As I mentioned before, I considered having the struts elsewhere. Note
that due to the angle of the raised poptop, you are limited in where
you can attach a gas spring. Further, you are additionally limited by
where you can mount it when it is down. You can't have the bottom
directly under the top mounting point, for example.   While that
arrangement would give you the best lift capability, when it is down,
there is no place for the gas spring to go. Even when compressed it
occupies a certain amount of length. I didn't want to drill any
irreversible holes in the top of my camper until I experimented some.

The way I mounted them was a quick a dirty test to see if it would
work. I figured if it didn't work, the only irreversible "damage"
would be an inconsequential hole in the poptop hinge. As it turns
out, this way worked quite well, so I never pursued any other
possibilities.