Raising/Lowering a pop top roof !!!

Jason F · Veteran Member

Raising/Lowering a pop top roof !!!

DMaxer · Guru

Have you got the entrance door open? I would be contacting the retailer if you purchased it new.

Jason F · Veteran Member

Yes door open. Bought it new but at auction (sight unseen), so its my problem now.

Possum3 · Guru

I assume you have it up by now - if not try pushing solely on one corner it may have some adhesive between surfaces. Try each corner individually.

Jason F · Veteran Member

Hi, I can lift each corner from the outside by 2" ok. Its just very heavy.
I'm guessing cheap gas struts have lost their gas or are way undersize.
Why am I not surprised.

I'll have to wait until I can get a couple of strong mates over to try it for me. Once up, I can hopefully buy stronger struts.

Thanks for the replies.
Jason.

hufnpuf · Senior Member

Does it have an awning on the side? On my new (secondhand) van, I have to remember to pull the awning out a little bit.

I'm really weak, I bend my knees, put one leg in front and one behind and lift the bar like you see weightlifters doing it on tv, lifting with my whole body from my knees.

If it's not the struts and it just turns out to be too heavy, you can buy airbag lifting devices to get them up.

blissonwheels · Senior Member

Gooday,

Really feel for you, the first Caravan we bought was a Pop Top, as you will be aware when you look at them in the Yard they always have the top up. Then the Salesman pulls one end down and offers you to try it, yes, really easy.

When you get it home and go to put the Top Up, Took a hell of a lot more effort to lift the first end, other end then easy. After we had it for a year we decided that it was a Hard Top, (Full Caravan), from there on, as we are both tall we needed to lift the top for Morning Coffee, Lunch, maybe afternoon coffee, and by the end of the day the last straw was to lift it for the 3rd or 4th time for the day.

Ok some brands do have a lifting mechanism by way of over centre bars but it was a real lesson for us. Luckily we did not have any solar or such on the roof.

Best of luck with your purchase Jason F.

dogbox · Guru

i did see a lever that was used to lift and lower the pop top i think from memory it was on the MDC XT OWNERS FACE BOOK PAGE that someone showed me .
it was a simple metal hook type thing that gave a person a bit more leverage when lifting and lowering the roof maybe someone on here may have seen one similar an can supply more information

common problem an there is cheap simple solution to the problem

Jason F · Veteran Member

Thanks everyone. Just has two handles in middle of the ceiling. I can feel 2 gas struts through the skirt each side.

I will sort it, eventually.

Possum3 · Guru

It may be that the struts are seized attempt to get some silicon spray or WD40 onto shafts leave for a while then try again - this may require two persons in order to lift each corner marginally.

hufnpuf · Senior Member

Possum3 wrote:
It may be that the struts are seized

I looked at a caravan and the man at the caravan place couldn't lift the lid and he determined that the struts needed replacing. I obviously had no clue other than I couldn't lift the lid. It was on display and the top had been up, so presumably they can just "go" at any time???

There's a video on youtube of a bloke using a pneumatic pole thing to lift his roof, but he's using it on the jayco arm things. Presumably something similar could be used on the roof itself?

laurieoz · Senior Member

Do not use the middle to lift it

Try lifting from the end of the pop top and then the other end

Laurie

Jason F · Veteran Member

Thanks everyone. Yes I agree, a risk of denting ceiling if I lift up in the middle with a jack or something. I'll try to get a couple of stronger blokes on to it. Likely just cheap gas struts have seized up, or more likely, lost their gas. Yes once its up, I'll apply some silicon oil and see how they go.

Its odd, the Chinese manufacturer has installed some good quality items, Dometic compressor fridge, Truma water heater, Thetford toilet, etc, but some of the workmanship is left to be desired (eg: all the 240V wiring was non compliant and I had to replace it (I'm an electrician)).

Granty · Senior Member

Hi Jason. Have a look and see if there is a forum for your brand of van to see if it is a common fault with them and you may be able to identify the fault and cure.

Jason F · Veteran Member

Thanks Rod. Its highly likely a one off (or maybe a two off). A no-name product made in China. Not to worry. I'll fix it, as I am a hands on, transport engineer.

Craig1 · Guru

www.youtube.com/watch

A possible answer to a perennial question. Has anyone done this ? or actually observed this method ?

Looks really easy, maybe no one can ake much money out of it except sidchrome or such.

Peter_n_Margaret · Senior Member

Linear actuators?
Lots of choice of power and travel.

Also used for beds that are stored at the ceiling.
youtu.be/L2EOrguTzZk
Cheers,
Peter

-- Edited by Peter_n_Margaret on Thursday 20th of June 2024 08:57:10 PM

Craig1 · Guru

Did look at those Pete, but simplicity seemed to be a winner? in this case.

Leshill · Veteran Member

My thoughts were to buy a rotary close horse . Make a base plate for the floor and a top plate for the ceiling. set it up and wind up the handle .

yep ..getting the roof down is another problem and storing the "hills hoist " is another... plus the associated extra weight.

I use a pop top corner strut to check my brake lights are working. I place it on the brake pedal ..extend it to push on the edge of the seat and lock it. This holds the pedal down and a quick walk to the back of the trailer to check the lights are working. I usually put the hazard lights on at the same time to check them too.

Paul and Pam on Tour · Veteran Member

This is a topical issue for us...we have a 17' Jayco Outback, have had it for 12 almost trouble-free years, it is a poptop and has an air conditioner on the roof....when new the poptop presented no issues in raising it...as time went on it became harder and harder...I had the gas struts replaced and, sadly, this made matters actually worse!

The caravan repair shop was very understanding and tactfully suggested that perhaps my >70 age may have something to do with it...they offered to install a powered lifting system, even adding a seniors discount. However, even with the discount the cost was a little high.

Some forward thinking occured...our 'van has the common layout with the bed in front and with roof lifting bars front and back, the rear of the roof can be quite easily handled primarily because I can stand on two feet directly under the roof raising bar and push upwards, the a/c full weight is minimised as the roof still remains down in the front at this point .

Lifting the front is a different story, here I am unable to get directly under the lifting bar due to the bed and am now required to lift the full weight of the a/c and roof front, I have to kneel on the bed and force the roof bar up, only able to use my upper body and totally unable to use my leg muscles.

The solution was amazingly simple...I can now do this whole operation almost with one hand and at no extra cost (well, very minor cost, explained later).

This is my 'new' roof raising operation:

Firstly I raise the rear, this, as mentioned, is quite easy as I can use my legs flat on the floor and much of the weight of the a/c is hinged on the frontal end of the roof, I then move to the front and stand on my own two feet with my knees against the bottom of the bed, donning a pair of padded oven mitts I gently push the roof up...the first time I did this I was amazed at how easy it was...I repeated it a number of times to ensure I wasn't still asleep or having a 'seniors moment'.

Oh, the cost related to purchasing a pair of oven mitts from a cheap shop, They are of course, Chinese, I found the ones with little bunnies printed on them worked well,there are many other designs to choose from and at $4.00 a pair they were not pension busting.

One additional comment that might be helpful: we always leave our roof popped up when at home, the van resides in a carport, we have found that leaving it down can cause some 'stickiness' between the rubber seal and the top of the 'van when popping up, I have tried many 'solutions', cleaning the area with every product know to man, even using talcum powder, which made things smell nice anyway.

Happy to hear of any further suggestions re cleaning and any comments on the above.

Paul and Pam

Lockyer Valley

Queensland.

Possum3 · Guru

Well done you, Paul & Pam - I'm sure your helpful hints will assist others.

Craig1 · Guru

Finally made a solution, a bit more than oven mitts, but had it done before the post. ah well.

Obtain gold plated Toyota Mag wheel nut and stud, the some fiddly welds onto a piece of 8mm plate, to stand it off the 25mm angle, then bolt onto existing lift arm arrangement, use high tensile bolts as stainless ones bend.

Socket onto ratchet then a piece of pipe extension arm and slowly lift, one back off on ratchet needed. AND IT WORKS.

Paul and Pam on Tour · Veteran Member

Craig..someone once said 'Necessity is the mother of invention', and I can see that you, like me would have probably have spent considerable time sitting at your caravan table staring up at the lifting bars.
Your idea certainly looks impressive...prior to me settling on the 'Chinese Oven Glove' I too came up with a similar idea to yours but found that the strain on the roof bar, with such a localised pressure point would probably eventually break the roof bar, the bar being small dimension RHS with thin walls with pressed, not extruded bends and mounts. (Mine is anyway). I could see mine breaking and punching a hole directly above the bed. (Happy wife, happy life!)
Your comment that the SS bolts bent would support my theory.
The roof lifting bars are so designed that the pressure is spread over quite a wide area, where the lifting bar support points meet the ceiling there will likely be a length of dressed pine 38 x 22 mm or similar behind the ceiling paneling, when used as designed the lifting 'pressure' is evenly taken up and carried across the width of that pine bar.
By lifting it and applying the full weight to the centre of the bar in a 'twisting motion' as per your design would, in my opinion, create undue stress on the bar.
Of course, as said this is only an opinion given I cannot see the actual set up.

Cheers
Paul.

Craig1 · Guru

G'day Paul,

You may be right, only time will tell. But, that is why I used the angle over most of the bar to spread the load to where my arms reached anyway. Also, not clear on the photos is a piece of flat on the other side of original lift arm to stop bolts pulling back through. It is only about 1mm thick tube, maybe 1.2mm.

As I have the struts pumped to the max, it does not take much effort with my new arrangement. The other end is nearly a finger tip lift job.

Jason F · Veteran Member

Good thinking. I use a ratchet jacking rod from Bunnings to jack it up to the point where I can push it the final distance. I did once try increasing the lifting power and it went up great by my own strength, but then I did not have enough body weight to pull it down again.

Brianvicki · Veteran Member

Where is the ratchet jacking rod at Bunnings, looked for it on the site but couldnt see it.
other sites had them for about $150?

sounds the go