Pop Up Camper Repair - Part 6 - Finished
After creating this blog, I think I should have titled it, Pop Up Camper ROOF repair...as that is what I accomplished. But now I have a list of mods and repairs I would like to get finished over the winter.
The roof was put back on the camper and the lift arms (with new springs and cables) work great. The roof "pops up"...imagine that! Here is a picture of the folded camper.
When I was putting the lift arms on, I noted that the particle board used in the body of the camper had deteriorated around the bolt and T-nut. I needed to put wood filler in the bolt holds and re-drill the holes. I was surprised that the original design of these campers had the weight of the roof and the canvas at these four points without any other support. I didn't have time to make any more repairs, so I took four corner supports (purchased at the local hardware store for a dollar or so) and bolted them to the body creating a "V" for the bolt to rest in. It was cheap and fast. Here is a picture
The canvas went back on and we took off for July 4th camping at Crawford Notch Camp Ground in New Hampshire. FINALLY! This is the camper opened in the drive before we set off for camping.
One last note: I was a bit concerned about replacing the cables and springs in the lift arms. My lift arms were in good shape, but two of the four cables had broken. The plastic guards at the lift arm "elbows" were also missing. I tell you the repair was easy. Here were the steps I took. I purchased the cables and springs from Canvas Replacements (CR) in WI. They were most helpful and provided everything I needed...including the, brass cable travel bushing and special replacement rivets.
I drilled out the old rivets and removed the very rusty springs and cables. The older brass bushing was frozen in place. Removing that from the lift arm was the most difficult part of the entire process. I also think the cables broke because this brass bushing was not free wheeling and longer. The lift arm was in two pieces at this time...the upper and lower arm. I looped a plastic cable tie to the bottom of the spring. From the lift arm elbow, I pulled the new spring (with cable attached) from the bottom of the lower arm using a piece of wire connected to the plastic cable tie. I connected the cable to the upper arm, installed the brass bushing and connected the upper and lower arm with the rivet supplied by CR. I then lopped the plastic cable tie around a hook that was held by a bench vise. The looped cable tie was long enough to peek out of the bottom of the lift arm. Then I pulled the lift arm away from the bench vise, thus putting tension on the spring bringing it into position so that I could run the lift arm bolt through the spring's hook. The plastic tie is thin enough that it didn't interfere with the bolt. I also left the tie on the spring in the event I needed to pull the spring again (which I did have to do once as I put the bolt in backwards on one of the arms). I carefully spread the special rivets using a ball-peen hammer and replaced the lift arm covers.
Thanks for reading. I hope this information might help you with any repairs you may need to make to an older camper.
The roof was put back on the camper and the lift arms (with new springs and cables) work great. The roof "pops up"...imagine that! Here is a picture of the folded camper.
The canvas went back on and we took off for July 4th camping at Crawford Notch Camp Ground in New Hampshire. FINALLY! This is the camper opened in the drive before we set off for camping.
One last note: I was a bit concerned about replacing the cables and springs in the lift arms. My lift arms were in good shape, but two of the four cables had broken. The plastic guards at the lift arm "elbows" were also missing. I tell you the repair was easy. Here were the steps I took. I purchased the cables and springs from Canvas Replacements (CR) in WI. They were most helpful and provided everything I needed...including the, brass cable travel bushing and special replacement rivets.
I drilled out the old rivets and removed the very rusty springs and cables. The older brass bushing was frozen in place. Removing that from the lift arm was the most difficult part of the entire process. I also think the cables broke because this brass bushing was not free wheeling and longer. The lift arm was in two pieces at this time...the upper and lower arm. I looped a plastic cable tie to the bottom of the spring. From the lift arm elbow, I pulled the new spring (with cable attached) from the bottom of the lower arm using a piece of wire connected to the plastic cable tie. I connected the cable to the upper arm, installed the brass bushing and connected the upper and lower arm with the rivet supplied by CR. I then lopped the plastic cable tie around a hook that was held by a bench vise. The looped cable tie was long enough to peek out of the bottom of the lift arm. Then I pulled the lift arm away from the bench vise, thus putting tension on the spring bringing it into position so that I could run the lift arm bolt through the spring's hook. The plastic tie is thin enough that it didn't interfere with the bolt. I also left the tie on the spring in the event I needed to pull the spring again (which I did have to do once as I put the bolt in backwards on one of the arms). I carefully spread the special rivets using a ball-peen hammer and replaced the lift arm covers.
Thanks for reading. I hope this information might help you with any repairs you may need to make to an older camper.
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