well am totally feed up with this pop top roof decide that i could not work out what was wrong with it why it wasn't lifting so took it to a local charters towers supposed caravan repairer a told him to work it out 2 new scissor lifts added to roof (so 6 all up) plus the jayco easy lifts as well and he has returned it to me with the comment that don't know what else he can do but can't get the roof raising or lowering on it so $ 1500 later is back in my yard the same state that it went away ( for that price could of got the airbags )
so maybe someone out there can just tell me something that I'm missing
he has installed the scissor lifts 2 on front and 2 on the rear and one each side seems a weird way but he did try 2 on the long sides and one at front /rear and it would still not lift
the scissor lifts should be perfectly straight up and down ? at moment seem to bow out as top and bottom are not in line , also because 2 at front / rear they appear to me to slope slightly in to the middle of the body of the van
will admit that i have appeared to have made a very heavy roof ,could remove about 60 kg from roof by changing the interior ceiling which will be my next move
will lift at the moment but is back breaking and requires 2 people to do so
Hi David. I don't have a pop top but to me it sounds like the actual lifting 'scissors' are not working as they should. Have you replaced them with new ones at all ??
The other thing, I have been in a few vans with pop top and only ever noticed one lifting device each end, just maybe there are too many lifting devices. Just a thought.
I hope you can get it sorted soon.
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Did you say you made the roof yourself ? What make of van is it and how old . If its factory fitted call the manufacturer and find out what it weighs .
If you have made it yourself it may pay to find out what a factory made one weighs to start with and cross check against yours .
We manage a park and I see many pop up roofs and women putting them up on their own no problem
Lok at Roadstar and the likes.
They have "cantilever"lifts at each end. with springs in external cross pieces to suit load. to suit weight of lid.
I did mine one handed. You actually have spring strength set to raise... the lid. and you have to pull it down over centre.
Springs take it up. Gravity (your weight) pulls it down. Simple.
They were on ends of roof.
the Cross pieces were outside with spring to take load, Cantilever inside to operate.
I also had 4 lengths of plastic pipe cut to hold it up at full height, one in each corner,
taking weight off springs.
I'll see if I can find any photo's....
Yes to photo's no to knowledge as to how they added sorry
David I also had lifting problems in my Viscount tandem axle Grand Tourer pop top when I replaced the ceiling panel and added additional insulation which put more load on the scissor lifts.
On Ebay for around $70 I came across a small 12v motorized car scissor jack which has a forward and reverse switch on a long lead that connects to a car battery. I then used a length of 20mm x 20mm metal post from the top of the jack fitting to just below the ceiling.
To avoid going through the ceiling I placed a 300 x 300 piece of chipboard on top of the metal post. Worked like a charm and effortless lifting but involved some messing around so decided to replace the front and rear scissor springs and replace the two side ones with gas struts. Happy to report that lifting the roof is now much easier and back to normal so my suggestion is to check out if you can fit gas struts as they certainly have more lifting power than the old fashioned scissors. Good luck and hope you fix, Eddy
You could end up doing three or four things to get it right if you chat on here. Different views.
Before you get there.
They'll see and know what's the problem and offer advice/quotes.
You don't have to take them up on it.
the quote.
but at least you'll have a proper starting point to work from.
Knowledge is a GREAT starting point.
guesswork can.... get you in lots of trouble
My adage has always been.
If you don't know. Ask..
there's always somebody knows more than you.
