Before we bought our van we'd rented a late westy last summer which had the internal "H" frame replaced by a gas strut system which worked great. I never had a problem raising Winnie's roof with the standard westfalia H although it was pretty stiff, but Maya found it almost impossible. Insert your own joke here about "getting it up" or being "too stiff" etc. As we were taking the roof off for cleaning and re-fixing the canvas i thought this would be a good opportunity to get a similar kit. I found a few options out there; gowesty in the usa sell one although its for a later t25 (vanagon as the yanks call it), also serial-kombi have one, plus space roofs do a kit. There may be other kits out there too but these are the ones i found. There are basically two types - one that "assists" the standard mechanism with a short strut that mounts to the front of the hinge, and one that replaces the H entirely with a large strut that is capable of supporting all of the weight of the roof. links: go westy: http://www.gowesty.com/ec_view_details.php?id=4505&category_id=&category_parent_id= Serial kombi: http://www.serial-kombi.com/en-GB/t...h-fitting-kit-5/1979-7/1992-westfalia-n314673 Space roofs: http://www.spaceroofs.co.uk/type-2-baywindow-elevating-roof.htm I bought the kit from Space Roofs. Pete was great to deal with and very helpful. £140 plus vat plus postage. Good instructions and pretty easy to fit. I'm a bit of mechanical numpty but i managed it without any problems. Once you un-clip the roof and give it a little push upwards to get it going, the struts take over and the roof rises on its own. Getting the roof down you have to pull to compress the struts but its no harder than closing the boot of a car. Very pleased with the results. Pics: gas strut - body mount by lotus-gt, on Flickr I used rivnuts and bolted these on so they are removable - the kit comes supplied with poprivets. gas strut - roof mount by lotus-gt, on Flickr I added an aluminium strip and bolted through this - it should spread the load but it probably isn't needed. .. and here's the finished article: "space roofs" westfalia gas strut kit by lotus-gt, on Flickr Added benefit of this is that now the "H" frame is removed there is a weight saving, plus there's more head space when the roof is down.
I could probably find a part number off the strut but you'd still need the top and bottom brackets so its a bit pointless. Also to be fair to spaceroofs, they've done the research to find the right strut and invested in getting the brackets made up and done all the testing so it would be unfair to them to post that info here.
Yes I take your point and respect the small business man, but i would'nt be me if I didnt try to source else where . The brackets look pretty standard off the shelf items that most strut suppliers would supply
Naskeet has written up a front hinge home conversion, There's a copy of it here: http://www.justkampers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=161387
Brilliant bit of research and product review. Thanks for this. I am thinking of keeping the H frame but adding struts as we do have roof bars and use a roof box at times and its a challenge lifting the roof even when the box is empty. Loads more space for luggage on long trips that way.
Which is more than reasonable...maybe the fairest way to progress would be share the info of its forthcoming on private message?
Out of interest, does it keep upright with tension from the canvas...as in the struts don't top out when it's up, the keep tension on the canvas? Also, mine uses the H frame to lock the roof down, how is the roof held down?
I have just had a closer look at the Space Roof site and it says that the H mechanism needs to be removed. I can only guess that is because the struts are designed to hold the full roof weight and would stop the H from going over centre to the normal stop position. I will call them to find out as I really do fancy the idea of gas assist. I guess Gowesty is the alternative and they aren't that expensive (duty to be added though I guess)
Yes, the "H" is removed, the struts keep the necessary tension to keep the roof up with the canvas taut. Mine has a big pin type lock that keeps the roof secure when it's down, that stays. Hth