Popup Repair question

[CiCiBee]

Hi there,
Quick question...
We are in the market for a popup. We have found a used one that might work out well for us, but the previous owner said that the cable system just went out, and they are fixing it before they sell it. How much would it be to get this fixed ourselves?

The only thing that I worry about is that if the list system doesn't work, then we can't view the inside.

 

[John VN]

Hi there,
Quick question...
We are in the market for a popup. We have found a used one that might work out well for us, but the previous owner said that the cable system just went out, and they are fixing it before they sell it. How much would it be to get this fixed ourselves?

The only thing that I worry about is that if the list system doesn't work, then we can't view the inside.

What is the make of the camper? A friend has had a number of Hi-Lo campers that uses a cable system to raise the top half. Not a ton of money to replace needed parts when broken but it is time consuming. As some say.....time is money and the time can be much more $$$$$$ than the parts.

 

[bama_ed]

The repair cost should be invisible to you, Cicibee.

Of course as you say, you can't see the inside until this is taken care of. When it is fixed and you go to look at the unit, I would ask that they crank up the roof with you there, you do your looking over, and then they crank it down with you there. Don't take their word for it that it works.

Different vendors may use different lift systems depending on age. I had a Jayco lift in my old popup for 10 years and it's generally widely admired. The one thing I will say about a lift system is once it is working and you can move the roof up and down, when you crank it down, lower it till the roof stops moving and then STOP CRANKING. What causes lifts to malfunction (among other things) is that people give an extra turn (or two or three) once the roof has already come to rest and stopped moving. That gives excess slack in the wire cables which makes them easier to hop off the pulleys.

Good luck!

Bama Ed

 

[amcc]

First, I would google the lift system of the make of the popup to see what other people have experienced. I'm a veteran of a complete overhaul of the roof and interior of a vintage Coleman popup. This popup has a whiffletree lift system that is very reliable and all we had to do to it was grease it.

However, I think a faulty lift system would have been a deal breaker for us - even now with a seemingly in great shape lift system, I add redundancy by using two PVC at opposite corners fitted under the roof. I'm your case, I would have them fix it, then have them lift and lower it a couple of times. After that, I would check the inside. Believe me, it's critical to see the inside because water damage is the bane of pop ups and it's not uncommon.

 

[CiCiBee]

Thank you all. I think we decided against that particular one. We found one at a dealer that I feel like I would trust a bit more if anything were to go wrong.