88 Starcraft Lift Mechanism Help....

4313 Views 1 Reply 2 Participants Last post by artmart, Apr 28, 2011

camaro_87

Discussion Starter · Apr 28, 2011

i just bought my first pop up tent trailer recently. it's a 88 starcraft starflyer it's in really good shape and all but seem to have one little issue with the lift mechanism..... the guy i bought it off showed my how to lower it but i never got to see how to raise it and i heard that if i over crank it when raising i can start snapping cables.. now the problem is when i go to turn the crank to raise it there is nothing to stop the handle from spinning back and having the roof and all come falling back down, i thought there would be some kind of "ratchet" that would keep the roof up while cranking but there doesn;'t seem to be. but if i crank it all the way up untill it doesn;'t turn anymore and give the crank another half turn it will stay up on it's own but i'm worried that from walking in/out of the camper and shaking it that that crank can very easily wiggle it's way loose and have the roof fall back down.... and or that cranking i that extra half turn is putting pressure on the cable and not good for it??

what do i do?

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artmart

· #2 · Apr 28, 2011

I had a Coleman with a ratcheting crank. I was taught that when you see the sides almost taut (not fully taut to the point of stretched), then that's when it's up. There was also a "Release" for the ratchet that then allowed me to lower it. I recall it wanted to come down by itself, but I was also taut to lower it slowly, engage the safety catch, reposition the material, then resume the lowering.

I thought all units did this. I would hope that some kind of "stop" be present to prevent the collapse you describe. Even if it were quiet there should be some kind of a catch or release by the handle. Did the prior owner not provide the manual? I hate when they don't store the thing with the rig - PUT THE THING AWAY EACH TIME.

Maybe a quick call or trip to a dealer that sells Starcraft popup trailers might be possible. Ask for a service manager.

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