2 replies to this topic

[brabrady]

First, I'd like to thank everyone on this forum for all of the information and photography. I recently built an ATC Panther shell, and would have been lost for where to begin, had it not been for this forum.

 

On one of my first major trips with the camper was to Death Valley (thanks for the motivation, Ski3Pin, your photos were all it took). I was aligned with the wind as I lowered the camper in a canyon when a gust blew into the camper's back door and inflated the sides like a balloon. I believe this resulted in the middle forward lift panel strap either coming loose, disconnecting, or severing (I have no idea how it is actually attached). The rivets in the vinyl are intact, but the vinyl is not pulling in at the middle rivet like it appears to be doing at the sides (for all I know, they're broken too, but the sides are close to the window bungee points, so maybe they'd still pull well either way?). The last time I closed the camper, there was a 3-inch hernia in the center of the liner at the forward edge of the bed overhang. Due to the location, I couldn't stuff the liner in by hand--I had to re-lift and re-lower the top about 1/2-way, get out and tug / poke at the forward liner to get the middle part towards the back of the camper, and when I finished lowering the top, the hernia was gone and the front of the camper looked pretty normal.

 

I'm planning on calling Jeff at ATC on Tuesday, but I'm not sure when they'll be back in the shop after Christmas, and I'm curious to hear from any of you if you've experience with this.

 

Is there a way to repair/replace the strap without major surgery?

 

Has anybody else's camper suffered this fate? I saw a thread about a rebuild but the straps were not replaced... the author was going to leave that to FWC/ATC to do (can't recall which at this point.)

 

Any ideas on how to remedy this are most appreciated. If major surgery would be required, I suppose I can put in an exhaust fan to replace my plain vent, open the door quickly when the top is down 1/2-way, or face into a wind if there is one, etc., but  I am hoping this can somehow be fixed without moving mountains.

 

Thanks for any ideas!

 

Cheers,

Brady

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ski3pin]

We had a similar occurrence the one time we tried to lower the top without the door open. The front ballooned and popped the center front lift panels strap. Jeff and Marty can help with the details. Marty pulled the top camper body trim from the front, this holds the bottom of the sideliner. He went under the sideliner and replaced the strap on the back of the lift panel. He then put everything thing back together. It is an awkward place to work with the camper on the truck. It is a bit of a pain to stuff it in, as you've found out.

Thank you for the kind comment, much appreciated!

Best of luck with the project.

[brabrady]

Thanks ski3pin, good to know. I had a feeling it might be impossible to access without popping off the top. I'm not up for that... looks like a drive is in my future...