MOBILE DETAILERS - Check out my new canopy !!

[Superior Shine]

I have used the same old canopies for over 12 years. I thought it time to buy new ones.

In Orlando at the Mobile Tech Expo I met Dave, a KD Canopy rep.
I had a chance to see a few examples of canopies he had at the show. When I returned from the show I ordered two. The service I got from him has been outstanding.


My old canopies were made of steel and were (are) heavy. I'd put two 8x12 canopies together to give me a 12x16 area to work under. That is 192 sq feet that is hardly big enough to area to work under.


I ordered two 10x15 aluminum frame canopies for about $1800. (3/3/06 EDIT: I paid $1603 for the two and six weight bags)

( PDTA members get free shipping- that saved me $115!! )

Both of the new canopies together will give me 300 sq feet!

[Superior Shine]

Here is what was waiting for me when I got home tonight.



The white boxes contain the frames, the two medium boxes have the canvas tops and the smallest box has canvas bags that when filled with sand or ?? are used as weights.



The first thing I notice was the frame boxes were pretty ratty looking.






Even though thte boxes looked bad the frames look fine with no damage.

[Superior Shine]

The frame comes without the canvas installed.






I opened the box containing the canvas top. I found the top to be neatly packed. It was folded and put into a canvas bag. This box also contained installation instructions and four metal stakes that were also in a small canvas bag.





The directions were clear and easy to follow.

[Superior Shine]

The instructions are for two people. I didn't have help so I put it on by myself.

I started by draping the top over the frame.





I then opened the frame slightly and fastened the velcro ends to the corners.






The black portion is one half of the velcro. The circle shows you where the other part of the velcro is.

[Superior Shine]

OK - THIS THING IS HUGE!!

It is just as wide as my garage!!





It took me less than 15 minutes to put the first canopy together and even less to do the second one.

I pulled my Riv under the canopies to give you an idea how big it is. I can open the doors of the Riv without worring about hitting any of the legs.

[Superior Shine]

The canopies fold up into a nice neat small package. Canvas bags were included to put the canopies in for storage.

[Teak]

I like your new canopy.

Do yu have any profile pictures of the Riv under the canopy?

Eric

[Superior Shine]

The only thing I REALLY don't like are the holes in the leg.

They are there to adjust the hight of the canopy but I will always use it at its highest setting. So in order to get to the bottom hole you have to pass the pin through the first four holes. It is a pain to have to push the pin back in and move it to the next hole.

The pin is kind of hard to push in and by the time you get both canopies up you fingers are going to be hurting.

I plan on ordering two more canopies later this year and I plan on special ordering legs with one setting (only one hole).

[gbackus]

If you're interested in selling any of your old ones, please email me or give me a call.

[Superior Shine]

Here are profile pics (well almost) My yard isn't big enough for me to get back far enough to take a full profile pic.

[Superior Shine]

Originally posted by gbackus
If you're interested in selling any of your old ones, please email me or give me a call.

I was going to keep them to use around the house.

They are $450 each new from a guy in Bell Flower.

I guess if I got a pretty good offer I would sell the old ones.

[sneek]

sweet! is it really as wide as a 2 car garage? it might just be too wide

[Superior Shine]

You need to detail a black car here in July on a 110 degree day and then you will think there arn't wide enough!!!

[Teak]

Thanks for the profile picutres.

Eric

[Mike Phillips]

Those are very nice Joe. Do you have a contraption for attaching to the canopy to hold it down in case of high wind? I've used my EZ-Up canopy for shade when detailing cars and sometimes the wind is an issue. In the past I've used 5-gallon buckets filled with water and attached to the aluminum cross-members to hold the canopy down. Then when I'm finished I can simply dump the water out and stack the buckets inside one another.