Another Roof Lifting Mechanism

[BillM]

How easy was it to lower the roof with that weight?


Used the lifter to lower the roof also and it works great for that. In the past I've had to put our break down raft frame in the camper which is a pain, now it will go on the roof.

 

[MakersTeleMark]

See my post on the AT camper thread. If you don't have any weight on the roof, like I do in the winter, besides snow and a solar panel, a cam strap makes this a 2 minute 1 person ordeal. Really easy peazy.

Hook one end over the roof lifter bracket thingie, and cam it down anchored off the sheet metal on the wheel well. So simple. If you want to get fancy, hook the other one (they always come in pairs) on the opposite corner, and you are adding a whole minute to the perceived mess.

It just refuses to beat crouching down in the camper, using your head and your thighs to squat a roof up. Now it just pops up, and on deflation mode, gives you a bit of time to check that the corners are tucked in, and well, you're done.

Can't say enough about it.

 

[DonM]

Thank you, Guitar Center still sells these for $59.95, it took 3 minutes to undo the three small bolts that hold the tripod on, a few seconds to scavenge the rubber feet and put them on the speaker lifter and it works great. My wife was thrilled and raised the roof in no time with ease. I didn't want to put holes in the exterior living here on the north 'wet coast' of the continent.
DEVICE TO RAISE POP-TOP FROM INSIDE THE FOUR WHEEL CAMPER

I found a device that will lift the roof of my pop top camper from inside the camper. It is a speaker stand with crank that is manufactured by a company called On Stage Stand. Although the device lists for $160.00, I found sources on the internet that were selling it for $59.95. (Last time I checked it was available at guitar center, amazon.com, and ebay.com)

This device is designed for displaying speakers on a stage. You mount the speaker on the pole and use a crank or drill to raise the speaker to the desired height. The pole is stabilized with a 3 legged stand. The device is designed to raise an 80- 100 pound speaker from 47” to 80”.

The link to company On Stage Stands which makes the speaker stand is

http://www.onstagestands.com/catalog/item/home/model/SS8800B+/grp/GRP000168

To use the stand with my camper I modified the speaker stand by removing the three legs and the support stand from the bottom, leaving a 46” pole with a crank system. I also removed the rubber feet from the 3 legs and placed them on the top and bottom of the pole to protect the floor and roof of the camper shell.

This makes it possible for my wife and I to raise the camper roof easily. The pole is made of aluminum and weighs only about 4 lb without the stand. The pole is easy to store. Time will tell how durable the crank system is, but it doesn’t seem to labor when I use it to raise the poptop.

Bill from So Cal
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[Hittheroad]

I wonder if one could use the crank up pole from a sun umbrella.You never know.I myself have the outside lifters that work great with a load or not on the roof.Also I carry the lever lifter that Les made,haven't had to use it though.

Frank


Well I just got one just as Stan recommended including removing the legs and reusing the rubber cups. It works great. It is much more rugged than my crank up umbrella and requires little to no modification. I got mine at musicpeopleinc.com but there are other sources. Company is On-Stage stands.
I tested it with canoe attached to roof. One advantage is you can pause halfway down to pull in wall fabric which makes the final tuck-in (even with weight on roof) go faster.

 

[Fish Chaser]

I picked up my new to me 2002 Hawk this last Saturday. It is pretty much what I was expecting after all I've read and researched about FWC. I only had a chance to check out one in person and it was another model. The first time I raised the roof I was amazed at how hard it was. Even when the prior owner demonstrated his well practiced roof lift, it was surprisingly hard, but I could do it.

Thanks to this thread though I have already ordered my crank up speaker stand from Guitar Center, still $59 and change. Lowe's had some wooden closet rod holders that almost match the wood grain od the lift boards on my Hawks ceiling. I'll soon be all set.

 

[craig333]

You did have the door open?

 

[Roger]

You did have the door open?


That reminds me of the time I was lowering the roof on the second day of my second trip. About 6 inches of snow had accumulated on top of the roof and I wanted to scrape it off before more snow built up. I was lowering the cab over portion and noticed that something was not right. I heard a screaming/scratching noise from (most likely) the windows or access panels. I put one and two together and asked my son to open the door. Well that door shot open like a rifle! My son was apologizing like crazy, "Daddy, I just opened the door! I didn't slam it open!" I felt the full brunt of the collapsing roof but managed to lower it slowly down. It was so much more heavy. Since then I have actually lowered a snow bound roof with the door closed and having one of my kids slightly open an access vent to relieve the pressure built up in the camper. It goes something like this, almost a direct quote from "Hunt for the Red October" fused with "Monty Pythons quest for the Holy Grail" "Hunter/Mae, I want you to listen to me very carefully, I want you to open that access door 1 inch and 1 inch only... 2 inches being too much and 3 inches right out. If you tell Mommy, I never asked you to do this."

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

That reminds me of the time I was lowering the roof on the second day of my second trip. About 6 inches of snow had accumulated on top of the roof and I wanted to scrape it off before more snow built up. I was lowering the cab over portion and noticed that something was not right. I heard a screaming/scratching noise from (most likely) the windows or access panels. I put one and two together and asked my son to open the door. Well that door shot open like a rifle! My son was apologizing like crazy, "Daddy, I just opened the door! I didn't slam it open!" I felt the full brunt of the collapsing roof but managed to lower it slowly down. It was so much more heavy. Since then I have actually lowered a snow bound roof with the door closed and having one of my kids slightly open an access vent to relieve the pressure built up in the camper. It goes something like this, almost a direct quote from "Hunt for the Red October" fused with "Monty Pythons quest for the Holy Grail" "Hunter/Mae, I want you to listen to me very carefully, I want you to open that access door 1 inch and 1 inch only... 2 inches being too much and 3 inches right out. If you tell Mommy, I never asked you to do this."

You need to keep the door open when lowering or run the risk of tearing the 3 little attachment tabs,that you can't see and worse yet you can't replace them without removing the lift panel.They are on the front and rear.I found out the hard way.On my front lift panel the middle tab and one side have come off so when I lower the front I need to go out and check to see it the liner has all pulled in.Most of the time it only sticks out a bit and I just tuck it in.

Another good feature of the roof struts is that they don't let the roof come crashing down .

Frank

 

[Fish Chaser]

My new crank up speaker stand arrived and worked as promised, except the first time I used it I set it way to the left of center to stay clear of the aluminum lift lever thing. Seemed like it was essential. I apparently positioned it right between two aluminum beams inside the roof above the lift board, just as the roof was almost up there was a big CRACK and that plywood board cracked in half. Luckily there was no other damage.

The weight of the roof, all on that little end of the lift, concentrated onto that 5" wide 1/2" piece of plywood was too much when not close enough to the aluminum beams the board is screwed to.

I replaced the lift board with solid oak and placed my oak closet rod holder about 2 inches to the left of center, just enough to clear the aluminum lift lever thing. It works just great. I only use it for lifting the roof. Maybe I need it because of the extra heavy duty custom roof rack the prior owner has installed, or maybe I'm just getting old.

 

[Mark W. Ingalls]

You need to keep the door open when lowering... <snip>

I have decided to leave the door *closed* when lowering and turn the vent fan on high. Works so well that I tossed the gewfy 3' bungie cords long ago. The partial vacuum allowed by slowly lowering the roof sucks the sides in pretty good, but I have also learned to scan the soft wall fabric from the interior to pull in any material that might not make it fully inside the mated roof and hard wall. YMMV

 

[BobM]

I just ordered one of the speaker lifts from Guitar Center, still only $59.00. FWC sells it for $250 so that's a good deal. I plan to cut a piece of hardwood that will fit over the edges of the lift board and have a bored inset for the pole. That way it won't slip off the board and will also disperse the pressure of the pole diameter out through the width of the lift board. This idea was inspired by the comment above about cracking the lift board, so thanks for the heads up. Also, I won't need a permanent closet thingy attached to the board.

 

[BobM]

Finally tried it this weekend. Worked great, it's very lightweight. No more sore shoulders, yeah!

 

[RC Pilot Jim]

I have the struts on my Eagle shell and just a Fantastic fan on the roof. Effortless to put up and down. My wife is 5'2" tall and she has no problems either.

The attached shows a cut down T-Mop (Lowes 2.75). The T-Mop unscrews for easy storing in the wheel well storage box. T-Mop allows for just using my arms to raise rear of camper.

 

[flinchlock]

I just rcvd my On Stage SS8800BPLUS Speaker Stand from Amazon for $59.99 (ordered July 5).

I have removed the three legged stand...
if I stop at the bottom of the MAXIMUM warning sticker it is ~72.0" long.
if I ignore the MAXIMUM warning sticker it is ~75.0" long.

My '07 ATC Cougar has ~77.5" of headroom (bottom of push boards).

The front (by bed) push board is over the 15" high couch and would be ~62.5" (~77.5" - 15") and the stand would work just fine.

But the back (by door) push board is a problem... stand is ~5.5" (~77.5" - ~72.0") SHORT!

I really do not want to goof up the leg stand I removed... to be used for a future solar panel stand.

I'll see if I can find something in my barn to make the stand 6" longer.

I plan on replacing all the push boards with oak.

Mike

 

[BobM]

I just rcvd my On Stage SS8800BPLUS Speaker Stand from Amazon for $59.99 (ordered July 5).

I have removed the three legged stand...
if I stop at the bottom of the MAXIMUM warning sticker it is ~72.0" long.
if I ignore the MAXIMUM warning sticker it is ~75.0" long.

My '07 ATC Cougar has ~77.5" of headroom (bottom of push boards).

The front (by bed) push board is over the 15" high couch and would be ~62.5" (~77.5" - 15") and the stand would work just fine.

But the back (by door) push board is a problem... stand is ~5.5" (~77.5" - ~72.0") SHORT!

I really do not want to goof up the leg stand I removed... to be used for a future solar panel stand.

I'll see if I can find something in my barn to make the stand 6" longer.

I plan on replacing all the push boards with oak.

Mike

For the front I just lift the stand up pn to the ledge by my refer while sitting on the sofa. Mine is a FWC Raven so you might not have a similar config. I find it easier on the shoulder doing this by lifting up from my knees.

 

[flinchlock]

FYI, I posted the following thread in this thread==>> http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/2974-roof-lifting-helper-shocks-thingys/?p=139739

Here is my experience with my On Stage SS8800BPLUS Speaker Stand...

Bought 7/29/2012: used 89 nights since then, times 2 up/downs of speaker stand = 178... round up for the very few times we would use other than spending the night = 225 up/downs.

On our 11,555 mile bucket list trip (52 nights in camper), I noticed the cranking was getting MUCH harder. When we got home I opened up the speaker stand and it had ALOT of brass "dust" in the unit. It appears the steel gear eats the brass gear.

So, instead of buying another speaker stand (at AMZ for $59 back then), I will be doing the "roof lifting helper shocks thingys".

Mike

 

[carld]

Ya, I was parked at Cap Rock Canyon SP in TX last month with about a 30 mph breeze blowing towards the back door. When I started to lift the roof with the back door open the roof popped up automatically

 

[BobM]

I've posted this on other threads for anyone that wants to see the speaker stand in action:

 

[JaSAn]

... It appears the steel gear eats the brass gear.

So, instead of buying another speaker stand (at AMZ for $59 back then), I will be doing the "roof lifting helper shocks thingys".

Mike

The brass gear is probably a replaceable item. Why not use both 'roof lifting helper shocks thingys' and the speaker stand. I have interior air springs and will be adding rear spings this summer. I still use the speaker lift. I like my back feeling good.

jim

 

[JaSAn]

Ya, I was parked at Cap Rock Canyon SP in TX last month with about a 30 mph breeze blowing towards the back door. When I started to lift the roof with the back door open the roof popped up automatically

I had the opposite problem at Valley of the Gods, Utah this April. Morning, wind swirling at ~20-25 MPH. I am putting the roof down to leave, rear door open. Roof won't come down; the wind is holding it up. I close the door and the roof starts coming down normally. Wind switches direction, lee side fabric puffs out like balloon. Anyhow, it took me 40 minutes to get the roof down with the sides tucked in properly.

I have another good reason for using the speaker lift. Maybe it is because I have an old camper with no elastic left to pull in the sides, but I can stop my roof part way down, go out and tuck things in properly, then continue bringing the roof down. Without doing that, I would have fabric hanging out all over the place.

jim