roof lifting helper shocks thingys

[bryanmichaelmeyer]

I tried to read through this whole thread and think my question was not answered. I am mounting a box on top of my FWC that will typically have around 3 sets of skis in it. IT looks like the easiest solution for me would be to mount this on the outside. I am afread of the struts freezing in the snow. Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Bryan

 

[leadsled9]

Mount them on the inside.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Don't know about them freezing,but if you mount them on the inside you can only do them for the front.
IMO I like them outside.
They are great. I carry a #60 canoe on the roof rack and they work just fine.

Frank

 

[ETAV8R]

Don't know about them freezing,but if you mount them on the inside you can only do them for the front.
IMO I like them outside.
They are great. I carry a #60 canoe on the roof rack and they work just fine.

Frank

Why only for the front?
Mine are inside and help with both front and back. Makes lifting the roof so much easier.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Your lifters are just one set in the front?Correct. Can you mount a set for the rear lift panel?Setups that have been shown,only show a set for the front lift panel.
Frank

 

[bryanmichaelmeyer]

I am pretty intimidated for the inside strut mod.

 

[jha6av8r]

The struts mounted on the inside are pretty close to mid-ships. They mainly assist with the first lift, back. Raising the front can be a hump toward the end of the push. With my kayak on top, I like it have my wife push the front lifting panel in place. If lifting by myself, I use the crank to raise the front.

 

[ETAV8R]

The interior lifts are right about midway. It is mostly dependent on the wooden piece inside on the ceiling where they mount to. I find they help equally for front and back. I would be more intimidated drilling into the outside of the camper in four locations vs. inside and two locations. You can get struts in different strengths to help lift different loads.

 

[mynxd]

I recently replaced the original zinc strut brackets with stainless ones. The brackets in the photo have been on the camper for 20 months. The rear brackets are on the left. The new brackets are "Taylor Made" 1858 (Flat) and 1891(Offset(double angle)) obtained through West Marine.

 

[Bwht4x4]

I was at FWC the other day and took some picts of a Grandby's support assist system. Thought I'd post them for reference.

 

[wetcoast]

Thanks ETAV8R and Bwht4x4 for the great pics.

Does anyone know a company that will ship struts to Canada USPS or a Canadian company what stocks struts and parts? McMaster Carr will not deal with Canadians, even if we ship to US addresses.

Thanks in advance.

 

[ntsqd]

Perhaps Austin Hardware? Haven't had need to try that myself. Or perhaps http://www.grainger.com/search?searchQuery=gas+struts

 

[jha6av8r]

Does Amazon ship to Canada? I have 100# Suspa struts on my wish list. I called Suspa and gave them the part number of the 80# struts in my camper and asked them for the part number for the equivalent 100# struts. I get most of my stuff from Amazon.

 

[wetcoast]

Amazon does. Looks like $25 to ship struts and it looks they have some mounting hardware, I'll try to find the right ones on there. Not easy to figure out which ones fit but I'll try!

 

[yoff]

I'm in the process of doing the interior installation. Brenda at FWC was kind enough to send me their installation instructions.

You can access them here

 

[slus]

Just a word of warning, I ordered the Suspa shocks on ebay from gotcha_trucks as others had in this thread and got ripped off. I would highly recommend anther seller or ordering directly from Suspa, as I will do once the parts are off backorder.

 

[4llamas]

Uh Oh. I ordered mine last week and they are due today. Supposedly I got the last 4 in stock. Sure hope my very first ebay purchase doesn't turn into hassle.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Just a word of warning, I ordered the Suspa shocks on ebay from gotcha_trucks as others had in this thread and got ripped off. I would highly recommend anther seller or ordering directly from Suspa, as I will do once the parts are off backorder.

Just order them from Suspa I think the price is close to the same and NO hassles.
Frank

 

[slus]

Just order them from Suspa I think the price is close to the same and NO hassles.
Frank

Great, I'll order mine today directly from Suspa. Only reason I ordered from eBay was Suspa was out of stock when I checked, and I wanted to get them on before I left for my 4th of July camping trip. Well, that didn't happen, obviously.

Uh Oh. I ordered mine last week and they are due today. Supposedly I got the last 4 in stock. Sure hope my very first ebay purchase doesn't turn into hassle.

If they don't show up, just open the case with ebay right away. They made me wait I think 7 days for the seller to either ship or respond to my email after I made the complaint, which he did neither, then they refunded my money the next day. It was relatively painless, besides not having the parts by the time I left for vacation. It wouldn't surprise me if yours showed up, if I had to guess what happened, I'd guess gotcha_trucks actually has zero inventory, and either drop ships from the manufacturer or gets some kind of bulk pricing deal from them. Suspa was backordered on that item for a few weeks, so he might have just sat on my order.

 

[camper101]

Just finished an interior installation. 2 questions for those of you who've had this for a while:

The 50 lb struts basically hold the front up when I start the lowering process (Eagle with a 7lb solar panel on top). I'm not complaining... but I'm wondering which approach is best to get it down? I assumed grabbing the cylinder section of the strut and sliding it down the rod is the best way (only alternative I thought of was pulling back on the front lifting bar, which seems like it could put wear and tear on the lifting panel hinges). Both ways work, but I feel better about "helping" the struts compress unless you all say otherwise.

Also, is anybody having problems with the sides of your camper getting pushed out? Overland Hadley has a rigging to hold things together, but I haven't heard of anybody else experiencing the problem or doing anything else to prevent it. How does yours look after a few months?

Thanks ETAV8R and Bwht4x4 for the great pics.

No kidding -- that was really helpful.

FYI I ordered 1/8 inch aluminum flat bar from SpeedyMetals.com. They came out a little dinged up (maybe that's what happens when you get metal shipped) but they're perfectly functional. Order extra because the metal is cheap and all the cost is in shipping. If I had it to do over (or if I get inspired) I might go with 3/16 flat bar (2.5" x 8 inches) for the lower bracket to spread the force even more.