TheSamba.com :: View topic - Rear poptop hold-down

Sun Mar 17, 2013 7:50 pm

When I first bought my bus I didn't have the three poptop hold-downs. I bought this one from Bus Depot http://www.busdepot.com/j13144 because I was missing the one with the hook but since I've installed it its never had any tension. The other ones have tension so this one should too right? Its pretty lose. Did I install it wrong? Anyone have any suggestions to make it tighter?

Sorry for the blurry photo, my cameras were having a battery charge race and the shitty one won.

Sun Mar 17, 2013 7:55 pm

Snagged this from Busdaddy from another thread...

I want to achieve this!

Mon Mar 18, 2013 7:25 am

Hmmm..... that's pretty loose :?
It appears the pin hole in the upper bracket on yours is slightly offset, tried flipping it over? Aside from that what pop top seals do you have, some of the crummy generic ones may let the top sit down too low and cause that, also what shape are the luggage rack rubber supports in?

Mon Mar 18, 2013 8:06 am

I've got the same problem. It doesn't seem to pop up at all but I know it could be tighter. I have a farm supply place nearby that sells hold downs that look a little shorter than the three I have. One of these days ill put a ruller to it.

Mon Mar 18, 2013 1:01 pm

busdaddy wrote: Hmmm..... that's pretty loose :?
It appears the pin hole in the upper bracket on yours is slightly offset, tried flipping it over? Aside from that what pop top seals do you have, some of the crummy generic ones may let the top sit down too low and cause that, also what shape are the luggage rack rubber supports in?

I'll try to get some pics tonight of my pop-top seals. I only have two luggage rack rubber supports, the middle one is missing and the hole has been siliconed over by the P.O. I only know this cause I pulled off the luggage rack last year to brush out all the collected pine needles, dead leaves/grossness and clean off the organisms that were growing on my roof.

The supports that I do have aren't in the greatest shape though, not even sure if they're original either. I'll try to get a photo of those too. Those aren't available anywhere are they??

Would the lack of the third luggage rack support be a culprit? I'll try flipping over the bracket as well and see if that helps.

Mon Mar 18, 2013 1:02 pm

RocketSurgeon wrote: I've got the same problem. It doesn't seem to pop up at all but I know it could be tighter. I have a farm supply place nearby that sells hold downs that look a little shorter than the three I have. One of these days ill put a ruller to it.

Mine just doesn't even stay latched! Its useless!

Mon Mar 18, 2013 2:30 pm

skid wrote: Would the lack of the third luggage rack support be a culprit?
I don't know, but if it's sagged down it may not be holding up the back of the pop top enough for the hook to work. I can get my fingers under the outer edge of mine all the way around the back, if yours is touching the roof that may be the 3/4" you need.

Mon Mar 18, 2013 3:19 pm

skid, 2 thoughts

1) do you have the original bracket? that may help your cause if you swap the new rubber to the old bracket

2) if the above won't work, try to score a OE rear latch (or gut yours) and buy the wolfsburg west hold downs. they are dead nuts in length and profile, however you will need to drill a hole to make a rear one. i had to do that for my westy

Mon Mar 18, 2013 3:25 pm

Also, I don't think you have the correct holding hardware.

Mine looks like this:

There are two hooks on the rear one, the side ones have the flat part that is in the previous picture.

Tue Mar 19, 2013 1:52 pm

skills@eurocarsplus wrote: skid, 2 thoughts

1) do you have the original bracket? that may help your cause if you swap the new rubber to the old bracket

2) if the above won't work, try to score a OE rear latch (or gut yours) and buy the wolfsburg west hold downs. they are dead nuts in length and profile, however you will need to drill a hole to make a rear one. i had to do that for my westy

Nope I don't have the original bracket that's why I bought the one from Bus Depot. It must have been there at one point though, due to the paint missing in the spot where the hook would latch.

I bought some test tube rubber stoppers with plans to replace those original rubber stops that I have. Because I read that somewhere on here that those will work as a replacement for the original rubber stops for the luggage rack.

Thanks for the photo pjalau, your hold-down hardware looks a lot different than the one I bought.

Tue Mar 19, 2013 3:15 pm

Looking at these three pictures it appears that the angle at which the hook part of the latch is bent might be a bit different. But the problem is more likely the length of the strap in the first photo. The third photo looks like it has been bent and is not using the OG hook. Perhaps it will work if used correctly.

I ordered a new latch and hook from ... . Foolishly I threw away the old parts when the new parts arrived. When I started the installation there was no hook and the trash had been collected and the OG hook was gone. I made a hook from SS and was able to use my self-manufactured hook and the poptop is secure. Perhaps you can either bend the OG hook a bit or make one with a longer hook and a bit more bend. I found that I had to make some angle adjustments to my hook to make it latch securely and be usable. Be cautious if you attempt to bend the OG hook because it will break easily if bent and unbent repeatedly. I used a 3/8" wooden dowel as a form to bend the hook with a SFH.

Aloha
tp

Tue Mar 19, 2013 7:22 pm

After taking a close look, I think you are right - mine was bent later as evidenced by the obvious teeth marks from the clamp that held it, and the slightly uneven bend. Regardless, it works.

Tue Mar 19, 2013 8:15 pm

skid wrote: When I first bought my bus I didn't have the three poptop hold-downs. I bought this one from Bus Depot http://www.busdepot.com/j13144 because I was missing the one with the hook but since I've installed it its never had any tension. The other ones have tension so this one should too right? Its pretty lose. Did I install it wrong? Anyone have any suggestions to make it tighter?

Sorry for the blurry photo, my cameras were having a battery charge race and the shitty one won.

Like this:

Hope this helps

Tue Mar 19, 2013 8:17 pm

skid wrote: When I first bought my bus I didn't have the three poptop hold-downs. I bought this one from Bus Depot http://www.busdepot.com/j13144 because I was missing the one with the hook but since I've installed it its never had any tension. The other ones have tension so this one should too right? Its pretty lose. Did I install it wrong? Anyone have any suggestions to make it tighter?

Sorry for the blurry photo, my cameras were having a battery charge race and the shitty one won.

Like this:

Hope this helps

Tue Mar 19, 2013 8:19 pm

pjalau wrote: After taking a close look, I think you are right - mine was bent later as evidenced by the obvious teeth marks from the clamp that held it, and the slightly uneven bend. Regardless, it works.

copied and pasted the wrong photo...sorry :shock:

Wed Mar 20, 2013 2:02 pm

GeorgeO. wrote:
Like this:

Hope this helps

Huh. Is that a pic of your hold downs on the side?

Wed Mar 20, 2013 9:16 pm

Picked one up from that farm supply place. Much better!

Tue Jun 18, 2013 9:03 am

I've got the same issue with all three I just bought from Bus Depot (Just Kampers) .. my originals didn't latch but I thought that was because they were super spongy but it looks like there must be another reason.

The JK ones are 8.5 CM center to center just like my originals, but the supplied hook is a bit different, it appears slightly longer with a shallower radius.

When I replace the JK hooks with my original hooks they will actually latch, there is almost no tension but they do latch, oddly the rear actually came close to working with the JK hook.

Of course nothing is original, not the canvas not the seal, I'm not even certain about the hold downs, I just assume they are original because they are so worn.

EDIT I'm going to lay this at the feet of whoever replaced the canvas top, they repositioned the hold downs. I put them back where I think they were supposed to be and things are much better. I'm still not sure it is tight ENOUGH but that is what the strap over the top is for.