An awning that attaches on the roof rack of practically any vehicle with a roof rack is known as a Roof Rack Awning. They’re most typically found on SUVs, although they can also be found on jeeps, trucks and automobiles.

Camping is the most common usage for a Roof Rack Awning. If you’re camping, the awning stretches from your vehicle 6 to 8 feet (based on the model) and provides a covered space where you can remain dry mostly in rainfall and cool in the heat.

Most campers have built a village of ‘blue tarps’ hung from branches to provide a little shelter at some time. A roof top awning is a simpler, more dependable, and more practical solution to provide some shade.

When traveling with tents, some people may utilize their truck as a ‘separate room.’ They’ll utilize their SUV to store goods, as a dressing room, and as a power supply for the kids’ iPads. A Roof Rack Awning is essentially a patio that allows the user to enter your vehicle while still keeping mud and muck out.

How Does it Install?

Roof rack awnings like the rhino rack awning bracket are commonly mounted on roof racks. But there are also other installation options as well.

The rack is held in place by two little “L” brackets, as seen below. Because you don’t want to install that through the rooftop of your car or SUV, you’ll need to use the roof. If you have a Ford Transit or Sprinter Van, however, there are likely already attachment holes in your rooftop that you may use to place these brackets.

These brackets must be attached to the roof rack. Your awning must come with a few “T” Bolts that can be placed into the rooftop rack’s slots. If your roof rack doesn’t have any grooves, you’ll have to punch two pilot holes through it to attach the anchors.

If you’ve had a cargo carrier, you may very well be able to attach the brackets with “U” brackets (which come standard with many awnings). Once the two “L” brackets are in place, installing the awning is as simple as attaching the awning to the “L” brackets with the provided hardware.

What to Look for?

When purchasing an awning, you should check for the following features:

• Dimensions (width and length)
• Type of material
• Is there any mounting hardware included?

A car awning does not require a great deal of magic. They’re all built in a similar fashion. The type of material, size, or whether or not hardware is incorporated is the most significant differences. Every awning I’ve seen, regardless of price, rolls out manually rather than rolling in by a spring operation like many RV awnings.

The awning’s size should be the first thing to consider. In most cases, width pertains to the width of the vehicle, however be aware that some companies mistake width for length and vice versa.

The fabric kind of the awning’s fabric is the second element to consider. Awning thickness will be measured in “denier” for almost all of them. The fabric thickness is determined by the number preceding the word denier. Fabrics with a denier rating of 500-600 are considered normal, while those with a denier rating of less than 500 are considered very thin and therefore should be avoided.

Finally, not all automobile awnings are equipped with mounting hardware. Make sure your awning comes with the “L” brackets and “T” bolts, at the very least.