Getting ready for next years expeditions with new car, has anyone fitted either a rear or side awning to the car?

I toyed with the idea but the costs of off the shelf awning (e.g. Fox wing) were way too much

I did find an awning on eBay that used suction cups to the roof of the car, and telescopic poles with guy ropes attached. Only about £50 but never got round to purchase.

If yours has roof rails though you could buy a suitable tarp or awning, attach it to the roof bars with bungee cords or hooks and get some tent poles etc. from Go Outdoors (other camping stores are available )

Pics if you do manage it

To save weight & reduce wind drag on the roof on my winter/spring tour https://www.freel2.com/forum/topic27606.html I had set up some eyes on the roof platform along its length with extension bars (complex to build but simple mechanism to use) to attach a simple ground sheet. & then a couple of telescopic poles for the outer edge of the ground sheet. I also had a second ground sheet to double the area with 4 poles in total.

I had put a fair bit of effort into it so it would be quick to set up, but I have no pictures as I did not put it up once for the 6 weeks even though it would have been easy.

I would buy a ground sheet, a couple of telescopic poles (a painters pole for ceilings will work, I packed one of these for one of the poles as I had one), bit of thin rope & see how you go the first time round to see if you really need an awning in the long run.

Click image to enlarge

Tent guy rope knots to avoid wasting money on pointless gadgets.

Taut-line hitch

For tent ropes this knot works brilliantly, have been using it for decades. You can tighten the rope & it does not slip back, & it is easy to undo. Generally I tend to leave the knot in situ for next time as tent pegs go roughly at the same distance.

If you really need to get the rope tight use a Truckers hitch, simple version is all that is needed. It will give you 2 to 1 tightening power. Useful for a clothesline between trees (or car & tree as in Australia if you are lucky to find a tree!) to air sleeping bags in the morning keeping them off the ground! Procrastination, mankind's greatest labour saving device!

Acoustic insulation ARB TPMS 3xARB air compressors After cooler Air tank On-board OCD pressure air/water cleaning Additional 50L fuel Carpet in doors ABE 2x1kg Waeco 28L modified fridge Battery 4x26ah Solar 120w Victron MPPT 100/20 DC-DC 18amps 175amp jumper plug Awning 6x255/60R18

A lot of truckers no longer know how to tie a Truckers Hitch as they no longer use ropes to tie down their loads - but it is a very useful knot.

http://www.flatdoguk.com/arb-vehicle-awning-1250mm-x-2100mm~1024

Found this while browsing for one myself. Obviously more expensive than the diy option but should be of good quality.