Justin@608
New Member
I managed to remove swing arm and straighten it up in a vice... but I will be getting it looked at tomorrow...
I must admit not the best design,and I've also seen that some people haven't had any issues with them
Skyline Aurora Pop-Top opening on motorway?
- Thread starter Creamytash
- Start date
I must admit not the best design,and I've also seen that some people haven't had any issues with them
To get you home I would suggest a Ratchet Strap over the roof an in through passenger & drivers door window the tighten up with the ratchet buckle in the cab roof area.
Well reading through all these posts has now put me off a skyline!! Whats the best alternative for the same money?? Is the SCA worth the extra cash? I did notice that skyline do 3 roofs the cheapest one dosnt use the cam lock , just straps , i do like the skyline roof slider to tidy things up when closed
Exercise a reasonable amount of caution and scrutiny with any roof you go with.
The Skyline Aurora roof is great. You won’t be disappointed. Love my cams. So tidy and convenient. And perfectly safe in my view. Won’t catch me messing around with straps.
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I had my pop up Roof fitted by Cosmic campers of Derby. They fit the Storm pop top and also fit the roof slider to tidy it all off. Mine being a LWB I had an Alltops roof fitted also with the roof slider. The story behind my pop top was that I was booked in to have a Skyline fitted but I was contactacted by the converter and made aware that they were no longer fitting Skyline roof due to repeated incidents of roofs lifting on motorways etc.
Must admit I’m not sure which roof my van has (bought an already converted van) but I it does rely on straps. It’s sat at 80mph for hours, annd 70mph in horrendous weather, and never had any concerns about it lifting.
As an engineer cam locks seem a better option on paper but physically testing something, rather than just writing it off, I is also worth doing and opens up options. I have no concerns about my pop top lifting.
If you think Skyline are bad, have a look at the competition.
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Wow this is a shocker! This van has come in for a roof replacement suffering from leaks misshaping of roof and creaks and it’s no surprise when we have... | By Skyline Roofs North | Facebook
Wow this is a shocker! This van has come in for a roof replacement suffering from leaks misshaping of roof and creaks and it’s no surprise when we have...
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I have the Aurora lwb. It has failed 3-4 times now, but after the first 2 times I secure with a strap as well as latches.The latches aren’t strong enough, maybe if they were cast instead of stamped they would be better. It’s in high wind and when passing lorries it fails, the pressure pulls the roof up and bends the latches. You can see in the photo how much more bent one is than the other, you can also see the one that’s more bent has happened in two stages(the rub marks have changed position)
Skyline deny there’s a problem but they should really think about a solution.( Ie if the latches were cast instead of stamped metal.)
Skyline deny there’s a problem but they should really think about a solution.( Ie if the latches were cast instead of stamped metal.)
Welcome to the forum @Woodyboy and sorry if it’s this situation that caused you to join. I hope the forum helps with finding a satisfactory solution soon.
Andy
PS Useful pics
Do you have an effective wind deflector strip in front of the front lip of the roof? I don’t get the sense on mine that there is much wind pressure on my pop top.
Yeah, I didn’t think there was anything wrong with mine until “BANG!!!” At 60 mph the top flipped up. Horrible feeling.Once it happens to you once you will be putting straps on as well.
Yes there is a rubber wind deflector fitted.
I will still trust the latches for short jaunts in the summer, but I use my van all the time as a work vehicle, in the winter in the wind I drive with straps on aswell.
Yea, I can see how even once this would destroy your confidence in the roof latches.
My cams continue to snug down the roof firmly every time. I haven’t yet had any reason to doubt them.
Other than the fact there are people on here talking about them failing.
I take your point, but respectfully I have my pop top in front of me and I have to weigh that against (mostly) anonymous people on the internet.
We all have to make judgement decisions based on the information available.
For the moment, I trust my roof and am fully pleased with it. I have no first hand reason for concern.
Same. Mine is absolutely rock solid.
Run dsg and mk2golf,
I don’t understand what either of your points are. The title of the thread is aurora pop top opening on motorway. I have tried to be useful and shared my first hand experience of this happening. Just the facts, with photos to back up.
Neither of you have commented on which style of cam you have, are you aware there are two types ? You can see in the photos mine is the dog leg latch style. Which has a shorter cam. There is another with the shaft on the cam longer and a straight latch. It could simply be that one is better than the other. Maybe they don’t produce the one with the straight latch anymore.
I have one of these fitted on a £40k van and obviously don’t want to impact the resale value. But its easily fixed one way or another either bracing the dog leg latch or replacing the cams with the different style. Hoping that you never encounter the conditions to make it pop is up to each owner, but I hoped there might be some tech savvy people that would have something to contribute.
I don’t understand what either of your points are. The title of the thread is aurora pop top opening on motorway. I have tried to be useful and shared my first hand experience of this happening. Just the facts, with photos to back up.
Neither of you have commented on which style of cam you have, are you aware there are two types ? You can see in the photos mine is the dog leg latch style. Which has a shorter cam. There is another with the shaft on the cam longer and a straight latch. It could simply be that one is better than the other. Maybe they don’t produce the one with the straight latch anymore.
I have one of these fitted on a £40k van and obviously don’t want to impact the resale value. But its easily fixed one way or another either bracing the dog leg latch or replacing the cams with the different style. Hoping that you never encounter the conditions to make it pop is up to each owner, but I hoped there might be some tech savvy people that would have something to contribute.
Apologies. You seem to have taken some offence. And worthwhile discussion requires multiple points of view. I feel that’s all we’ve done.
Anyhow, my cams aren’t the straight ones. Maybe it matters, maybe not. Either way, they’ve not bent one millimetre, and pull the roof down as firmly as day one.
Very pleased this threat exists, however. Nothing wrong with sharing knowledge and exercising caution.
Anyhow, my cams aren’t the straight ones. Maybe it matters, maybe not. Either way, they’ve not bent one millimetre, and pull the roof down as firmly as day one.
Very pleased this threat exists, however. Nothing wrong with sharing knowledge and exercising caution.
I have straightened mine in the vice. It works fine for now, also had it in with the installer last year and replaced both cams. But using the same kind again. It seems there are three different types. Which one do you have?
I should point out , this is a back up as well as using the cams, for stormy days or motorway miles!
sensiblejohn
Surveyor
Morning
After being disappointed by Skylines initial response they did turn out to be very helpful.
I haven't yet come to a conclusion as to whether the failure was installation / design or both.
Skyline have now replaced the catches on my roof with a slightly different design which seems more robust, so I suggest that you contact them again and ask for the same.
I've got a couple of other items that I want to 'bottom out' with them, but will be posting an full update soon!
Hope you get this sorted,
John
