Raising a broken pop-up camper is a challenging procedure, and you need the help of your friends and family members during this procedure. It is necessary to carefully do this procedure because the roof is heavy and comes down on your hand, which leads to severe injuries.
How To Raise a Broken Pop-Up Camper? You can raise a broken pop-up camper by disconnecting the lock and inspecting the frame for any damage. Take assistance from your friends to hold the frame up and then use the wooden supporting bars to raise them. Moreover, you can also use a camper top lift which uses a hydraulic mechanism to raise and adjust the height of its roof.
The manual, hydraulic, and electric lifting system is present on the rear side of the pop-up camper for cranking purposes. Many people complain that they are rotating the crank handle, but the roof is not going up because of broken wires and issues in the lifting mechanism.
How do you raise a broken pop-up camper?
It is challenging for people during the journey when the lifting mechanism suddenly stops functioning. They cannot raise the roof because of a broken crank handle, faulty hydraulic mechanism, broken cables, and obstructed whiffletree.
Disconnect locks
Locks are present on the sides of the folding roof to secure them properly when cranking them down. These locks are beneficial to keep their parts in a stable position so they do not produce noise when you are traveling on the road.
In addition, these locks are also helpful to secure the upper part with the frame of the pop-up camper when lowering and storing them.
It is necessary to disconnect the locks when you are raising the broken campers so they do not cause obstruction during the procedure.
You should ensure that all the locks are disconnected so you can move the top freely by taking help from your friends or family members.
Inspect the camper frame
It is necessary to inspect the exterior frame of the camper after disconnecting the locks. Properly analyze the frame before raising them to see any visible damage.
Moreover, ensure the frame is stable and free from other damages when lifting. Poorly stable frames and any damage in their structure can lead to further problems and costly repairs.
You should avoid lifting their roof when you see any visible damage and poor frame stability. It is better to check the joining points to ensure all the welds and connections are good.
In addition, I prefer to inspect the camper from the inside to minimize the risk of damage. Properly check the electric connections, including wires, switches, and outlets.
You can also check the plumbing connections so they do not cause a hindrance when you are raising the broke pop-up campers.
Take assistance from your friends
You need help from multiple people so they can safely raise the heavy-weight roof of the camper. You cannot do this procedure alone because their roof is heavy.
It becomes challenging for you to support their weight alone because these are heavy structures. Call your friends and family members to assist you during this procedure.
Park it at the leveled position and slightly lift them to insert the wooden support. You need help from at least four people so they can lift the four corners of the roof.
Rotate the crank handle and push the roof upward simultaneously from all sides.
Use supporting bars
You need supporting bars of wooden material to support the broken pop-campers. Damaged pulleys or cables cannot provide enough support to raise their roof.
Use enough wooden supporting bars to hold their weight properly and keep them up. Add the supporting bars on the lifting points so they cannot damage the whole structure.
These lifting points allow equal force distribution on their overall structure and decrease the risk of damage and poor stability issues. I prefer to ensure that these wooden bars are not cracked or damaged so they can hold the weight properly.
How do you raise a broken pop-up camper with a top lift?
Lifting with support bars is a manual and old-fashioned method requiring more time and effort. In addition, it is not reliable because of supporting bars that are not strong enough to support the roof’s weight.
Hydraulic lift kits are available in the market, and it is better to keep these with you during camping. It is necessary to check the weight-holding capacity of these lifts when using them to support your broken camper.
Select the lift kits that are strong enough and can easily bear the weight of several hundred pounds because the roofs of pop-up campers are heavy.
These are usually made of steel and aluminum material. Inspect the frame exterior to find the lifting points, and you can also read the owner’s manual to identify their location.
It is essential to only position the lift on the strong lifting points so it cannot damage the frame. Adjust the lift kits on these specific points and raise your camper using hydraulic jacks.
These supporting lifts are a more reliable option to prevent collapsing issues. These are helpful to stabilize and secure the roof at a certain height.
What are the reasons for the broken cables of a pop-up camper?
A broken camper means that cables and pulleys used to raise their roof are damaged, and they can no longer support their weight.
You cannot lift the roof of your pop-up campers by rotating the cranking handle because of broken cables. These cables’ wear and tear risk increases because of their daily usage.
Frequent raising and lowering can lead to their damage. In addition, the issue also comes when you do not lubricate them properly.
The chances of breaking these cables increase because of poor maintenance. Friction between these cables increases when you do not lubricate them properly.
Moreover, poor lubrication also puts strains on their components and leads to poor adjustment. Rust and moisture can also damage these metal wires.
The issue usually comes when you do not store your RV in a suitable environment. These are present on the lower side, and road dust can also lead to corrosion.
These cables can also break because of accidental damages commonly occurring when you do not properly crank their roofs up or down.
Collisions and heavy objects falling can also lead to the failure of cables. Overloading can put extra strain on these cables during raising and lowering, and eventually, they break. One of my friends told me the issue also comes from manufacturing defects.
He told me he could not move the roof up when they rented the new trailer for their vacation. It was a manufacturing defect, and he connected with their owner to resolve the problem.
How do you fix broken cables of a pop-up camper?
It is necessary to fix the broken cables of the pop-up campers to safely raise their roof by using a crank handle and hydraulic pump.
Manual lifting or using hydraulic lifts is only a temporary solution, and it is necessary to fix the cables so they can hold the weight of the roof when you rotate the crank handle to adjust the height.
Fully extend the roof and slightly lower their height to release the pressure off the cables. Cables are present in the hub cover, which is located on the lower side. Go underneath it, and you can see the hub cover containing connected cables with pulleys.
You can see the cover hub on its lower side. Remove the box cover to locate the broken cable. Follow the broken wire to inspect its attachment point. Go inside your camper to remove the paneling to access the lifting mechanism.
Replace the broken cable with the new one. Adjust the new cable properly and ensure the pulleys are working fine with these newly installed cables.
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