Well, I considered adding lift struts.  A fellow in Idaho sells them, and I
thought about buying from him.  But eventually I concluded that it is like
having a house with stairs.  Some people move into one level houses when
they get older so as to stop walking up stairs.  I can still do this, and
it takes my muscle to do it. If it gets so I can't do it, I probably can't
do other things that are necessary for camping, anyway, and maybe it won't
be safe.  I haven't balanced the top on my  head, it seems to hold in place
well enough for me to do the tucking necessary.  I never camp alone, always
with my wife.  She goes around the outside with a stick and tucks canvas in
from there, and I catch it and tuck it from inside without resorting to the
head trick.

Regarding wouldn't be safe, I once met an 88 yo man, camping alone in his
van (not a VW camper van) equipped with a wood stove.  That was in Big Bend
NP in far West Texas.  We got into a conversation about old folks in the
outdoors, and the worries that their families might have about it.  He
remarked that he would keep hiking (alone) until he fell off a cliff or
something, and his kids (old folks themselves, actually) just had to
understand that or live with it.  I guess my stubbonness about the pop top
is somehow distantly related to that.

On Thu, Jul 28, 2022 at 7:31 AM Eric Caron <ericcaron96@comcast.net> wrote:

> Hi Dave,
>
>         Have you ever tried someone’s pop top that has the lift assist?  I
> only ask because I have almost forgotten the days without them.  Recently I
> did a pop top on a friends van and had forgotten all my tricks for getting
> it up and down.  I managed, including balancing it on my head to tuck in
> fabric.
>
> We are not getting any younger.  A top that is super light feeling and
> rests where you need it might be that one upgrade to make life a lot
> easier.
>
> I use the light struts as I don’t have things on the roof.
>
> Eric Caron
>
>
> > On Jul 27, 2022, at 11:27 PM, David McNeely <davmcneely40@GMAIL.COM>
> wrote:
> >
> > Original.  Works fine for me.  I do stand on a step stool to get better
> > leverage for the lift (I'm vertically challenged, and also don't have the
> > strength I used to).  But the lift works fine, and lowering is fine, too.
> >
> > On Wed, Jul 27, 2022 at 6:03 PM Eric Caron <ericcaron96@comcast.net>
> wrote:
> >
> >> Hi David,
> >>
> >> Too bad, I was hoping that would work for you.
> >> Do you have the pop top assist or still the original set up?
> >>
> >>
> >> Eric Caron
> >>
> >>
> >>> On Jul 27, 2022, at 6:30 PM, David McNeely <davmcneely40@GMAIL.COM>
> >> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> Eric, I cannot make the lift using the side bars.  There is not enough
> >>> leverage for me to do the lift that way, given the breadth of the
> >> reach.  I
> >>> do not wish to try lifting one side and then the other.  So, I stood in
> >> the
> >>> center of the floor, reached out to both sides to the side bars, and
> >> tried
> >>> lifting.  I can't budge the top, though I can easily lift it from the
> >>> center bar.  The Campmobile manual describes using the center bar for
> the
> >>> lift.
> >>>
> >>> On Mon, Jul 25, 2022 at 8:05 AM Eric Caron <ericcaron96@comcast.net>
> >> wrote:
> >>>
> >>>>
> >>>> Hi Dave,
> >>>>
> >>>> Did you try lifting from the side bars just under the round piece the
> >>>> horizontal bar connects to?
> >>>>
> >>>> Again I have the assist struts so that may be a factor.
> >>>>
> >>>> Eric Caron
> >>>>
> >>>>> On Jul 24, 2022, at 10:35 PM, David McNeely <davmcneely40@GMAIL.COM>
> >>>> wrote:
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Sounds like it does a good job.  Congratulations.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> On Sun, Jul 24, 2022 at 3:30 PM Alistair Bell <albell@shaw.ca>
> wrote:
> >>>>>
> >>>>>> Dave,
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> At home all day today, warm day now in the afternoon and I’m
> drenched
> >> in
> >>>>>> sweat from yard work.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> But….
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> At noon I turned on the fridge , dc power. The inside van temp was
> 28,
> >>>> the
> >>>>>> inside fridge temp was 25. Van in the sun, fridge side of the van
> >> facing
> >>>>>> south.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> At one o’clock , fridge temp was 3.0.  Of course this is empty
> fridge
> >>>> and
> >>>>>> not pulling down the temp of non pre chilled comestibles. The temp
> in
> >>>> the
> >>>>>> fridge seems to range from 0 to 3 at this setting. Again the temp
> >> swing
> >>>> due
> >>>>>> to no thermal mass inside.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> But the point is, it cools down fairly fast.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> Just another bit of anecdotal evidence :-)
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> Alistair
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> On Jul 23, 2022, at 9:11 PM, David McNeely <davmcneely40@gmail.com>
> >>>> wrote:
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> 
> >>>>>> Alistair, What about fit?  Dimensions a close replacement for the
> >> stock
> >>>>>> refrigerator?  It is quite a bit bigger, inside volume (cooled
> space).
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> On Sat, Jul 23, 2022 at 6:55 PM Alistair Bell <albell@shaw.ca>
> wrote:
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>> Yeah I went over. I’ve installed a Dometic CRX-50 fridge. And I
> >>>>>>> repurposed the stock fridge vent .
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>
> https://shufti.blog/2022/07/23/vanagon-stock-fridge-vent-delete-option/
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>> Alistair
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>
> >>
>
>