Lowering pop top

Submitted: Tuesday, Apr 24, 2012 at 18:35

ThreadID: 95118 Views:1593 Replies:4 FollowUps:6

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John Z

We have a Jayco pop top and I hae noticed that the on lowering the top that it does not sit square when lowered: an over hanging of a few centimeter at the rear making it dificult clipped down.

I've been told by one dealer it's because of the roll out awing and to pull the bar on lowering, this hasnt worked nearly ripped the bar out of the frame. Another jayco dealer has stated its the gas strut and needs to be replaced or a possiblity the van's out of square.

Has any one else encountered this problem and can give some advise. If it's the strut are they dificult to replace: going by the dealer you need to be a rocket scientist.

Any help is appreciated.

JohnZ

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Reply By: gjcumming - Tuesday, Apr 24, 2012 at 18:51

Tuesday, Apr 24, 2012 at 18:51

Hello John Z

A failed (de-gassed) strut or broken strut mount will do that. Are your struts mounted with the fat end to the top? If not the seal can dry out and leak gas.

You need to compress and secure the strut to remove/replace them. Some use a ratchet strap.

Regards: Grant

AnswerID: 484046

Follow Up By: John Z - Tuesday, Apr 24, 2012 at 21:02

Tuesday, Apr 24, 2012 at 21:02

Thanks Grant, the fat end is up the top. I think it may be worth my while to replace the Struts.

Thanks again.

John

FollowupID: 759313

Reply By: ed c1 - Tuesday, Apr 24, 2012 at 20:27

Tuesday, Apr 24, 2012 at 20:27

hi johnz, i had a simular problem and found that if i lowered the rear end first all was well and lined up perfect,,,hope this helps

AnswerID: 484062

Follow Up By: John Z - Tuesday, Apr 24, 2012 at 21:04

Tuesday, Apr 24, 2012 at 21:04

Thanks ed c1,

I've tried that, still out of wack.

Thanks,

John

FollowupID: 759314

Reply By: Russan - Tuesday, Apr 24, 2012 at 21:04

Tuesday, Apr 24, 2012 at 21:04

John Z
We have had a similar problem with our Jayco, discovered that one of the struts had come adrift from its mount.
We removed it completely, made up a jig to hold it in the compressed state and put it back on and all was good.

AnswerID: 484064

Follow Up By: John Z - Wednesday, Apr 25, 2012 at 11:43

Wednesday, Apr 25, 2012 at 11:43

Thanks for the reply Russan,

Will have to replace the strut by the looks of it.

Regards,

JohnZ

FollowupID: 759377

Reply By: westskip - Wednesday, Apr 25, 2012 at 09:50

Wednesday, Apr 25, 2012 at 09:50

From our experience it will definitely be the gas struts. Went through the exercise of replacing all four a couple of months ago. Initially thought that I would only need to replace one but found that I need to replace all four as pressure in all was well down.

John

AnswerID: 484132

Follow Up By: John Z - Wednesday, Apr 25, 2012 at 11:46

Wednesday, Apr 25, 2012 at 11:46

Appreciate reply John,

It seems by your reply that I should replace all in one go. Will avoid future issues.

Regards,

JohnZ

FollowupID: 759379

Follow Up By: westskip - Wednesday, Apr 25, 2012 at 14:30

Wednesday, Apr 25, 2012 at 14:30

Definitely would replace all four. When I did ours I found that they had used three of one type & pressure, and one of a different type and pressure. From memory they cost about $30 each from our Jayco dealer.

My method is ;

Pop the top and measure each strut from top bracket to bottom bracket.
Prop up the top.
Remove struts from bracket - note do not remove bracket
Put old struts aside to be discarded.
I would then place the new strut on the bottom shelf of my workbench (between the legs) and use a bottle jack to compress the strut to the length required.
Use soft reasonably heavy gauge wire threaded around the "bolt" ends to hold the strut at the required length.
Strut can then be forced into the bracket and bolted into place before cutting and removing the wire.

No doubt other members will have a simpler system but this worked for me.

Cheers

John

FollowupID: 759390