[Motor31]

There is a spring at the end. It is not on the end with the motor IIRC. I had the awning fabric replaced last Winter. The awning spring has to be captured and not unwound. The spring can be held secured by placing a heavy cotter pin or other pin into a locking hole for that purpose in the end of the mechanism. That hole is under the plastic cover on the end. It (including the plastic cap) is all held together by "pop" rivets that have to be drilled out and replaced by same.

In addition to that the arms are sprung as well and under significant tension from the tension arm. This is not something to be cavalier about, you can get hurt and end up with the mechanism broken very easily.

It takes about 4 people to replace the fabric, not because it is complicated but because it takes several sets of hands to align and then manipulate it properly without tearing it. When mine was done it had to be set fully expanded then the fabric was removed. Because the fabric also fits under the metal sun shield it has to be fed into two grooves simultaneously. The awning material comes with a flexible reinforcing "pin" the width of the awning for each groove. The top groove is where the awning is secured to the trailer wall. The second is where it mates to the metal sun shield. Feeding both through the grooves is kind of tough and that's where you need about 4 people. One at the end of the grooves feeding, one behind them pulling, one on a really tall ladder holding the awning fabric in line with the seams and one on the ground helping to align the fabric so it will feed. It works in reverse to remove it.

Removing and replacing the end rod, where the spring and motor are, takes two people doing the job simultaneously. You can't just work on one end and have the other hanging as it won't line up the mounting holes. The pole has to be held aligned in place and that requires a couple tall ladders too.

Once the fabric is in place you have to trim the plastic reinforcement to length and operate the awning a few times to make sure it's in alignment or the arms will bind. Once that's done then the screws that hold the awning in place are set through the material into the side of the trailer, that keeps it from shifting fore and aft out of alignment.

I like to do a lot of the maintenance on my rig and was willing to help out on doing this job but it's one better left to the folks who have had the experience and manpower to do it. I seriously recommend you consider letting a shop do this job. I've seen it done once, helped doing it twice (with a mobile RV service crew I am familiar with) and won't consider doing it on my own or with a single helper at all.