Awning Ratchet Lever

[Ironframe123]

My awning ratchet lever caught on a twig the other night and snapped off. The awning still winds and unwinds when using multigrips to turn it. As I'm currently on the road I can get by but would like a better solution.
Dometic don't sell the lever separately and want around $240 to supply and send the full awning unit.(Up there with Apple and John Deere in preventing the user completing simple repairs).
Has anyone else come up with something they have fabricated themselves to overcome this extortionate practice?

 

[Rene T]

Welcome to the forum.
You could try a rv salvage yard. They may have a rv the got totaled with an awning destroyed and may have what you’re looking for.

 

[Ironframe123]

Thanks - that has occurred to me and I will check ou a few in my travels. Cheers

 

[NY_Dutch]

Dometic™ A&E 3108399.035B RV Awning Torsion Assembly - RH - White

This is a replacement torsion arm assembly for the Dometic A&E 8500 / 9000 Awning. The torsion assembly has a wound coil spring which provides tension on the roller tube to roll the awning up into the travel position. The right hand torsion end cap contains a cam assembly which prevents the...

pantherrvproducts.com

 

[Rene T]

Guess what I have sitting in front of me?
I just took this off an old roller tube. I have no idea who made it but the lever looks identical to the one Dutch posted in post #4. The hole going thru the lever is 5/16” diameter. Also there is a raised area inside the bore similar to a pointed key. I put an arrow on pointing to the raised area. This may be there to orient the lever to the shaft correctly. This lever was pressed onto the shaft and there may be a groove in the shaft for the key. Try to remove yours and see if it’s the same. You may need to file a flat spot on your shaft then drill and tap this lever and use a set screw to hold it to the shaft.
The first thing you need to do is find out what the diameter of your shaft is then we’ll go from there.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

The new torsion spring that Dutch posted is the standard solution. No $240, but not cheap either.

Does your lever press on or is it held with a screw like the [much] older ones did? Do you have the capability to remove & replace a press-on lever?

 

[Ironframe123]

Sorry I didn't reply sooner but I'm currently caravanning in outback New South Wales in Australia and can't get internet coverage in quite a few places.
Thanks for reply but due to our geographical differences it's impractical for me to do anything about it.
I'll just have to persevere with improvisations.