Keep kids and hands away when lowering top.

[ESDSKeith]

Brand new 1940ltd. Was lowering top in driveway. 2/3 way down, made a big bang sound and the top free fell down. Scared day light out of me. It's back to the dealer. The gear/shaft broke right in half on the motor on the winch. They have never seen anything like that. I guess there is a new design. Hoping to have fixed by our Friday trip with our first pup. Glad no one was hurt or that it didn't happen camping.

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[f5moab]

Interesting. I have a 228BH that the top dropped from about 2/3 of the way up. They told me the gear shattered on the shaft. And also, it was the first time FR had heard of this problem.

[ESDSKeith]

Was your the new design? This was the dealer that said 1st time. Interesting.

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[f5moab]

It's a 2012 trailer, one of the first manufactured for that model year. I believe mine is the old design that requires grease to be check and added (especially if the manual crank is used); whereas, I believe yours is the new design without any grease.
Have had no problem with the unit since they replaced the assembly. Took about four weeks, since the first assembly sent out by the manufacturer was defective. The gear I believe is welded to the shaft, so the dealer just ordered the entire assembly under the cover.

Make sure that there is NO damage inside the trailer from the falling of the roof. They also replaced one of my windows. In my case I had to take it to a dealer that serviced FR trailers but did not sell popups. I had to pay, but FR reimbursed within about a week of receiving the email with a copy of the statement from the dealer.

[ESDSKeith]

Mine is the old style I was told. They said they are ordering the whole unit, newer version. They said they will check for damage. It did come down on top of the canvas. I wonder what caused yours and mine to fail. Some stress or binding somewhere? Worried it could happen again.

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[f5moab]

From the statement from the dealer that was submitted to FR..
"Found winch motor defective had a shattered gear. Replaced entire assembly."

That was about the fourth time I used it (I believe). And have used it numerous times since then with no problems. But it does on occasion, go through my mind it could fail.

Have to admit, if it ever fails again, I will probably replace it wish a mechanical unit and if possible, use a power drill to raise and lower.

[ESDSKeith]

Sounds like a case of weak steel maybe. If this was a big issue, I think they could have a big liability problem on their hands. Maybe a 35 million dollar GM fine!
I've only had mine less than a week and only second time I lowered it. Lucky in driveway and not camping. Hope it's fixed by Friday. I'll give update.

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[Ringbill]

Sorry to hear that! The first thing I do after raising the roof is slap on the corner braces- just in case. I have lifted the roof four times now without an issue. What I want to try is the manual crank/override. I am real happy with the 3/4" socket I use with my cordless drill to quickly lower/raise the stabilizer scissor jacks. Wonder if there is a similar socket for the manual lift?

[f5moab]

Use of the braces is a great idea. However, the are not in place when lowering or raising the roof and that seems to be where the problems arise.
And the socket for the manual lift is not the same size as the corner stabs. Not sure, but believe it is 5/8; I used it once to raise along with a short 3" extension.

[bmcilravey]

Hey f5moab: you mentioned above it should be greased. Is this the steel cable that should be greased? If so, how often, where and what type of grease? Any idea?

I haven't had an issue with my motor or lift but the cable always sounds like times going to snap, though I think that is just "the sound"... But noticed there is no grease on the cable at all.

[ESDSKeith]

Dealer is fixing mine tomorrow with the new style winch. I will ask them to see what they say. I know the winch that broke needs greased, not d ure about cables. You can download manuals on FR website. There is dome mention of some of the required maintenance. I'll post on Wednesday.

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[f5moab]

Needs to be greased and lubed in different areas.
On my trailer, underneath there are two grease fittings, one at the front...


One at the rear....

I use the same grease (synthetic) that I use for the wheel bearings. But I guess any high pressure lithium will do.

Also at four corners where the spring goes up a conduit to push the corner braces up. In my case, I remove the two bolts from the outside....


Pull down the conduit (carefully and not that far)


Then squirt in 30W oil into the conduit so that oil can lubricate the large spring inside; especially at the bend...


(If the conduit does not want to go back up into place, take a socket and manually turn the motor bypass bolt in the winch assembly. Just one turn to lower the roof will do it. Only had this happen once.)

Also, remove the small round cap on top of the winch assembly, and make sure there is grease packed in their covering the manual lift bolt (I believe it is 5/8").

Then remove the bottom cover of the winch assembly (4 screws), and spray the bottom of the drum and gear areas with some oil (I use liquid wrench lube, but I guess WD-4 would be ok).

This is all from the dealers site where I purchased the unit from....Roberts Sales, Denver.

The owner manual that comes with the popup explains about the requirement for, at least yearly, greasing of the lift assembly.

NOTE: This is for the old style motor that requires grease inside the motor assembly; I understand from reading on here, the new assembly does not. But I would bet that the tracks would still require some grease in the fittings and the corners would require some oil.