I have been trawling through the vast amount of information on the internet regarding Popup Campers.
One of the issues many people have with our style of camper is the weight of the roof and the difficulty raising and lowering it. I found many people had solved the issue by installing gas struts to aid the lift. After reading a few posts I had a fair idea of what to buy and how to fit them.
I found the struts we needed on eBay. HERE Once they arrived, we worked out what nuts and bolts we needed and went about making some aluminium brackets to mount the struts to and then to mount to the lift arms of the camper. I was put to work on the drill press drilling holes :) and my little fingers were able to fit up inside the support brackets to hold the nuts while the bolts got screwed in.
It took a couple of hours to fit the brackets and struts to the lift arms, but it has made a big difference.
We now have to pull it down rather than struggling to hold the weight and guide it down. Pushing the roof back up is also much easier as the struts want to push it up.
We had got a price on new wheels and tyres from our local tyre shop. While we thought the white "Sunraysia" wheels would be nice, I just though $100 a rim (plus tyres)was a bit much to spend. On a whim I thought I would look on eBay and Gumtree to see if I could find any used ones at a better price. The local guy had written the specs of our wheels and tyres on a card, so I knew whay to look for. I got quite excited when I found THESE on eBay... needless to say we have pretty white wheels. For the moment I have bought just 2, but will order another one just before we are ready to get the roadworthy certificate.
Our next step is having our friend renovate, repair and replace the running gear. He has pulled the drums, brakes and so forth off, and has bought lots of new parts. That story will be the next post :)
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