pop top load question

[Justgosurfin]

Yep. Pretty sure it was boywonder. I know he’s gone super deep into this issue. Impressive R & D for sure

[boywonder]

Justgosurfin: If you've sleeved the tubes with DOM cro-mo, you can easily go two links..maybe three. The tough part is the initial lift-off, you need to space the helper springs accordingly. Start playing with it; it'll become obvious.


The SMB plates that hold the helper springs down can get kind of marginal when you start loading those springs up...so be careful.

[DFarkas]

Hey SurferDave, I've been reading through this and I've played around with my poptop and it's also a manual lift. I have Yakima crossbars with side mounts. Grampswrx mentioned the load balance and they're spot on. When I lift the top, if there's any weight imbalance, the tops is all kinds of cocked up. And if the springs aren't set up for a load, then it's a beast to lift. If it's setup for a load, then it's a beast to get down as well. For now, I only have WW kayaks up top and I take em off when I stop and camp for the night so I can pop the top.
I'm looking into a mechanical lift.

[Justgosurfin]

Originally Posted by boywonder

Justgosurfin: If you've sleeved the tubes with DOM cro-mo, you can easily go two links..maybe three. The tough part is the initial lift-off, you need to space the helper springs accordingly. Start playing with it; it'll become obvious.


The SMB plates that hold the helper springs down can get kind of marginal when you start loading those springs up...so be careful.

Thanks. I’ll measure the blocks the previous owner had behind the helper springs but I believe they were about 2.5-3”. PO also had 1 link out. I think I’ll try that then potentially go to two.

I did finally find my plates and painted them. I’ll see if there’s a way to through bolt them down.

[boywonder]

Originally Posted by Justgosurfin

Thanks. I’ll measure the blocks the previous owner had behind the helper springs but I believe they were about 2.5-3”. PO also had 1 link out. I think I’ll try that then potentially go to two.

I did finally find my plates and painted them. I’ll see if there’s a way to through bolt them down.

If you through-bolt them down getting them off after an interior build may be challenging. I used Riv-nuts in the roof sheet metal, then subsequently went to a 2x4 piece of 1/4" AL angle (from McMaster). This allows fastening the short leg of the angle to the vertical part of the channel for a much more robust design.


If you really crank up the spring load those plates flex easily since one long end is sitting out there in the breeze.


I'm planning on further investigating using a combo of gas springs and the helper springs, and from earlier measurements I'll likely cut my helper springs down from 24" long to 12" long to double the spring rate. A couple of EB tops that I've played with had 12" long springs and those went up crazy easy (with nothing on the roof).

[Justgosurfin]

Good call on the angle and rivenuts, I’ll take a look at the layout this weekend