lift panel quick fix?

[hpcbmw]

I've got a 1980s Keystone that has lift panel issues. The front is pretty much rotted away where the panel meets the aluminum frame, so it doesn't really hold the weight of the roof. The rear is almost as bad.

Are there any easy and quick solution?s I've just purchased a 1997 Granby, and am getting ready to sell the Keystone, but need to figure out some way to pop the roof, otherwise I doubt I'll find a buyer. What I'm using now, and it seems to work ok, is four 1x1's that I cut to fit the correct height. I lift the front of the roof, then pop the 1x1's into place at the foot of the bed, and then do the same in the rear.

These work ok, but don't seem totally secure. I'd be nervous sleeping in it on a windy night, as it doesn't seem the 1x1's get enough purchase on the top aluminum frame (they only get about 1/2" purchase). I was thinking of mounting a 1"x4" piece of hardwood on the ceiling from side to side, at the foot of the bed, but when I checked clearance with the top down, I don't think it will fit between the aluminum frame rails. A 1/2" piece of wood might fit, but doesn't seem to me like it would be strong enough. The idea would be to have the 1x4 or 1/2x4 mounted all the way across the ceiling. This would give you a solid place to push up on to raise the roof and a solid place for the 1x1's to prop the top up.

Any ideas?

EDIT: I just added a couple pictures - first is the 1x1 I'm currently using. Second pic is a piece of 1/2" board I could mount to the ceiling as a backboard for the 1x1.

 

[JHanson]

I don't think there are any easy solutions that would come close to biting the bullet and doing it the right way - which would increase the value for selling considerably. Replacing the panels with correct-thickness high-quality birch plywood is tedious but not that hard - Brian DeArmon, who is around here somewhere, just did it on his.

 

[tnscoots]

I rebuild my rear lift panel with birch plywood. It turned out real nice and looks great, but it was a chore dealing with all the pop-rivets, etc. There are several posts on the subject and lots of good pictures to guide you along. Good luck!
tom

 

[LuckyDan]

Sorta totally off subject but how did you get your appears to be original inside canvas so clean and bright looking? I've scrubbed on mine as best I can on the inside and came nowhere near making it look as good as yours. Any tips to share?

 

[hpcbmw]

I've seen the posts about the "correct" way to fix the lift panels, and don't want to do that much work on my old camper - that's one of the reasons that I bought a newer one.

My current plan is to put a 1x4" hardwood plank from side to side, and mill the last couple inches on each side to allow the pop top to close - similar to whats in the picture. This will give me the ability to push up on the center to lift the roof, and a secure way to keep the top up. The 1x1 supports will be held in place by the step created by milling the ends down. If it works, great - if not, I'm not out much time or money. I don't believe new lift panels will increase the value of my camper enough to merit the cost ($1000 or more to have the work done at ATC or FWC) or my time to do it myself(10+ hours?).

Lucky Dan - when I got the camper, it was pretty dirty. I think I scrubbed it first with dish soap and a scrub brush, then again with a bleach/water solution. Under the surface dirt, the color was pretty light, but there is definately moldy staining in the inside. It's not the canvas that you see, it's the cloth/insulation that lines the canvas. It's not as clean in person as it looks in the photo.

 

[K6ON]

I think your estimate on having the end panels replaced is a bit high. A friend had ATC do the end panels on his Grandby a while back, and if my memory still works, it was around $500.00. You might call and get an estimate.

I also think bad end panels will really lower the saleability and price you could get for the camper.

 

[hpcbmw]

I've called FWC and ATC. FWC charges $777 each or $1460 both, and ATC charges $520 front and $445 rear. It would be worth $1,000.00 if the camper was in perfect shape, but it's not. I'll be working on my "quick fix" in the next couple weeks and will post how well it does or doesn't work.

 

[hpcbmw]

I had some time to work on my lift panel replacement and it turned out pretty good. I used a 80x5.5"x1" redwood plank. I milled down the outer edges to about 1/2" so when the camper was closed,there was less wood to squeeze between the aluminum frame rails. Plus, this gave a "lip" to hold the support boards. I screwed this to the roof frame rails by drilling a small pilot hole, then screwing in a sheetrock type screw.

To pop the top, I pop the rear first, the lift the front and push the FWC handle to push the old/rotting panels into place. This provides enough support to pop in 1"x4" boards (one on each side). The boards hold the weight of the top just fine. Here are a couple pics of the finished product. It's not perfect, and raising the top is a little bit of a hassle, but for the price I'm very pleased with the outcome. If I were keeping the camper, I'd probably get a guitar center speaker stand to raise the roof, and maybe put some hinges on the support boards, so they would fall into place when the top was lifted (might be some clearance issues, so I didn't mess with this).

 

[hpcbmw]

Here is a pic of the left side.

 

[BLM]

I've seen the posts about the "correct" way to fix the lift panels, and don't want to do that much work on my old camper - that's one of the reasons that I bought a newer one.

My current plan is to put a 1x4" hardwood plank from side to side, and mill the last couple inches on each side to allow the pop top to close - similar to whats in the picture. This will give me the ability to push up on the center to lift the roof, and a secure way to keep the top up. The 1x1 supports will be held in place by the step created by milling the ends down. If it works, great - if not, I'm not out much time or money. I don't believe new lift panels will increase the value of my camper enough to merit the cost ($1000 or more to have the work done at ATC or FWC) or my time to do it myself(10+ hours?).

Lucky Dan - when I got the camper, it was pretty dirty. I think I scrubbed it first with dish soap and a scrub brush, then again with a bleach/water solution. Under the surface dirt, the color was pretty light, but there is definitely moldy staining in the inside. It's not the canvas that you see, it's the cloth/insulation that lines the canvas. It's not as clean in person as it looks in the photo.


For what it's worth, you might consider removing the cloth/insulation material. The inside of the canvas is smooth and will clean up very nice afterwards. On a 1984 Grandby project I simply used a few new razor blades and easily cut out the stained cloth and foam insulation. An hour or two of work removing that old material significantly improved the inside appearance of that camper.