1994 Hallmark Ute 6.5” - roof lifter & umbilical cord

The roof lift really should be operable by a single person.
It is the traditional scissor type, right? If so, there are torsion springs inside the top bars. They may just have aged. In any case I would try to fix the actual problem rather than apply a band-aid (gas struts).

The Hallmark people were very nice to us when we visited their factory a couple of years ago. Contact them, they should be able to help. Since you are in CO, you might even get them to work on your camper.

Nice unit outside but I'd loose those flimsy jacks quick.

Our 1994 Hallmark Cuchara had the hand crank lift and one person could crank it up fine. Unless someone has added something heavy on top of the roof the torsion springs may be weak or broken. The Hallmark people are very nice folks, give them a call and see what they think.
I'm sure they can help you with the power umbilical cord questions also.

My Palomino has the torsion lift, and I need to give it a little boost by putting my back against the ceiling and pushing with my legs to get it started. Once the scissors are past being flat horizontal, it cranks up easily.

If it is hard to crank all the way, something is wrong.

The springs are fully loaded when the roof is down. After 25 years, they can be pretty worn. Just be sure the roof is all the way up and properly supported for disassembly of the springs.

As far as the pigtail is concerned: I would use a multimeter to find out which wires are connected to ground / negative battery terminal. Then use a (fused or otherwise smallish) +12V source to test the others. There should be a +12V charge line, and all the others should operate some of the exterior lights. You should be able to verify the charge line with the multimeter.