Can't raise the roof

[Scottfarkus]

Hi all, I have a 2004 Qwest 12A and it has been sitting covered fo about 7 years. We decided to take a trip with it this year to head out west. We went to open it up and the one corner was bound up. Before I realized it I noticed that the lift rail started to push the sill/trim piece off the frame stripping the screws and bending the trim. You can see what I mean in the attached pictures. Anyone know what's going on here and could tell me how to get the roof up to better see the problem. Thanks.

[bankr63]

Hard to say for with any certainty, but it looks like the trim is either hooked over the top edge of a section of lift tube, or stuck somehow.

My first line of attack would be a cat's paw (small pry bar) and perhaps a bit of silicone spray on the tube to see if you can gently get it to release. You could also try a full crank down and then start back up again to see if it will release.

Good luck!

[Screwby]

Possible the other corners lifters aren’t functioning anymore (seized or broken cable?). If that one corner is taking all the pressure trying to crank up the whole top maybe it’s structural failing due to overload.

You might want to crawl inside and try to help the top up as someone cranks the handle and have boards to prop it open in case you indeed have failures in the other corners.

[Scottfarkus]

Thanks for the replies folks. The three other corners are raising fine. This corner is definitely bound up. The bolt that holds the top of the rail to the roof is moving when I try to pry the rail loose. I'm pretty sure the telescoping sections are above that trim that has pulled loose. It's almost like the telescoping sections won't slide out. I tried PT blaster (kind of shot it blindly up where the sliding sections should be) with prying and no luck. I'm a big guy and there's not much room for me to move around while the top is down. Hope someone has some other ideas.

[Screwby]

I had an old Jayco pop up as my first camper. It had a cabinet that slid on rails you had fold it down to position it just right so you could close the roof down. Do you have anything like that that could have shifted and is jamming/holding the roof down while you try to raise it? Just throwing out ideas.

[Screwby]

Looking at the pictures it almost seems like the square lift post isn’t lined up with the hole in the trim cap and is instead shoving up on it from the bottom instead of sliding through the hole. Did it shift a little and is stuck under the trim?

[Scottfarkus]

Originally Posted by Screwby

Looking at the pictures it almost seems like the square lift post isn’t lined up with the hole in the trim cap and is instead shoving up on it from the bottom instead of sliding through the hole. Did it shift a little and is stuck under the trim?

No that bottom post is welded to a flange underneath the trim piece to prevent it from going up. The sections above the trim are supposed to telescope upward while the flange holds the bottom rail piece in place. If they don't slide out then the stress gets put on the trim and it looks like it doesn't take much to rip it out.

[Scottfarkus]

Originally Posted by Screwby

I had an old Jayco pop up as my first camper. It had a cabinet that slid on rails you had fold it down to position it just right so you could close the roof down. Do you have anything like that that could have shifted and is jamming/holding the roof down while you try to raise it? Just throwing out ideas.

Thanks for the idea. I'll try to take a look.

[Screwby]

I can’t wait till you get this open to see. When I look at the pictures it doesn’t look like the corner is bound up, something is stuck/catching that trim piece. There seems to be an even crack across the whole top as all corners raise. It looks like the telescoping tube that raises the top or the bracket that holds the tube to the roof is somehow stuck on the top trim. Just by the mechanism of how that looks in pictures it’s going to shock me if it’s not some small little screw/bolt or bracket that’s slightly catching that trim piece and pulling it loose as you crank the handle. It’s been a few years since I had my pop up so it’s hard to visualize what I looked like where the telescoping bars attached to the inside of the top.
One suggestion I’d throw out is to slip a couple blocks in there as you pull and pry and reach into there to find the culprit. If that corner happened to become detached or slam down on your fingers while prodding and prying you’d be in a world of hurt.
Someone currently with a pop up needs to chime in

[Cshenberger]

Not sure if you can still get that trim, but to get it open I might consider cutting the trim on both sides to allow the roof to come up without tearing more trim out. Or followthe triim and unscrew all the way around so you can let it go up with the roof and get a look at whats holding it

[Scottfarkus]

Finally the PB blaster did the job. After soaking for 24 + hrs. I was able to break loose one section of the telescoping lift arms as you can see on the photo's. Now I gotta work on the other one but at least I got some room to work now. Looks like I had some water intrusion in this area even though this was covered. Got some work ahead including a full re-caulking but I'm hopefull for a trip this summer. Thanks again for all your responses.

[DocBrown]

Wow. Now open up the cabinet below and check to see how much water damage to the floor around the mount for the lift. And then check the mechanism for rust as well.

[TaftCoach]

Best of luck going forward. I hope it's a quick process for you.