Mis-Matching Lift struts Force on a FWC?

[BroDameron]

Recently went snowboarding with my FWC. It has 4x 40lb lift struts and after 4" of wet snow dropped I was stupidly almost crushed trying to drop the roof back down. After clearing as much as I could it was still very difficult to raise later.

Could I do 80lb lifts for just 2 struts and leave the 40lb ones on opposite corners? (like Driver Front and Passenger Rear matching) My brain thinks no that would be bad for the roof, but idk.

If not, do you think 4x 80lbs will be to hard to close? My roof was rebuilt a couple years back and a touch heavier than a standard FWC's roof, plus I have maybe 20lbs of solar and a 7ft roofbox that will store surf/snowboards. Call it 70lbs ish.

 

[DanoT]

Get a snow rake with an extension pole.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Get a snow rake with an extension pole.

+1

 

[ckent323]

Carry an On-Stage crank up speaker stand (and a snow rake) for such situations maybe?

or better carry a DIY 12v linear actuator lift.

https://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/22114-easy-roof-lift-device/page-2

 

[rando]

I don't think you want miss-matched struts on the same end of your camper. The force from the struts is in line with the struts, so when the roof is not fully up, most of the force is actually horizontal, not vertical. With miss-matched struts on diagonal corners they will try to rotate the roof, if they are on the same side, they will push the roof off to one side. You could use different strength struts at each end of the camper if that would help.

Also note that lift struts provide very little help when you begin to lift the roof, at that point they are almost horizontal and almost all the force is outwards, not upwards. As you lift the roof they provide more assistance, and as importantly stop the roof from crashing down. For me anyway, the first part of the lift is the most awkward when you are all crouched down, and the struts don't help much there.

Best option is to clean as much snow off as possible (or live somewhere with champaign powder), then consider a lifting aid like the linear actuator or speaker stand. Also realize that if the roof is really heavy you run the risk of bending it if you apply too much force, regardless of the mechanism.

 

[ckent323]

<if the roof is really heavy you run the risk of bending it if you apply too much force, regardless of the mechanism.>

+1

 

[JaSAn]

Mismatched struts is a no-go.

Get a snow rake with an extension pole.

Too much stuff on my roof:
- two 100W solar panels,
- MaxxFan,
- cell booster antenna.

A snow rake on a long pole gets easily hung up and is difficult to raise with a long moment arm. Been there, tried that. At my age I need to be careful of heavy lifting with arms above heart.

Carry an On-Stage crank up speaker stand (and a snow rake) for such situations maybe? . . .

My On-Stage speaker stand is rated for 80#; not sure is that is sufficient.
But it does make a great center of ceiling support when a heavy snowfall is expected.

 

[RicoV]

Desert rat here, so please pardon my ignorance re: snow loads on popup roofs, but . . . doesn't it seem reasonable that you'd just drop the rear of the roof (entry door end) when a significant snowfall is anticipated? Then, the roof angle would seem (to me) to allow any snow that does accumulate on that surface to be more easily removed by an extension snow rake or some such. Guess I must be missing something?
Rico.

 

[BroDameron]

Desert rat here, so please pardon my ignorance re: snow loads on popup roofs, but . . . doesn't it seem reasonable that you'd just drop the rear of the roof (entry door end) when a significant snowfall is anticipated? Then, the roof angle would seem (to me) to allow any snow that does accumulate on that surface to be more easily removed by an extension snow rake or some such. Guess I must be missing something?
Rico.

I would have thought the same before this experience, I drove at speeds of 60mph+ for 40min without losing any of the snow that I couldn't reach to dust off beforehand. it was heavy and sticky. I guess I'll put 2 80lb helpers on the rear only see how it operates, then switch out and just 2 80lb helpers on the front (with 40lb helpers on the other side in each case) and see how the opening and closing goes. Only a $30 experiment.

 

[Lighthawk]

Rando makes a good point about the lifters being horizontal at the beginning of the lift. If you have a partner, one person helps push from the exterior while the other person is inside pushing the lift boards into place. My wife and I had to do this on our last trip with a rocket box, plus crossbars and a solar panel on the roof.

Our 40# Suspa struts are 10 years old, and getting some rust and have a bit of stickshun. I bought a set of 60# struts from another WTW member and plan to install them this weekend.

===========edit===========

New struts are 40# rated. They seem to work perfectly.

 

[pvstoy]

Andy if you have a small ranching strap it makes it easy to match the distance needed to slide right on without trying to push up on the end to ret it on the ball. See picture.

And as it was stated you would not to mix poundage of strut on the same end. Teledork had this and one of her brackets ripped off and bent the strut. could have been coincidence but you have to think.

* re read her post and there was no mention of different poundage on the same end. I did read that some where.....
.

.
Here is her post of the mangled lift strut.
https://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/22761-mangled-roof-strut/

 

[Lighthawk]

Andy if you have a small ranching strap it makes it easy to match the distance needed to slide right on without trying to push up on the end to ret it on the ball. See picture.

LOL. I was just saying to Susan, if I had a "ranching" strap! Instead, I used a pipe wrench (chopped down to 40") which compressed the strut and made the install easier. I have muscled them in place before and it wasn't fun.

 

[Jon R]

<if the roof is really heavy you run the risk of bending it if you apply too much force, regardless of the mechanism.>

+1

In addition to this concern, I’d be surprised if the attachment of the strut brackets to the aluminum of the roof will hold up over a long period of time with 80 lb struts. Others have reported them working loose and snapping screws with lower force struts. I think i remember seeing somewhere that FWC states a maximum recommended strut force. I don’t remember what it was, but i don’t think it’s as high as 80 lbs.

Edit: Found it. Page 43 of the current owners manual has, in red text, “Warning: Never exceed 40 lb lift struts.”