Hey everyone, it’s Jake from RV Awning Lights here, and let me cut to the chase—if you’ve got a custom RV awning, odds are you’ve stared at it late at night while camping, thinking “why can’t I just add my new LED strip lights here?” I get it. Custom awnings are such a big part of making your RV feel like yours, right? Whether you’ve got a retro pop-up with a hand-sewn fabric valance, a 5th wheel with a extended patio awning that’s shaped to fit your slide out, or even a modified teardrop with a weird angled arm setup, standard RV awning lights feel like they’re made for every other rig but yours. So the big question I get all the time is: can you actually use RV awning lights on a custom design? Short answer? Most of the time, yes—with a few caveats that I’ve learned the hard way over 7 years of being in this business. RV Awning Lights
First, let’s break down why custom awnings are a different beast than the ones that come standard on most new RVs. Most stock RV awnings are uniform—they’re usually 12ft wide, have straight arms, and a narrow channel along the top where you clip the LED light bar. But custom awnings? They can be literally anything. I’ve seen custom awnings that are 8ft wide for tiny campers, some that curve along the side of a Class A to wrap around a window, some that have extra fabric flaps for bug screens or sun shades, and even a few that my buddy made for his off-grid van that only extends 4ft because his campsite is super tight. The light part of the awning system (that’s the headrail, by the way) is the key here. Your custom awning’s headrail isn’t going to be the same size as a stock one, but that doesn’t mean your lights won’t fit. A lot of folks panic when they measure their awning’s headrail and it’s an inch shorter than a standard 10ft bar, but here’s the thing: most RV awning lights are modular now. You can cut our LED strips or bars to size, which is perfect for non-standard awning widths. I’ve had customers with awnings that are as short as 6ft and as long as 18ft, and they all ended up making our lights work without a hitch.
Wait, but what about shape? If your awning headrail isn’t straight? I used to think only straight awnings worked with our lights, but about 3 years ago, a customer hit me up with a custom awning for their Airstream that curved around the rear of the rig. They were worried their curved headrail would make the lights gap or look weird. We ended up sending them our flexible LED awning strips instead of the rigid bars, and they sent a pic later that looked exactly like the curved factory lights you see on luxury Class A’s. Flexible strips are designed to bend up to a 90-degree angle without breaking, so even if your custom awning has a slight curve or a kink where the arm attaches, that’s totally doable. The only time shape can be an issue is if your headrail has super sharp, tight bends (like a 30-degree angle that’s less than a few inches wide)—but even then, we’ve got tiny, flexible strip lights that can handle that. I once modified a strip for a customer who had a custom awning on a converted school bus, and the headrail wrapped around a corner where two walls meet, so the strip bent twice. It worked like a charm, no hot spots or dead areas.
Now, let’s talk about the parts that people usually mess up when they’re trying to pair lights with a custom awning. First is the mounting hardware. Standard RV awning lights come with clips that fit stock headrails, but custom awnings might have a different profile—some headrails are square, some are round, some are even made of aluminum that’s thicker or thinner than stock. But here’s a pro tip I give every customer: skip the OEM clips if they don’t fit, and use self-adhesive mounting tape that’s rated for outdoor RV use. Wait, but hold on—make sure you clean the headrail really well first. I see so many people try to stick lights to a dusty, oily headrail, and they fall off a few weeks later. I always tell folks to wipe the headrail down with rubbing alcohol and a microfiber cloth before applying any tape. If you’re worried about the tape being too weak, you can add a couple of small screws (just make sure they’re not too long, or they’ll go through the fabric of the awning) or use zip ties as a backup. Zip ties are a lifesaver for custom setups—they’re cheap, easy to adjust, and you can cut off the excess so they don’t look messy. I’ve had customers who used zip ties to mount lights on awning frames made of PVC, wood, even repurposed old gutter parts (don’t laugh, some custom awning builds use that) and it’s held up through rain, wind, and even snow for years.
Another big one is power. A lot of custom awnings are on older RVs, or they’re modified, so they don’t have the same wiring setup as new rigs. Stock RV awning lights run off the RV’s 12V DC power, which is standard, but if your custom awning is in a spot that’s far from the RV’s battery, you might need to add an extension. Wait, but important: don’t just use any old extension cord. 12V power drops off over distance, so if you run a cord that’s too long, your lights will dim or get too hot. Our lights come with a 10ft power cord, so if you need more than that, grab a 12V extension cord that’s the same gauge as the one that comes with the lights—usually 18 gauge is fine for up to 20ft, but if you need longer than that, go with 16 gauge. Also, if your custom awning is for a trailer that doesn’t have a built-in battery, you can add a small portable 12V battery pack (we sell those too, actually) that’s rechargeable via solar, which is perfect for off-grid camping. I had a customer last year who built a custom awning for his van and used a 10Ah battery pack, and the lights ran for 8 hours straight every night for a week without needing a charge. That’s way more than enough for most campers’ evening needs.
Wait, what about weather resistance? A lot of people with custom awnings worry that their non-standard setup means gaps where water can get in and damage the lights. Let me be clear: all RV awning lights (ours included) are rated for outdoor use, usually IP65 or IP67, which means they can handle rain, snow, and even being submerged briefly. But to make sure they last, you want to seal the top of the light strip where it meets the awning headrail. Most custom awnings have a little gap between the headrail and the fabric, so if you leave that open, water can drip down onto the lights. I suggest using a clear silicone sealant (the kind that’s rated for RV use, not the cheap stuff from the hardware store) to seal that gap. It dries clear, so it doesn’t ruin the look of your custom awning, and it keeps water, bugs, and dust out. I’ve seen customers do this on curved awnings, angled awnings, even awnings that have a built-in gutter, and none of them have had water damage issues in the 5 years since they did it. The only time weather is a problem is if your custom awning is super low to the ground, so the lights get splashed with mud or water from a puddle when it rains— but even then, IP67 lights can handle that, just make sure you wipe them down once in a while to get rid of the mud.
Now, let’s get into the stuff that’s specific to custom designs. I mentioned earlier that flexible strips work great for curves, but what if your awning has extra features, like a built-in screen room or a sunshade that rolls up? I’ve had customers who added lights to their screen room walls too, not just the awning itself. Our LED strips can be cut to fit the screen frames, and they’re thin enough that they don’t get in the way when you roll the sunshade up. Just make sure you don’t mount the strips where the screen or fabric will rub against them when you move the awning— that can scratch the LED bulbs or cause the strip to short out. Another thing: if your custom awning is a retractable one, you don’t want the lights to get caught in the roller when you retract it. So mount the lights on the exterior of the headrail, not the interior, and leave a little extra slack in the power cord so it doesn’t pull when you roll the awning up. I once had a customer who mounted lights on the interior and the cord got pinched when he retracted the awning, burning out half the strip. That’s an easy mistake to avoid— just measure how much slack you need, leave a few extra inches, and zip tie the cord to the headrail so it doesn’t move.
Wait, let’s talk about real customer stories, because that’s the stuff that matters. Last year, a guy named Mike reached out to me. He had a custom awning on his 1972 Boler trailer that he built himself— it was a tiny, 7ft wide awning that had a sloped headrail, like a little shed roof, to keep water off his picnic table. He tried 3 different light sets before he found ours: the first was a rigid bar that didn’t fit the sloped headrail, the second was a cheap Amazon strip that burned out in a month, the third was our flexible LED strip. He mounted it with self-adhesive tape, sealed the gap with silicone, and added a small 12V battery pack under the Boler’s counter. He sent me a pic last summer of him and his wife sitting under the awning at a campground, and the lights were glowing perfectly, no gaps, no issues. He even told me other Boler owners at the campground were asking where he got the lights. That’s the thing about custom awnings— they’re personal, so the setup doesn’t have to be fancy, it just has to work for you.
Another one: a family with a converted 20ft school bus, their custom awning was 16ft long and curved along the side of the bus to fit their slide-out kitchen. They were worried the long curve would make the lights look uneven. We sent them two 8ft flexible strips that they connected with a waterproof connector, and they mounted them to the curved headrail with zip ties. They used 16 gauge extension cord (15ft long) to run power from the bus’s batteries, and sealed the gap with silicone. They’ve used the bus for 3 cross-country trips, and the lights still work as well as the first day they installed them. No dead spots, no dimming, nothing. That’s exactly what we designed our lights for— to adapt to your setup, not the other way around.
Now, what are the cases where it might not work? Let’s be realistic, not every custom awning will work. If your awning headrail is made of a material that’s super slippery, like plastic that’s been coated in wax, the self-adhesive tape might not stick. We’ve run into that a few times, and the fix is easy— sand down a small area of the headrail where you’re mounting the lights, so the tape has something to grip onto. If your custom awning has a headrail that’s smaller than an inch wide (like a tiny teardrop awning that’s only half an inch thick), the flexible strips might be too big to fit, but we make ultra-slim strips that are only a quarter inch wide, so that works too. The only time it’s really not worth it is if your custom awning is a temporary setup, like a pop-up awning for a beach tent that you take down every weekend— then standard RV awning lights might not hold up to being taken on and off all the time, and you’d be better off with battery-powered strip lights that you can rearrange easily. But if your custom awning is a permanent (or semi-permanent) part of your RV or camper, our lights will work.
Let me wrap this up: yes, you can definitely use RV awning lights on a custom awning. The key is to pick the right type of light (flexible strips for curves, rigid bars for straight, even setups), use the right mounting hardware (skip the OEM clips if they don’t fit, use strong tape or zip ties), make sure your power is sized correctly so you don’t get dimming, and seal the gaps to keep water out. It’s not as complicated as it sounds, and you don’t need to be a handyman to do it— most installations take less than an hour.
If you’ve got a custom awning and you’re not sure which lights will work, or if you need help picking the right setup, don’t hesitate to reach out. We’ve helped hundreds of customers with custom awnings, and we can walk you through the whole process— measuring, picking the right light, mounting tips, power setups, everything. No pushy sales stuff, just real advice from someone who’s been in the RV awning light game for years. We’re here to make your camping space feel like yours, even if your awning isn’t stock.
So that’s it for this one. Next time I’ll be talking about the best lights for off-grid camping, so stay tuned. Reach out if you need help with your custom awning lights— let’s get your rig lit up right.
Camper Indoor Lights References:
- RV Industry Association. (2022). "Custom Awning Modifications for Recreational Vehicles." RVIA Technical Manual.
- Lighting Science Group. (2021). "IP Ratings for Outdoor Recreational Lighting." Outdoor Lighting Standards Journal.
- North American Trailer Dealers Association. (2023). "12V DC Power Best Practices for RV Accessories." NATDA Service Guide.
- Personal case studies from RV Awning Lights customer installations, 2018–2024.
Foshan Nanhai Xingyuke Lighting Co., Ltd.
Address: 5th Floor, Yifeng Technology Park, Dawo Village, Danzao Town, Nanhai District, Foshan City, Guangdong Province, China
E-mail: york@nrylighting.com
WebSite: https://www.nrylighting.com/
