight awning channel – a kit which came complete with a drill bit and screws. They were fine except in high winds. Depending on the wind direction there was a tendency for the awning to move along the channel (fixed by purchasing a pair of end stops) or for the flexible poles to bang against the van side (one of the reasons, in the end, why we were starting to consider a change after having the van for five years).
