Lift Struts - Pop Up

[Ace_]

Do lift struts make a significant difference?

I plan to order a Four Wheel Camper and vacillate between whether I should order the camper with the "helper" struts. I do plan to have a "basket" (i.e., Yakima rack with basket) on the roof. The basket will carry stuff and be emptied when at camp; however, the basket will remain on the roof.

I also plan to have solar panels installed on the roof, probably 50+ lbs of panels with mounts. I'm guessing I'll have 100 lbs on the roof in the raised position at all times (between basket and panels).

[silversand]

I know that there are different/several roof lift systems employed by pop-up camper manufacturers. So, someone with an Outfitter, Hallmark, and other similar campers may be using electric lift systems, or, Heco lift systems. Heco systems (the system we have in our Outfitter pop-up) can be had with torsion assist. Also, the trend in the full-sized pop-up truck camper world appears to be going away from Heco (or, manual) lift systems, and full tilt into electric auto-lift systems; so it is only a matter of time before all the "old" manual lift systems die out, to a great extent, by attrition (perhaps this is the case today?).

So, I deduce that out of perhaps 8 or 9 pop-up truck camper manufacturers in the US, Four-wheel (and similar genre, and Alaskan campers) may have a unique lift system. Perhaps nominally, there may be only ~~1 in 30 pop-up owners on this forum who own a Four-wheel popup?

There are other forums "out there" where Four-wheel pop-up owners are more prevalent...

As a side, our "manual" Heco lift system has a built-in torsion assist, making lifting the roof very, very effortless. The general consensus at the manufacturer of our brand of camper is: if you want an air conditioner, or roof storage pods, or solar panels, and/or other accouterments on the roof, they will install torsion assist by default. There couldn't be any worse post-sale "taste in your mouth" for any pop-up truck camper owner than to have bought a pop-up with roof accouterments that make the lifting process hellacious for "the little lady" :B So, I would hope that all pop-up manufacturers would INSIST that a new buyer buying a truck camper with an air conditioner or anything like roof-top solar absolutely have the extra mechanical "lift" capability.

[Ace_]

Yep. It's on my list of options now. I was talking to someone at the factory last weekend about it and seems it's not a necessity, but something that makes things easier every time you lift the roof. So, might not "need" it, and may not realize how much you appreciate it unless you don't have it.

[mkirsch]

Ace! wrote:
Almost 50 views and no opines?

I'd never heard of such a thing until 5 minutes ago. I expect most people are in the same boat.

Sounds like a neat idea, and something I might want to look into for my Palomino now that I've got AC on the roof.

Frankly if you think you might need it and it's not a huge expense, it would probably behoove you to opt for them.

[Ranger_Tim]

Get the struts.

[Ace_]

Thanks.

[rottidawg]

Ace! wrote:
I'm guessing I'll have 100 lbs on the roof in the raised position at all times (between basket and panels).

I can lift my empty Hawk roof with no struts easily but my wife not so much. With 100 lbs up there you will need the strut option.

Another option is using a speaker jack:
http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/8026-is-this-the-crank-up-jack-i-need/

[GpnAZ]

I owned a 2000' FWC Hawk for 12 years and one mistake I made was procrastinating about the lift struts for the top. One of the reasons I got the hard side was because I got tired of lifting the pop top and I know it would have been much easier with the struts in place. I can also tell you it gets much harder lifting the top the more weight you put on the top. Make sure you tell them the approximate weight you will have up top and they can size the struts accordingly. Go to Wander the West forum, you will get a lot more replies there for this subject. Hope this helps!

[lasttruck]

Gas struts can help with roof lifting if installed correctly and the proper strut is used.

Can always be added at a later date and probably for less expense than the factory.

[Ace_]

Almost 50 views and no opines?