17' Series PopTop Roof Misaligned

[burnsie]

Hey Guys

Popped the roof up on the van the other day and when putting it back down I noticed that it was much closer to one side of the van than the other. It wasn't overhanging but getting pretty close and there was a bit more room on the other side.

The van is level when putting it up and down so there is no extra weight on either side.

Does anyone know if these can be adjusted or realigned?

Cheers

 

[Pace]

We had this happen to ours aswell. I forced lowered roof to opposite side,both ends at the same time. It corrected itself. All good.
Pace.

 

[burnsie]

Thanks @Pace will give it a push from both ends whilst lowering to see if I can move it back into position....

 

[kozza]

I've found that mine is closer to the door side - about 5mm off centre - I tend to put pressure away from that side when I drop it to centre it up. I wonder if it has something to do with the awning?

 

[Drover]

Try spraying the rams when it's raised, give the shafts and swivels a squirt of silicon spray. I found that mine while it always closed closer to one side than the other and I did the same thing as the others but when it went skewy a bit more I found that it wasn't long till a ram popped off, not fun to put back on but if you look at my 14.44.3 thread I explain how to put them back easy.
Didn't click until it happened the second time.

 

[ssm]

Mine is exactly the same, very close over the door and not so on the other side.

 

[achjimmy]

It's the awning roller pulling it across. Our current van was quite bad and they realigned the roof over a tad. I also encourage the roof to go the other way when I lower it by applying pressure to the handles.

 

[dagree]

No issue with ours so far so watching this post with interest "Just in case!!"
Sitting here looking at ours with the roof lifted and it looks like it is very central..... OH and shaded by a few large peppermint trees

 

[Drover]

Good while they are up, just walk to one side when you drop them, mine even did it without the awning so probably the moons gravity doing a tide thing with it......

 

[straydingo]

I always release the tension on the awning and it still pulls to the door side. It's gotten quite bad lately....
Doesn't seem to make any difference trying to pull it to the other side when lowering it...

 

[Delano]

I have the same problem with ours and was told if
You have the Roof top Aircon
That you should always raise and lower the end with the aircon first.
Something to do with the weight on the struts I guess.
Any how it seems to line up better and if not I give it a little nudge.

 

[Dobbie]

Sounds like more than a little nudge might be needed.

I'll keep an eye on ours...so far, so good.

 

[dagree]

I have the same problem with ours and was told if
You have the Roof top Aircon
That you should always raise and lower the end with the aircon first.
Something to do with the weight on the struts I guess.

Ours is centered so maybe why we haven't had an issue? "Fingers crossed"

 

[bigcol]

mmmmmmmmmmm
mine has been doing that a bit lately, I kept thinking I was being slack when closing up
I have tried to "lean" to the opposite side when closing........

my roof aircon is 1/3 from the rear..........
doesn't seem to make much difference though, as I always put that end down first

might try it with the awning being loose & slack - see if that makes a difference

 

[iadizajy]

Ours does same and to the door side.
We don't have roof AC but my suspicion is the weight / tension on the awning had something to do with it. Also when we closed up a few years back heading down the coast we were tooted by someone and found we had locked down the clips on the door side, but hadn't done the road side so the roof was lifting. Thought we might have slightly bent the supports but as you are all having the same issue don't think that is a problem.
Added to the list before we leave home to do a lap around the van checking roof clips if we have had it up at any stage at home

 

[Drover]

So we can disregard the awning and AC causing it due to it being common over the range, so how about location of the rams and or the internal arm things causing a pull ? Knowing Jayco precision it's more than likely not square.

 

[achjimmy]

Since my first expanda I have been threatening to fit a set of breha braces to the poptop. They offer up extra roof stability and assist with alignment. Maybe the Starcraft will be the van?

 

[Dobbie]

Don't know if this is relevant...but it could be.

We carry four of those expandable pop top support rods....just insert between van and pop top and extend to correct size.

Have used them a couple of times when we've had high winds or stormy rain. They seem to remove the strain on the awning pulling against the pop top.

May be a factor?

 

[chartrock]

We are the same @Dobbie, we have some of these and use them if there is any wind about. I think it is the strain from the awning especially if it is pegged down which will pull the whole awning/roof across to that side.

 

[achjimmy]

Don't know if this is relevant...but it could be.

We carry four of those expandable pop top support rods....just insert between van and pop top and extend to correct size.

Have used them a couple of times when we've had high winds or stormy rain. They seem to remove the strain on the awning pulling against the pop top.

May be a factor?

Yeah I run two on the awning side especially when I tie the awning down. Ours are made to the skirt height and you jam them in. They certainly stiffen it up.