Loading a manual PH

oclv · 02-23-2008, 08:12 AM

As you know by now, we just purchased a used RB50, and we are new to this forum. I have found lots of good ideas here, thanks. We haven't used our Sportsmobile yet, as we picked it up and immediately delivered it to Salem-Kroger for a 4WD conversion. My question is the PH. We have the manual top. How much weight can be on the roof and still raise and lower it without being Charles Atlas, and also have it be safe in the raised position? We are thinking of doing some of our traveling with a roof cargo box, and perhaps a Kayak or two on top. Will we need to remove everything from the top in order to raise it? Thanks. oclv

Ford_6L_E350 · 02-23-2008, 01:40 PM

I found 25-30 lbs made a big difference. That was the solar panel I put on the top.

I needed to increase the tension on the springs to keep the top up. It is cheap insurance to make a couple of pieces of wood the keep the top up in case of heavy snow.

Mike

surfgeek33 · 02-23-2008, 03:08 PM

oclv,
When we were ordering our SMB, that question came up. My wife and I are planning on putting a Yakima SkyBox 16 on the PH. Greg suggested that we go for the electric PH because of the extra and uneven weight distribution from the skybox. I'm guessing that w/o any extra load on the PH it is perfectly balance, until a load is added. Hope this helps! Good Luck

P.S. We did bite the bullet and ordered the $1000 option

oclv · 02-23-2008, 05:10 PM

Good move to get the electric top. We plan to order a new Sportsmobile in the future. We got this one to do a two year "test ride" and see what we like and don't like, need and don't need. We even struggled with the RB or EB decision. We know the extra room would be nice, but weren't sure if the EB would do what we need to do in tight quarters and washed out back country roads. Basically I didn't want to spen $90,000 on a vehicle and then wish we had done something differently. I would definately plan to get the electric top in the future. I was just wondering if we could raise the top with a box on the roof that loaded would weigh 125# or so. Plus maybe a 45# Kayak. And not damage the mechanisms for the top. Thanks. oclv

philrod · 02-23-2008, 05:20 PM

I wish I'd gotten the electric top, but it's too late for that. Being a skinny 70-year-old, I can't always get the top down on a cool winter morning and have to go find a little more "beef". not easy getting it up either and all i have on it is a solar panel. If there's two of you it might work out, but I'd experiment with how much you could store on top. By the way, congratulations on your new RB50.

Philrod

'07 E350 V10 RB50