Why hydrolics? Thats messy beyond belief. Pumps, resivoirs, pressure
lines, fluid...blah blah blah.
I said it once and i'll say it agian......DC Linear Actuators!
Essentially a hydrolic that lives off DC current and is controllable
to run off your battery. Simple, inexpensive, and pracitcal. If you
guys master the gas shock placement, someone just needs to put an
actuator in the same place (maybe use a gas shock as well?), and wire
it to a simple "up" "Down" switch.

My van would be poor for this experiment, it really wouldnt benefit
the greater group, as mine is a sunroof van with a poptop added. The
mounting and placement would be way off.

-Craig
'85GL sunroof Poptop camper vehicle way-of-life