Pop Up Camper Repair - Part 1 Let's Remove the Roof
Prologue
A few years ago I purchased a 1981 Palomino pop-up camper from a 1st grade teacher. It was an impulse buy. I know nothing about pop up campers. But now I know I paid a bit too much for the unit. We have used it for 5 years without much maintenance. But we still paid too much.
The picture above is a few years ago with the camper set up. It is rough but functional
What I knew was that the wood on the roof was a bit sketchy...and when the lift arms cables broke after the season in 2010, it was time to undertake fixing the roof. Due to a few circumstances beyond my control, I couldn't fix the roof in 2011. So this May (2012) we began the project.
The Roof Repair
With the help of reading posts on www.popupportal.com and obsessing about this for a year in my head, I began the process. The first trick was how to remove the roof. The external lift arms had to be removed to repair the spring / cable mechanism anyhow. The roof arms are spring loaded. In the extended position, the spring has the least amount of tension. I could have called in six friends, but I like to hold those chits for really big jobs (like lifting walls on a chicken shed...a different story). So I came up with an idea. I have an old basketball backboard set up next to the garage. The backboard is supported with two 6x6 posts.
I purchased 16 foot 2 x4s and attached these with one lag screw each onto each 6x6 vertical support at the height of the camper roof when the roof is extended. Next I clamped a 2x6 as a vertical support from the camper's set bench to support the other side of the roof.
Once the roof was supported, I removed the lifting arms.
With the help of my wife, I went to the far side of the 2x4's (where I attached a metal bar connecting the 2x4s) and lifted the 2x4s. My wife removed the clamps and removed the 2x6 vertical support. Then I lowered the 2x4s to the driveway pavement.
I thought the roof would slide down the 2x4s and we would have to catch it but friction kept it in place. We had to grab it and pull it to the position you see in the picture above.
Off of the camper, the roof is fairly light. The two of us easily lifted it, turned it over and placed it on four saw horses in our garage bay. I was all set to to tackle the next step....repairing the roof.
A few years ago I purchased a 1981 Palomino pop-up camper from a 1st grade teacher. It was an impulse buy. I know nothing about pop up campers. But now I know I paid a bit too much for the unit. We have used it for 5 years without much maintenance. But we still paid too much.
The picture above is a few years ago with the camper set up. It is rough but functional
What I knew was that the wood on the roof was a bit sketchy...and when the lift arms cables broke after the season in 2010, it was time to undertake fixing the roof. Due to a few circumstances beyond my control, I couldn't fix the roof in 2011. So this May (2012) we began the project.
The Roof Repair
With the help of reading posts on www.popupportal.com and obsessing about this for a year in my head, I began the process. The first trick was how to remove the roof. The external lift arms had to be removed to repair the spring / cable mechanism anyhow. The roof arms are spring loaded. In the extended position, the spring has the least amount of tension. I could have called in six friends, but I like to hold those chits for really big jobs (like lifting walls on a chicken shed...a different story). So I came up with an idea. I have an old basketball backboard set up next to the garage. The backboard is supported with two 6x6 posts.
I purchased 16 foot 2 x4s and attached these with one lag screw each onto each 6x6 vertical support at the height of the camper roof when the roof is extended. Next I clamped a 2x6 as a vertical support from the camper's set bench to support the other side of the roof.
Once the roof was supported, I removed the lifting arms.
With the help of my wife, I went to the far side of the 2x4's (where I attached a metal bar connecting the 2x4s) and lifted the 2x4s. My wife removed the clamps and removed the 2x6 vertical support. Then I lowered the 2x4s to the driveway pavement.
I thought the roof would slide down the 2x4s and we would have to catch it but friction kept it in place. We had to grab it and pull it to the position you see in the picture above.
Off of the camper, the roof is fairly light. The two of us easily lifted it, turned it over and placed it on four saw horses in our garage bay. I was all set to to tackle the next step....repairing the roof.
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