Thanks John. Interesting.
Are you able to share before and/or after photos of your catches?
Skyline Aurora Pop-Top opening on motorway?
- Thread starter Creamytash
- Start date
Are you able to share before and/or after photos of your catches?
Thanks for the reply.
If you were able to share any photos of what you’ve got now and what you had before that would be great.
Would be great to get this sorted, the fact I have no damage is testament it’s a well built and strong roof otherwise!
I wonder the same. Still feels like ultimate responsibility is with Skyline for the quality of their training or support.
They should (and maybe are?) be investigating this due to the potential reputational damage. And if installers are just not doing it properly despite appropriate guidance, Skyline should cease working with them.
Maybe.
The simplest way to check is to pop the roof , make sure everything is tight, and look to see where the latches have worn. If it’s close to the dog leg it’s good, if it’s on the edge obviously not so good.
Mine are worn pretty close to dog leg but still bent in high wind.
I'll add my bits of media.
Got out the ol' endoscope.
Videos of my cams catching the roof. (Hope the video hosting on OneDrive works...)
My driver's side cam: Driver.mp4
My passenger's side cam: Passenger.mp4
Photos of my two cams.
Got out the ol' endoscope.
Videos of my cams catching the roof. (Hope the video hosting on OneDrive works...)
My driver's side cam: Driver.mp4
My passenger's side cam: Passenger.mp4
Photos of my two cams.
Yea looks like it.
sensiblejohn
Surveyor
Unfortunately the latest update isn’t as positive as I’d hoped. I’ve given Skyline a lot of opportunity to respond but haven’t received a response for several weeks.
As a summary:
My concerns with the Skyline roof are as follows:
Are the two latches fit for purpose?
I have not received an answer to this question.
Is the roof TUV Certified?
The Skyline Aurora is advertised as being TUV approved.
The TUV approval for the Skyline roof appears to be for the older generation of roofs which have a webbing hold down, rather than the mechanical latches. (The full details are available on the TUV website, showing the webbing hold down, and a frame that doesn't have the extended sections for the latches)
Conclusion
I have given Skyline a lot of opportunity to respond to these questions directly, they have chosen not to do so, on that basis I am assuming the answer to both of my questions is NO.
I don’t have confidence in the latches, based on what I have found out to date they are not sufficiently robust, this is confirmed by the other reports of failures.
I feel that I have been sold a product which hasn’t been adequately tested by the manufacturer, and has incorrectly been branded as TUV approved.
I am now considering whether I make a claim from Skyline to cover the cost of installing another roof on the van as based on the above I think I would have a fair and reasonable claim for this either under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, or the Misrepresentations Act 1967.
Interested to hear other peoples thoughts, either in the open forum or as a private message.
As a summary:
- My Skyline Aurora pop top opened while driving up the motorway back in November. I’m confident that both catches were properly closed.
- The cams had bent, and the ‘barrels’ both wobbled – see my photos and videos form an earlier post.
- I contacted Skyline to order replacement catches. They wouldn’t sell me replacement parts and advised the issue was down to user error. They suggested I spoke to the original installer.
- I contacted the installer who wouldn’t sell me parts, but would fit new catches for several hundred pounds.
- When I started to question the system as a whole Skyline suggested that it may be an issue due to poor installation.
- I explained my “concerns” (see below) to Skyline, who subsequently sent out a couple of guys to replace the catches. On the face of it, excellent customer service.
- The catches have now been installed seem slightly more robust, but are also from the Southco E3 range and rated to the same load.
My concerns with the Skyline roof are as follows:
Are the two latches fit for purpose?
- The Southco E3 range of latches are rated to withstand a force of 300N each.
- An engineer who I engaged to look at this advised that “Based on a simplified Bernoulli calculation, the estimated uplift at 40m/s (~90mph) is in excess of 125kgf on each of the front latches, This equates to a force in excess of 1200N”
- This is more than 4 times greater than the manufacturers rating for the latches.
- 90mph was used based on 70mph vehicle speed into a 20mph headwind, very is a scenario which is very easy to achieve .
I have not received an answer to this question.
Is the roof TUV Certified?
The Skyline Aurora is advertised as being TUV approved.
The TUV approval for the Skyline roof appears to be for the older generation of roofs which have a webbing hold down, rather than the mechanical latches. (The full details are available on the TUV website, showing the webbing hold down, and a frame that doesn't have the extended sections for the latches)
Conclusion
I have given Skyline a lot of opportunity to respond to these questions directly, they have chosen not to do so, on that basis I am assuming the answer to both of my questions is NO.
I don’t have confidence in the latches, based on what I have found out to date they are not sufficiently robust, this is confirmed by the other reports of failures.
I feel that I have been sold a product which hasn’t been adequately tested by the manufacturer, and has incorrectly been branded as TUV approved.
I am now considering whether I make a claim from Skyline to cover the cost of installing another roof on the van as based on the above I think I would have a fair and reasonable claim for this either under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, or the Misrepresentations Act 1967.
Interested to hear other peoples thoughts, either in the open forum or as a private message.
I’d be interested to see the ‘simplified’ lift calculations, but it’s possible that the lift is the same order of magnitude as the limit of the latches (600N), so looks like they are under-engineered. It would be easy enough to measure directly. You could drive down the motorway with a passenger holding the roof shut, catches open, whilst sat on a bathroom scale. Measure the difference between the kg at rest and at 70mph, x 10 and you get the newtons. (Add an extra strap just in case, and post the video for us).
Getting a TUV certification then changing the basis of safety does seem dubious.
‘Simplified’ is doing some work here… a paper on it here:
the-contact-patch.com
Getting a TUV certification then changing the basis of safety does seem dubious.
‘Simplified’ is doing some work here… a paper on it here:
Book : The Contact Patch
Skyline doing themselves no favours here at all, I’ve gone for a Stealth B2 on my new van and thanks to this thread I’m glad I dd.
Skyline also blocked me on their Facebook page when I dared to ask them about a small percentage of theirs roofs opening at speed.
Skyline also blocked me on their Facebook page when I dared to ask them about a small percentage of theirs roofs opening at speed.
I've been in touch with Skyline Midlands to arrange with them to check my catches and closing system before our trip to Norway in May. I dont have any issues with it but would just like it 'checked' as I really dont want it opening any time but especailly a long long way from home.
They didnt reply to my email initailly after a week but a follow up phone call to head office sorted that and they called back straight away to book an appointment.
Ill let you know how i get on.
They didnt reply to my email initailly after a week but a follow up phone call to head office sorted that and they called back straight away to book an appointment.
Ill let you know how i get on.
Hi @Insert Coin - interested that you have gone for another cam close option after the bad publicity of the skyline. I originally had a t5 which I had fitted with a basic skyline pop top with ratchet straps which gave excellent service over the 5 years I had the van. 3 years ago I bought a t6 to convert and one of my priorities was a low profile pop top to preserve the great looks!
I chose the stealth from lowlife as they then were as the design fulfilled all my requirements. Been on 2 years now and no problems with de latching. Their locks I was told were airframe fixings, the first quarter turn engages the latch, the second quater pulls it down about 8mm. I naively didn't enquire about load ratings or tuv approvals.
Do you have your van back yet and ere you happy with your choice?
Steve
I would say that this catch..
Is fitted upside down, the curved section of the bar at the end should be facing the bar it latches over.
Is fitted upside down, the curved section of the bar at the end should be facing the bar it latches over.
@Grim Reaper surely fitting it the other way would make it too low
Well yes in this instance it would if you left the bar in the same place, my point was that someone has undone that bar and flipped it, what if maybe it isn't designed to be used that way up.
These are the cams on my skyline aurora roof. The part of the cam that engages over the bar is concave rather than convex as in the images above. The form on mine makes more sense to me than the convex. It would twist more naturally onto the bar this way rather than snag or even roll under it and not engage at all. (I’ve had my roof open on the dual carriageway the day after I picked it up). I’ve had no bother since. I check the roof is pinched down and the cams are fully locked around routinely.
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Exactly what I'm getting at.
