Exterior Pop Top Roof not functioning properly

[Darren Kerr]

I have recently brought a Jayco Outback Expanda Pop top caravan. The size is 17.56-1. I am having trouble with the roof closing as it seems to have moved towards the door side and is not allowing me to clip the roof down. The roof lifting arms on the inside of the van seem to be bent. If anyone has any ideas it would be greatly appreciated.

Regards Darren.

 

[Mick]

Hi Darren,
I have the same van as a tourer 17.56-1 but the same problem guessing you have the roof top air.
do you have two people lower the roof or only one person?
when you lower the roof is the van on level ground ?
I lower the front end (door) end lowering the rigth arm slightly when bringing the roof down and this seems to fix the problem.
as for the bent arm it should'nt be bent onlt in the fold down possition may be post a photo of the bent arm????
hope this helps
cheers Mick

 

[bigcol]

welcome @Darren Kerr to the forum, lots of great info and lots of people with a passion for their Vans and camping

with the Pop Tops, a couple of things you need to remember

always have the door OPEN when raising or lowering the lid
always make sure the clip/arm on the awning is in the right location (open / close) when raising or lowering the lid
meh, some prefer rear end first, some prefer front end first
its an either either situation
some open and lower the lid with the awning opened by a metre, some dont
again, its an either either situation
just remember to lean towards the non awning side as you lower
watch your head if your tall when closing the lid......... nuff said.........

they ALWAYS never come down in the right spot, its trial and error to find what suits you

as @Mick said, a couple of piccies of the bent arm........... would help to diagnose what could be wrong

 

[Tricky]

It could be that one of the gas struts is not as strong as it should be and therefore the roof doesn't come down straight. Happened to me van but was fixed under warranty.

 

[Glen Bundesen]

The bent rod of the gas strut is not good. You can replace them but it does take some effort. If not a handy person, then I suggest you talk to a caravan repair shop. Actually I replaced all four on my expand and as the roof top air con and 2 solar panels were too much for the standard strut.
If doing it yourself you will need to order the new strut(s) from a supplier - it doesn't have to be Jayco - just the correct length. You can' t measure the strut while it is extended as they are longer - but just not fully extended while attached to the roof. Check what the struts have printed like N400 - that is the strength of the strut under pressure.

 

[TarmacNtrack]

G'Day Darren.
I have the same problem with our Outback 14.
Nothing is bent and the gas struts still have plenty of punch.
I recon as the awning is retracting over time it slowly pulls the pop top towards the door side of the van each time you raise and lower it.
Or it could be when lowering the roof you stick you young out to the left and not the right which could also be a contributing factor.

 

[Darren Kerr]

Thank you everyone for your helpful advice, but I took the van to Jayco Nowra on Friday and got the front roof lifter arm replaced. They said it was bent. It is now working perfectly.

 

[The escapist]

I've got exactly the same problem on my 17.56.

Keep meaning to book it in for its first service but keep forgetting! Unfortunately, because of the mis-alignment the skirt on the roof is wearing a couple of holes where the bolts hold the struts. Very disappointed as the van is only 8 months old!

 

[Bluey]

I have a 2014 same model mine is allways going towards the door side had it fixed a few times its a combanation of a lot of things solar pannels ... air con main thing awning and annex = weight
If yours is a bent strut very good its fixed but some will allways go over
Make sure you open awning a few feet when going up or down
Mine has to be opened or closed back first then front allways the same my next van wont be a pop top too meny issues with them

 

[The escapist]

Hi Darren, it's now 6 months on since your repair - is your alignment all good now?

I took ours to Jayco and they repaired the holes and said they re-aligned the roof. Well, a couple of uses and a thousand k later and the holes are back again.

To Jayco's credit, they're replacing the whole roof skirt! As we were really disappointed with the repair job - it looked dodgy. On a 10 month old van it's really not what we signed up for.

Hoping when they replace the skirt they fix the roof properly this time. I'm thinking I might have to take matters into my own hands and place a very small wedge of timber under the roof to push it back a couple of mm when closed. I've heard of this being done with success.

 

[Darren Kerr]

Hi Darren, it's now 6 months on since your repair - is your alignment all good now?

I took ours to Jayco and they repaired the holes and said they re-aligned the roof. Well, a couple of uses and a thousand k later and the holes are back again.

To Jayco's credit, they're replacing the whole roof skirt! As we were really disappointed with the repair job - it looked dodgy. On a 10 month old van it's really not what we signed up for.

Hoping when they replace the skirt they fix the roof properly this time. I'm thinking I might have to take matters into my own hands and place a very small wedge of timber under the roof to push it back a couple of mm when closed. I've heard of this being done with success.

We have got the roof repaired and have had no trouble the few times we have used it. It goes up and down smoothly and lines up with the clips.

Regards Darren

 

[The escapist]

Good news!

Hopefully ours is fixed soon....

 

[DRW]

My 17.56.2 did the same thing, only becausr I drove a hundred or so miles with the clips not fastened :frusty:
The actual hidge assembly was bent slightly, one I pulled it apart and straightened it all was good