Help pop top install

[Urbanoverlanding]

Also did you get a new rubber seal for between the vmcanvas and metal? Mine is ok but FULL of staples!

[Nrobert10]

I reused the rubber seal on mine. Yes it was full old staple holes. The push block is only really needed in the rear. The front bar just pivots, the rear slides a bit when opening.

I also built up the front channels on the van to bill the voids over the front ribs.

[BenJJ]

Originally Posted by Urbanoverlanding

Do you not have the push boards? When I took mine apart there was a gap in the boards for what I assumed was the bars to be able to move when it goes up and down. But it looks like you just have a conduit clamp on there?

My donor van was in a junkyard so I was not able to re-use the push boards. I thought I would make new ones but then decided to try something less bulky. The front bar moves at the bottom where it attaches to the rails and stays stationary at the top so I just used U-bolts to attach it. I actually left the rear bar floating on the back with no real attachment method. I did buy the new clamps off the sportsmobile website to hold the roof in place when it is down.

In hindsight I wouldn't have used the rectangular rubber gasket on the inside. It creates friction when the bar rotates as the top goes up and down.

[Urbanoverlanding]

Oh nice! Is yours electric? If not how do you pull the unit back down? Also I'm about to put the shell on the mechanism which is on my roof. But it's in the up position. Any ideas or suggestions on how to get it down? Trying to lift this on the van is allot trying to lift it on the van in top of it being popped up crazy!

[BenJJ]

Originally Posted by Urbanoverlanding

Oh nice! Is yours electric? If not how do you pull the unit back down? Also I'm about to put the shell on the mechanism which is on my roof. But it's in the up position. Any ideas or suggestions on how to get it down? Trying to lift this on the van is allot trying to lift it on the van in top of it being popped up crazy!

It is manual, I just pull on the bars to bring it back down. You need to de-tension the lift mechanism to put the roof on, then manually lift it and prop the top open manually while you tension the springs. I had 2 other people help me with this part. To prop the roof up I cut 2x4s to length to wedge them in the bar channels to hold the bar in the upright position.

One other thing I added to the lift was a big heavy duty turn buckle between the garage door spring and chain link. This allows you to adjust the tension a little bit once you have everything installed.

[Urbanoverlanding]

Originally Posted by BenJJ

It is manual, I just pull on the bars to bring it back down. You need to de-tension the lift mechanism to put the roof on, then manually lift it and prop the top open manually while you tension the springs. I had 2 other people help me with this part. To prop the roof up I cut 2x4s to length to wedge them in the bar channels to hold the bar in the upright position.

One other thing I added to the lift was a big heavy duty turn buckle between the garage door spring and chain link. This allows you to adjust the tension a little bit once you have everything installed.

That is a great idea. So two questions one how do you go about D tensioning the springs? To what weight strength turnbuckles did you use? Thank you so much for all your help and advice thus far.

[BenJJ]

Originally Posted by Urbanoverlanding

That is a great idea. So two questions one how do you go about D tensioning the springs? To what weight strength turnbuckles did you use? Thank you so much for all your help and advice thus far.

No problem! Here is a link to my build thread. Has more detail and pictures for you regarding exactly how we did the pop top install.

http://www.sportsmobileforum.com/for...-19704-12.html

I took my entire lift mechanism apart and re-assembled it on the van so i just had to re-tension them when I was ready. Best way to de-tension though would probably be with ratchet straps. Use the strap to stretch the spring enough to unhook it from the chain link.

I don't remember what strength they are but I think it is somewhere around 1000-1500 lbs. Kinda just went with the biggest one I could find that would fit in the channel.