New Fleet Questions

[BillTheHiker]

Inspected my new Fleet shell yesterday at the local installer where it was trucked from the factory.

1. I was unable to pull the front (over truck cab) of the roof all the way down, maybe about 3/4 closed. Bungee was attached to the hooks on the window covers. Rear of the roof was still up. Two of us were trying it. Had to go outside and pull it down. Tried with door and louvered window open and fan on exhaust. Speculating that the new struts need to be worked a few times to loosen up. Does this seem normal?

 

[nikonron]

I wouldn't think that this is normal at all. Are the struts too heavy and not letting it come down? Did you order it with a stronger strut than standard? Ron

 

[Stalking Light]

Do you plan on adding anything to the roof, like a rigid solar panel? If not maybe your struts are too strong.

If you want to use the fan to bring it down close the door and louvered windows and run the fan on exhaust.

 

[BillTheHiker]

Nothing on the roof and no plans to add anything. they should be the standard strut -no special order on them. I had never previously raised a roof on one of these campers, but raising it did seem to take very little effort, so I will check if they are the standard, which I think is a 40 pound strut. If it is higher rated, then that might explain the difficulty pulling it down.

 

[cvant]

The Fleet uses a longer strut than the other models. I believe thay are 40", vs. 36" on most of the other models. It is key that they are installed in the proper location. I also have a new Fleet. The struts are a (sortof) custom size from Suspa, and are 40 lbs. With nothing on the roof you have to pull it down, but I can pull it down all the way from inside without too much trouble.

 

[nikonron]

My 2016 Eagle has 40" struts. And they are 20lbs. Ron

 

[paulclancy]

We picked up a new 2016 Fleet from MLO in New Hampshire on April 2.
On the roof we have a solar panel and the full Yakima racks and two fans.
I can raise and close the roof with one hand and no problems, just keep the back door open.
The first thing we did at the dealer when we picked it up was to go up and down with the roof. What does
your dealer say about it? It doesn't seem normal.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Did you try pulling down on the lift boards after it's down to the point where it doesn't seem to want to go further? Hands on the back side of the board to avoid a pinch with the folding panel.

Edit: by lift board, I am referring to the board that is perpendicular to the long axis of the roof, and screwed into it.

 

[CougarCouple]

Hello Bill the Hiker
We have a ATC Cougar model, but a roof is a roof . (Maybe) that saidours comes reasonably easy. I was instructed to not try overtake the struts, in either direction. This might be difficult but can you try another camper roof to get a feel about them, that might give you the info you are looking for. Maybe the dealer has a couple of models. Off the cuff my perspective is you should be able to lower the roof w/o going outside. What are you going to do if it's raining?
Russ

 

[BillTheHiker]

Local dealer has arranged to replace the 20# struts with 10#. He said they have seen this problem before with empty roofs. Either add more weight on the roof or use a lighter strut.

 

[buckland]

If'n I were you I'd wait.... you will mayhaps put something on the roof?... I have an Eagle ...same as a fleet and have 30lb 40" struts.... I added a solar panel and yakima racks.... it is all perfect now.... there is a balance in the long run.

 

[Mark G]

I couldn't find struts less than 22#. FWC said their lightest is 30#. I put a 28# steel bar on the front rack to help it come down.

 

[BillTheHiker]

With everything closed except the fantastic fan vent and the fan on exhaust I had no trouble pulling the roof down today. Thanks for that suggestion. So no need to swap out the struts.