Though I have queried around I have never found anyone in the north american
market with the gas assist vangon tops.  According to the Euro and NA
listings it was available.  I have found one individual who had seen one but
wasn�t sure if it was factory or add on.  Even at 68 inches I still stand on
a tool box to lift the top at times.

jimt

On 6/11/05 12:22 PM, "Doug in Calif" <vanagon@ASTOUND.NET> wrote:

> If you are shorter, standing on a small platform of some type may assist.
> 
> I have been an advocated of weight training my entire life, I have many
> friends who are in their "golden years" who still lift and train with
> weights, it helps so many things. Fantastic investment in you.
> 
> I know the new eurovans use gas assist shocks (similar to the ones on the
> vanagon rear hatch) I see no reason a set of assist shocks could not be
> adapted to the pop top to counterbalance some of the weight. One could study
> the Eurovan's top to help with the geometry and design.
> Great one for some of you engineering folks or BS or GW to tackle, certainly
> their is a market for it. There have been several posts on this very topic
> here on the list.
> 
> C'mon guys lets see the magic creative energy of the list put to some good
> use.
> 
> Doug