Dropping FWC Top in Heavy Winds

[damonhowatt]

Hello there. My girlfriend and I were camping just North of Joshua Tree N P this morning. We were in the process of dropping the top during a significant wind. I had to open the leeward side camper canvas window to equalize pressure and then pull the front camper wood bar for all I was worth in order to get the top to lower. Has anyone else had this problem before? What was your solution?

Ideally, I should never camp during heavy wind again in the future.....!

Thanks, Steve.

 

[OffTheGridMaps]

If you have a roof top fan, turning it on and sucking the air out of the camper while dropping the top. If you don't have a fan, opening the vent helps a little, too, but not nearly as much. Of course, opening the door is always helpful, if you are able to do so. And again, if possible, parking "into the wind" with the door to the rear is helpful, too.

 

[MarkBC]

I had a very similar experience a couple of years ago, camped on a saddle/ridge at about 10,000 feet in the White Mts of California.
I had the front of the truck/camper pointed into the wind. I tried to sleep but the winds were incredibly fierce - almost scary. So I eventually decided to lower the top to keep it from being damaged. And I struggled to lower the top - I was afraid I'd break the hinge or board - as I pulled "for all I was worth" ... but I got it down and latched. And I spent the rest of the night on the couch.
Before I went to sleep I stepped outside with my anemometer...and measured gusts up to 70 mph.

 

[camper rich]

We had a night with about 70 mph winds in Baja. We were parked with the front of the truck directly into the wind and I opened the back door. I brought down the front, but when I brought down the back, the front kept going up. I finally ended up outside, pulling the front down from the outside and fastening the clamps to get it to stay down.

 

[damonhowatt]

I had the back door open per usual while trying to lower the top. I didn’t think about turning the roof fan on; the wind might have damaged it in the open position.

Thanks for all of your replies!!

 

[larryqp]

I use my fan all the time to lower the top. If you use this method, keep the door and all the windows closed, exhaust fan on high and use the inside bunge cords as well. If there are two of you, then the second person can apply there clamps before you turn off the fan and open the door. If you are alone, facing into the wind will assist in keeping the roof from popping back up.

The roof can handle pretty high winds, I accidentally drove 70mph for 50 miles with the top up, after forgetting to attach the roof clamps, it popped up while driving. There was no damage.

 

[craig333]

It is quite the challenge in high winds. I had this happen in DV. I should have turned the truck around but it was early and I hadn't had enough caffeine yet (thats my story and I'm sticking to it). Probably could have had a youtube vid go viral if anyone had seen me hanging off the camper I should have tried the fan!

 

[MarkBC]

I think the fan is good for pulling in the soft-sides under normal conditions... But I don't think it has nearly enough suction to pull against the airfoil suction of gale-force winds curving across the top of the camper.

I didn't have a roof-vent fan at the time of my high-winds experience, so I couldn't have tried it. But I do now, so as a good scientist I suppose I should do a controlled experiment. Gale-force winds aren't always available when you want them for experimental purposes... so lowering and latching the top while driving at highway speeds will substitute. I'll drive.. just need an assistant to pull on and hang on the camper top. Maybe a second vehicle following to document the experiment would be good.
Who wants to participate?

 

[ski3pin]

Aside from just the effort needed, there's another hazard. If the wind is blowing in your open rear door, when you lower the top it can break off the small straps that connect the sideliner (tent) material from the lift panels. That connection folds the sideliner in with the panels. Close the door, fan on high blowing out, and everything tucks in nice.

No need to know how I learned this.

 

[steve whiteside]

I had a situation where I had unbuckled everything ready to pop UP the top. When I opened to the camper rear door to climb in, the wind blew in and the top popped open without any intervention. I thought it was pretty cool until I realized who opening it pulled the snap off of the front lowering lever. Which BTW I still need to fix.

Steve