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Date:         Tue, 4 Mar 2008 06:57:48 -0500
Reply-To:     Joy Hecht <hecht.joy@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Joy Hecht <hecht.joy@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Poptop Raise Assists
In-Reply-To:  <DB22040D-C019-4DDE-8DAB-5BC4D937400A@mac.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Yup, I know I'm replying to an email from more than a year ago! But I'm back to carrying a kayak, and thus back to being unable to lift my poptop. Very inconvenient. So I'm looking at struts.

Kim, why did you install them inside instead of outside? Is that cosmetic or functional? And I can't tell from your photos where exactly they are mounted at the lower end. Are they attached to a metal plate that is part of the poptop hinge?

If anyone else has tried this, I'd be interested in your experience as well.

Joy

**************************************************************** Joy Hecht and Matilda, 1989 Burgundy Vanagon

For musings about life and the vanadventures: http://www.joyhecht.net

****************************************************************:::-----Orig inal Message----- :::From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf :::Of Kim Brennan :::Sent: Saturday, February 03, 2007 9:58 PM :::To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM :::Subject: Re: Poptop Raise Assists ::: :::Though no one asked I feel a few other comments are in order (I've :::mentioned them before without the pictures. ) ::: :::It's a good idea to attach any struts to a strong point on the :::poptop. In this case I already had a rack mount, which has a :::reinforcing plate on the inside (invisible in the photos.) That helps :::spread the load of the lift. ::: :::On the lower mounting point, the place chosen was just about as far :::forward as I could make it (it doesn't look very far forward, and :::there is a reason for that.) The gating factor here was the existing :::mechanism, which folds up and would occupy spaces further forward. I :::also needed to ensure that there was clearence between the gas spring :::(strut) and the existing mechanism. It was a tight fit using the :::parts and mounting cups that I had. ::: :::When I initially set it up, I used 125 pound struts. These were :::woefully inadequate and in fact I couldn't even tell if they were :::installed. I believe I also had on hand 150 pound struts, but again, :::those simply weren't enough. The 250's were the highest rated I could :::get in this model. I wouldn't have minded something a little bigger, :::but them's the breaks. Just encourages me to pack light.... ::: :::Other folk have stated that they thought I would have mounted them :::the other way (with the lower mount point further forward). I :::considered that. But I tried it this way, on the theory that if it :::didn't work, I could still switch to the other method with only the :::cost of a hole in the poptop hinge to show my work. As it turns out :::this was quite adequate, and I didn't pursue the other method. ::: :::On Feb 3, 2007, at 3:18 PM, Kim Brennan wrote: ::: :::> :::> <http://homepage.mac.com/kimbrennan/PoptopAssist/index.html>


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