Rockwood HW316TH roof alignment issue

[seeverest]

I have a 2016 Rockwood pop up that when you lower the top the front right corner has a gap between the weather striping and the front wall. It looks like the top has twisted counter clockwise just about a half of an inch. What is the fix to this so I don't have water coming in while pulling it down the road. Thank you in advance for the help.

[jimmoore13]

I may be missing something, but once you clamp down the roof with the travel clamps, one assumes it fits down to the tub snugly. If not, perhaps weather stripping is missing.

If you can't clamp the roof because it's twisted, I may have a solution. I added a 2" foam mattress topper on my main bed. It makes closing the camper very difficult. I would sit on the roof, and my wife would engage the roof clamp. Then I learned how fragile the roof is. So I added "tie-down D-Rings" to either side of the roof and I use a ratchet strap from the frame to the D-Ring to pull the roof down and compress the foam topper. I'm patient and let things squish a bit, then ratchet down a bit more. Once I can hook up the roof clamp, and if the roof clamp is adjusted properly, the roof seals to the tub well.

Photo Attached.

[seeverest]

Originally Posted by jimmoore13

I may be missing something, but once you clamp down the roof with the travel clamps, one assumes it fits down to the tub snugly. If not, perhaps weather stripping is missing.



If you can't clamp the roof because it's twisted, I may have a solution. I added a 2" foam mattress topper on my main bed. It makes closing the camper very difficult. I would sit on the roof, and my wife would engage the roof clamp. Then I learned how fragile the roof is. So I added "tie-down D-Rings" to either side of the roof and I use a ratchet strap from the frame to the D-Ring to pull the roof down and compress the foam topper. I'm patient and let things squish a bit, then ratchet down a bit more. Once I can hook up the roof clamp, and if the roof clamp is adjusted properly, the roof seals to the tub well.



Photo Attached.

Thank you for your input. I will try this out sounds similar to what I have going on I have added a foam mattress topper also so maybe that is my issue. Thank you.

[jimmoore13]

Originally Posted by seeverest

Thank you for your input. I will try this out sounds similar to what I have going on I have added a foam mattress topper also so maybe that is my issue. Thank you.

A good ratchet strap will exert a lot of force on the roof, so just be a bit patient as you compress things. The foam and the bed covers and the primary mattress will all compress somewhat if you give them about 30 seconds to a minute.

The good news is that when I release the roof clamps, the compressed items do not rebound a lot. The roof doesn't spring up hard as if it was under a lot of pressure. The roof only springs up about 1/2 inch to 1 inch. Most of the time, I don't need to pull down on the roof to flip the roof clamps off the brackets.
So I don't think it harms the camper roof to do this.
Also, the roof clamps are attached with "T-nuts" and small bolts, so there is little risk of them tearing out. The sides of the camper roof are 5/8" or 3/4" particle board sandwiched in the outer gell-coated fiberglass and the inner plastic liner. Pretty sturdy.

I attached my D-rings with #12 x 3/4" stainless screws. Before inserting the screws, I used Gorilla Glue (adheres to wood and metal), in the screw hole and on the threads. So the screws are actually bonded to the roof material. Since all planned loads are "sideways" rather than pulling "out" on the screws, they will hold a lot if you use the Gorilla Glue technique.

A better option would be "T-nuts" and bolts, but there's a LOT of hardware in that immediate area....the roof posts and bracketry are all there, so I didn't want to risk damaging such an important structural item. You could always locate the D-ring to the rear of the roof post. That would place it under the bag awning on the curb side, and it would reduce your leverage ever so slightly, but I'm sure that would work, too.

In my case, we camp in windy areas a lot. Our bag awning flips about and slams the roof when it's still in the bag. So I got industrial velcro and applied it to the roof side and the back of the awning bag to prevent this. The velcro is SO strong that I decided not to mess with it by burying the D-ring under the awning.

[jimmoore13]

P.S. You can see Gorilla Glue oozing out from the lower screw in the photo. Be sure to follow the instructions an prep the surfaces to be bonded by wetting them with water. That activates the glue.

Gorilla Glue will lock in any screw that keeps backing out. Sometimes you might first upsize the screw...larger diameter and slightly longer to give it more bite, but so many screws fall out on washboard roads that using the glue to secure them (much like red LocTite on bolts) is a great way to keep the camper together in rough conditions.