Height adjustable rack lift assists???

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womacje

womacje

Joined
Mar 15, 2007
Threads
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Location
Minneapolis, mn
How have you guys seen height adjustable racks assisted?

I'd love to see expensive and inexpensive options for this idea. One man and two man operations.

My rack will sit at about 48" traveling and I want standing height under the tent when deployed 74"+. I have the tube for telescoping at the four corners. I was thinking gas springs, but the longest stroke I can easily find are 16". Mcmaster has up to 24" but they are priced pretty high priced. I have sourced hydraulic lifts with hand crank pumps for $600, Gas springs with 24" travel , Electric linear actuators, Air actuators,... all for about the same price.

I've thought about scissor lifts, but I think they'd be clunky and unattractive. Cable winch lift type systems, but may be too complicated.

Show me what you'd done, how you've done it, where are cheaper prices,...

Thanks guys.
 
Thanks, Pat. Great example of what i'm talking about. For my needs I want to go from 6" above the tub rail to 6'3" aka 22/24"

Love his ingenuity!
 
Also been scratching my head on this a while.

Looking for something beefier than the Eeezy-Up tent legs, but not as hardcore as ResQ jacks or scaffolding.

Gotta be a way...
 
sirenmoses said:
Also been scratching my head on this a while.

Looking for something beefier than the Eeezy-Up tent legs, but not as hardcore as ResQ jacks or scaffolding.

Gotta be a way...
Click to expand...

My goal is to do it single handedly. I think I'm going to go for 2 gas springs per corner and 2 spring lock pins per corner and do it that way. per Mcmaster carr it should cost $250ish for those components not counting the telescoping tube that they sell as well. I bought DOM tube that will telescope nicely.

I'd love the do the hand cranked hydraulic lifters, but $600 is outta the price range, even though it is a good deal for what it is.
 
Just a thought...

reinforce it on the tub corners with a stout braket...it'll help tone down the sway while in the tent and during travel.

I'm afraid too much movement will cause it to rip itself apart

great job btw!!:beer:
womtent.webp
womtent1.webp
 
titanpat57 said:
Just a thought...

reinforce it on the tub corners with a stout braket...it'll help tone down the sway while in the tent and during travel.

I'm afraid too much movement will cause it to rip itself apart

great job btw!!:beer:
Click to expand...

Great minds think alike, I'm already there!! Nice model, that's what I was thinking for the front too. The back will have to allow the tub to slide out, so it may be removable or multi-part.
 
Jeremy do the spring lifts you have in the video have enough lift to raise the rack completely if the lifts were aligned together?
In the video it looks like they come real close to raising it all the way.

If not, how much would it cost to double up the spring loaded lifts on each corner, or maybe just add two in the middle of each side of the rack, then use a 12 volt electric winch and some cable at the corner lifts pulling through pulleys as a lowering device. That way it would raise up the rack with plenty of pressure by paying out the winch. And you could synchronize the lowering cables to pull it down with the winch mounted under the floor or someplace. You can pick up cheap Harbor Freight 12 volt winches for less than $60.00 now a day!
A hand crank winch would work too, but an electric winch would be so much cooler.
Then just pin the rack in place (like you are planning) to lock it in place and prevent it from swaying or sinking in the up mode when you climb into the tent. Oh and pin it in the down position too, in case the cable breaks.

Just thinking outside the box. I had a pop trailer years ago that had a lift system much like what I described. It worked for years like this.
 
SSR,

I had thought about that. I have locking pop pins that will engage in the up and down position. The gas springs I have in place now are enough to lift the rack, accoding to the labels. The inch that they aren't pushing is ok with me. I anticipated needing to help the rack to it's full height to get the pop pins engaged. The trick as of this moment is getting it down. A pair of cam straps and some walking front to back will work while I'm alone on the trail. Most times I'll have a second set of hands. Also, I haven't tested the rack opening with the tent and awning deployed, which should change how it's weighted also.

I thought about the winch down method, I'm trying to keep it as simple as possible, even though I've crossed the threshold of simple already...
 
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