2023 Ford Ranger build: Boss Aluminium 270° awning

In a world of cheap imports and copied products it’s great to find a quality Australian-made awning that delivers on its promise.

Boss Aluminium is a Melbourne-based company that earned its stripes building quality ute trays and canopies, and it has also built some amazing 4x4 and 6x6 rigs over the years.

In recent times Boss has expanded its product range and its production facilities to include some of the products that touring four-wheel drivers bolt to their canopies, namely rooftop tents and awnings.

58

As proud exponents of Australian-made products, Boss sought out the best Australian-made canvas for these products and had them made locally to suit its requirements. As the popularity of the product range grew, Boss’s boss man Dave Whitehead made the call to bring the canvas work in-house to BA’s new factory in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs.

Boss still uses Australian-made 304gsm dynaproofed canvas, which it now purchases in rolls, but all the cutting, machining, stitching and fitting is done in-house.

Bringing this process in-house has allowed Boss to expand its line of canvas products and it now sells a range of storage bags as well as RTTs and awnings.
After being impressed with the first Boss Aluminium freestanding awning we saw, when we heard the company had developed a Mk2 evolution we wanted one for our Ranger.

58

As the name suggests, the Boss awning is freestanding, which means it doesn’t require any poles, ropes or additional supports when it’s opened out. The key to this is the trussed aluminium chassis arms that the canvas is attached to.

They are solidly built to be able to withstand wind gusts and heavy rain without any additional support. There are metal loops at the end of the arms that could be used to tie them down in extreme wind conditions but Dave tells us they shouldn’t be needed for regular use.

The canvas has reinforced sections where it attaches to the arms to ensure it won’t tear away in extreme wind conditions, and there’s a strip of heavy duty PVC where the tensioning arm props up against the canvas to prevent wear at that point.

58

The lightweight aluminium arms pivot on a tri-axis hinge, again designed and manufactured in house, using stainless steel hardware and machined bushes. This hinge allows for the easy opening of the awning which, once released from the PVC storage bag, is pretty-much a one-handed operation. Walk it out around the back of your vehicle, secure the single tether point that keeps it open, pop the little arm up that peaks the canvas to ensure water runs off the top, and you’re set!

This has to be the easiest awning we’ve ever set up and thanks to the oversized storage bag with a heavy duty zipper, packing it away again is also very simple. Just reverse the set up procedure and fold it up in the big PVC bag where there’s space to spare, making it easy to get in and zip closed.

This ease of use has resulted in us using the awning more often than we would have with other awnings. It’s so quick and easy you can open it out for protection from the sun when you pull up for a quick roadside coffee or lunch, and it’s just as simple to pack away.

58

Updates to the Mk2 include the addition of wall panels to enclose the space within the awning. The four panels that make up the awning are all the same size so the wall panel can be zipped onto any or all of the individual sections, and zipped together to seal up the enclosure. The walls are made from the same Wax Converters Coolabah T/S 304gsm dynaproofed canvas as the roof, and they are available with or without a window in them. The zips are all heavy duty YKK items.

The walls give added protection against the wind and weather when you are camping, making the space within them perfect for rolling out your swags when the rain is falling.

The awning itself covers an area of 10sqm but the way the walls extend outwards results in a much bigger covered ground space depending on the height of your vehicle. The wall panels are available in individual sections or in kits of two or four panels, and they are supplies in a canvas storage bag.

58

The freestanding 270° awning, with or without the wall sections, provides ample coverage and protection from the elements whether you’re set up in camp or simply pulling up for a quick trackside stop. The quality of the design and manufacturing of the Boss Awning is second to none and anyone who appreciates quality will see the value in what Dave and his team have done here. This is a product that is built to last and one you’ll probably transfer from your current vehicle to the next one.

Despite its heavy duty design, the awning weighs just 24kg and is designed to fit most roof racks and canopies, or even on your camper trailer.

Boss Aluminium gives a lifetime warranty on their workmanship, with five years on the canvas itself.

Pricing

• 270° awning: $3250
• 4 wall kit and bag: $2880
• 2 wall kit and bag: $1650
• Window wall: $890
• Solid wall: $690
• Storage bag: $225