Canvas Roof bag on trailer lid
Submitted: Saturday, Oct 19, 2013 at 21:27
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Member - phantom
G'day everyone
We do a fair bit of camping in tents carrying all our gear in a 7 x 4 lock up trailer.
I want to fit a 1500 x 1250 Southern Crosss roof top bag (that we all ready have ) on the trailer lid, primarily so that we don't have to roll the self inflating matresses up each time we break
camp, just fold them in half and stuff them in.
I bought a steel ARB cage to suit a GU patrol off ebay, perfect size but it is too heavy for the lid as the gas struts don't hold the lid up anymore. I can cut some of the roof cage away to lighten it, go to an alloy cage or fit heavier struts.
Logic tells me to fit heavier struts but don't know a lot about them.
Another option is to fit the bag directly to the trailer lid, much easier but I am concerned about what will happen in wet weather to the bag and contents. Do you need airflow under the bag? If so. What distance would be best?
Any thoughts much appreciated.
Reply By: henpecked - Saturday, Oct 19, 2013 at 22:44
Saturday, Oct 19, 2013 at 22:44
G'Day Phantom,
Quite probably the struts need re-gassing as I presume the cage is pre-loved. Also, if you do re-gas, you can ask for a higher pressure rating.
Ted
AnswerID:
520007
Follow Up By: Member - phantom - Saturday, Oct 19, 2013 at 23:08
Saturday, Oct 19, 2013 at 23:08
Thanks T ed,
I guess we are adding about 40 kgs to the lid.
Any idea where to re-gas near Sunbury
Melbourne?
FollowupID:
800365
Follow Up By: henpecked - Sunday, Oct 20, 2013 at 08:12
Sunday, Oct 20, 2013 at 08:12
Sorry Rob, no I do not..I'm a sydneyite. They are normally a mobile service who come to you.
I got my contact through the NRMA magazine. Probably yellow pages & Google would be best bet. The guy who did
mine is not impressed with el-cheapo ebay struts.
Good luck
Ted
FollowupID:
800379
Reply By: Member - John - Sunday, Oct 20, 2013 at 06:33
Sunday, Oct 20, 2013 at 06:33
Rob, I would get new struts, the old struts should have a weight range or something similar marked on them, though I think Will pulled the sticker off when we visited........ LOL. Strut sellers should be able to tell you what you would need to lift the extra 40kgs, just keep the same length.
As for the bag, I would use an old alloy door as a spacer or similar for air flow and attach it to the lid. Light weight and effective.....
Thanks for the time you took to show us your Drifta kitchen also, have ordered ours, pick it up in November.
Happy camping
John and Julie.
AnswerID:
520018
Follow Up By: Member - phantom - Sunday, Oct 20, 2013 at 09:20
Sunday, Oct 20, 2013 at 09:20
Hi
John,
Was a pleasure to meet you and Julie and glad you have ordered a Drifta, a good bit of kit.
I will google strut suppliers and see about getting some heavier duty ones.
Was thinking of heading to the local recycling depot to see if I can pick up a couple of old Aluminium screen doors for the trailer lid and mount then 25 mm above for a bit of airflow underneath. Cut down on the 40 kg of the steel cage.
We are off to
menindee lakes for 10 days at the start of November so I hope to have it sorted by then.
FollowupID:
800384
Reply By: Bob Y. - Qld - Sunday, Oct 20, 2013 at 11:05
Sunday, Oct 20, 2013 at 11:05
Rob,
Check out Ovesco's site. They sell gas struts, as
well as a lot of other useful hardware.
Very prompt service too. No affliation etc, just a satisfied customer.
Bob.
AnswerID:
520035
Follow Up By: Brian 01 - Sunday, Oct 20, 2013 at 11:13
Sunday, Oct 20, 2013 at 11:13
Most Supercheap stores carry gas struts.
Unlikely that you would get any worthwhile advice from their salespeople, but the struts all generally have their ratings marked on them, so shouldn't be hard to select a stronger one.
As has been said, get the same length, and at least with Supercheap you should be able to exchange them if they're not quite right
FollowupID:
800394
Reply By: roger t4 - Sunday, Oct 20, 2013 at 11:31
Sunday, Oct 20, 2013 at 11:31
G`day Rob,
I can only reiterate what others have advised, get some correct weight struts. A few years back I had built,a trayback camper with a hinged lid operated with gas struts. The first ones I installed barely lifted it and clearly would not do in a windy situation. At the time I was ignorant of the different ratings available, but I went back to where I`d purchased them and explained the problem. Of course there was no refund so I bought a heavier duty set ( they were exactly the same dimensions as the originals) and I questioned this, but boy! did they work a treat?
Good luck with it
Rog
AnswerID:
520040