Our Story

If you're like most of us, you were no doubt born with a sense of adventure.

Zip Dee can help you get the most enjoyment from your RV, as well as your journeys. Since 1967, we’ve pursued but one goal – to make the best RV products in the industry. Every Zip Dee awning, every screen enclosure, every Fold-Away chair, every product we put our name on is the result of one simple philosophy – we take the road less traveled. For we know it’s the only path to better results.

We don’t follow the industry, we lead it. No one else takes the time to make each awning to order. Or uses as much stainless steel or hand finishing as we do. And no one comes remotely close to offering you as many options and customized extras.

Take our awning colors, for instance. While others offer 10 or 12 choices, Zip Dee offers you more than 150 fabric colors and patterns. Including vertical patterns and classic solids, in every shade and hue imaginable. For we believe the awning that hangs above you should be as colorful as the Blue Ridge Mountains, Sienna Sunsets and Painted Deserts that lie before you.

But color is by no means the only freedom we extend to you. Contrary to the industry norm, we will custom-make your awning to virtually any size you need, in lengths from 9 to 23 feet. And any odd size in between, inch by inch. If you’d like it to mount higher or fit between storage doors, we can do it. An 18-foot window awning, no problem. With Zip Dee, your selection is dictated not by a catalog, but by your own tastes and needs.

 

For over 50 years now, we’ve gone out of our way to give customers the best product possible. While our competitors prefer to please the masses through mass production, we’ve always taken an alternative route. Each of our awnings is crafted strictly by hand, one at a time.

Our awnings are woven of tough, American-made acrylic fabric, a Zip Dee exclusive. Unlike vinyl, our special acrylic material breathes, dries quickly and resists rotting, cracking, peeling, and mildew. And just as the memory of your travels won’t fade over the years, neither will your awning’s brilliant colors. Because the color is vat-dyed directly into the fibers. The fabric will withstand the most intense sun, rain, and other cruelties nature can conjure up.

Our awnings are also highly water-resistant. While other manufacturers warn you not to touch the undersides of their awnings and suggest a yearly dousing of a water-proofing chemical, Zip Dee awnings come attached with no such strings. Our fabrics have proven to be water and fade-resistant for up to 20 years. And unlike many awnings, ours are sewn with special seams to minimize sagging, drooping, and swaying.

But some of the real nuts and bolts of our advantages are just that – nuts and bolts. Zip Dee uses stainless steel nuts, washers, screws, and other hardware for a longer, rust-free life. Our awning spring has four times the strength of anyone else, to fit your awning smoothly and keep it snug against the vehicle. Zip Dee’s exclusive Z-Lock easily locks your awning into position and keeps it secure during travel. We have over 40 different shapes of Slimline awning arms made of stainless steel and anodized aluminum. Because they feature unique four-sided tubing instead of an open channel system, they’re slimmer, stronger, and smoother operating than anyone else’s. (This enclosed design also prevents dirt and grime from entering through exposed arms, another Zip Dee advantage.)

Our mirror-finish slatted metal case not only sets your coach apart from all others but protects the awning when closed and automatically creates a leak-resistant connection to your coach when open – thanks to its’ exclusive Flex-Key hinge.

1987 Winners of our Oldest Awning Contest. This awning was 20 years old and still in great shape. Our awnings are still built with the same pride in workmanship as this awning was when it was first built in 1967.

Awnings By Zip Dee
96 Crossen Ave
Elk Grove Village IL 60007

Telephone: (847) 437-0980
Toll-Free: (800) 338-2378
FAX: 847-437-7064
E-mail: info@zipdeeinc.com

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