180 XT MAX Awning

180 XT MAX: pole-free 180° awning with 8.53m² of seamless shade

The 180 XT MAX is the biggest 180° awning in the Bush Company range, covering 8.53m² of shade over a 5.84m span straight down the side of your 4WD, ute or wagon. No poles, no seam overhead, and one person can have it up in under 30 seconds: unzip the bag, swing the arms out, then clip the tension straps on the outer arms to the vehicle to tighten the canvas.

That's enough room for a full camp kitchen with prep space, six or more people out of the sun, swags laid end to end, or cover to work on the vehicle in the rain.

Why go 180°?

A 180° awning leaves the back of the vehicle completely clear. With no wrap-around arc crowding barn doors, a lift-up or drop-down tailgate or a canopy door, a slide-out kitchen or drop-down table at the rear stays fully usable. Want shade that wraps round the back too? Check out the 270° awnings.

Setting up a base camp? Run two 180 XT MAX awnings, one on each side of a trailer or canopy, and the whole site is covered.

One panel, no seam over your head

Most awnings are stitched from several canvas panels, and every stitch line is a place for water to find its way through. The 180 XT MAX is cut from a single ultra-wide panel of 315gsm acrylic-treated polyester ripstop canvas, made on a wide loom, so there's no seam above you at all. The only stitching is where the canvas meets the frame sleeves, so wet the awning down before its first trip and the core-spun thread will swell and seal those stitch holes.

The canvas is tested to a waterhead of more than 1000mm (ISO 811:1981) and treated against UV, mould and mildew. It's made for tropical downpours on the way up the Cape and long seasons of Australian sun.

Properly freestanding, rated to 50km/h

Two fully trussed arms sit at 90° to the vehicle at each end, fully gusseted for maximum strength. The front and rear arms fold out parallel to the vehicle. They're reinforced aluminium with a honeycomb cross-section for their full length, giving torsional strength without extra weight.

The result is open, pole-free space underneath. You won't trip over anything in the dark, re-peg when you move the chairs, or struggle on rock shelf, sand or hard-packed gravel where pegs won't bite. It's rated to 50km/h freestanding and to over 90km/h when poled, guyed and pegged down securely. Guy ropes and pegs are included.

Stainless steel headstocks: where the strength starts

The front and rear sections pivot on heavy-duty stainless steel headstocks holding the stainless steel hinge pin shafts for the arms. They carry the full load of the open awning into the vehicle mounts, which is where an awning's strength is won or lost. Stainless steel resists salt spray corrosion, lets the arms swing freely through dust and corrugations, and holds its shape under load.

The rest of the hardware matches: B-Tech^® Alloy powder-coated aluminium extrusions, double-stitched seams and reinforced stress points at every attachment. Where the arm ends meet the canvas, it's triple-reinforced for extra strength, because that's where most awnings fail. It's also why the 180 XT MAX doesn't need Velcro loops stitched into the canvas along the arms. Weaker awnings with inferior construction and canvas rely on them to stop the canvas tearing itself apart. It's built for coastal salt spray, fine desert dust and long days on corrugations.

The heavy-duty PVC awning bag is UV and heat stabilised and generously sized, so the canvas goes back in easily even when it's wet or dusty.

Fitting it to your vehicle

The 180 XT MAX comes with three height adjustable heavy-duty stainless steel L brackets. An L bracket must be mounted to the stainless steel headstock at each end of the awning, so you need at least 1.8m between those two mounting points on your rack, canopy or load bars. The third bracket is only for mounting to load bars or a roof rack (not a rooftop tent) and normally goes towards the centre of the awning. Packed, it's 2300mm long × 230mm high, with a 170mm wide frame.

It weighs 26.5kg. As with any roof-mounted gear, add up the awning, brackets, rack and everything else you carry up top, and make sure the total is within your vehicle's dynamic roof load rating.

Running a Bush Company rooftop tent? The optional Awning-to-Tent brackets mount the awning straight to an AX27, LX27 Gen 2, TX27 or TX27 MAX rooftop tent for a low, tidy roofline.

Add walls when you need them

A 50mm strip of genuine Velcro^® brand loop runs the full length of the valance around the outside edge. It's rated to hold 3kg per 50mm length, which makes it ideal for awning walls. Velcro also means no zip rubbing on the canvas while it's packed away tight in transit. Add the 180 XT MAX Wall Kit for a fully enclosed room and somewhere dry to cook when the weather closes in, or start with a single canvas wall or mesh wall as a windbreak or privacy screen. Single walls have full-length YKK spiral zips on both sides, so you can zip canvas and mesh walls together for more coverage.

Usage guidance

• In windy conditions, use the supplied guy ropes and pegs on the non-trussed arms to prevent upward movement.
• In heavy rain, run guy ropes off 1-tonne webbing straps between the arms to shed water and reduce the risk of pooling.
• Lubricate the hinge pins in the headstocks regularly to keep the arms moving freely, especially if you use the awning often in salty coastal conditions.
• Don't leave it up in snow: the weight stretches the canvas.
• Wet the canvas down thoroughly before first use.

Shipped direct from The Bush Company.