Bongo Fury

Hi everyone,

I have a Bongo AFT and wish to pick your collective brains.

Raising the roof is very slow and it doesn't appear to reach the full height. After playing about with it at the weekend I have come to the conclusion that the gas struts, used to assist the raising of the roof, have lost some of their pressure and are not helping the motor drive the top all the way up. I reached this by giving it a helping hand and doing the job of the strut myself. When I did this, the roof went all the way up.

Does this sound right?

If so, does anyone know what the pressure rating should be and where can I purchase some from?

I look forward to your replies.

Are you lifting the roof with the engine running? (apologies if this sounds like a silly question, but it has cropped up before )

Having the engine running didn't seem to make much difference. It still needed the helping hand to go all the way up.

bongobazza wrote:Having the engine running didn't seem to make much difference. It still needed the helping hand to go all the way up.

Always a good idea to have the engine running Make sure all the rails and nylon wheels are free of crud and well greased with 'white greese' (some use 'Crisp n Dry' spray), and that the tent is slightly unzipped to help air in, and the roof hatch open. Any roof bars or top box on the roof? If you have rulled out all of the obvious ones then it's time to consider the struts...... but only then.

The other thing is that as temperatures have been low recently, the tent material is stiffer, and there is a little shrinkage too (doesn't everything shrink a little when cold?)

So maybe some of this is weather related , the gas strut pressure will also be less as the gas is cooler.

All the advice given above is good practice anyway and well worth doing.

Clean off ALL the guides and runners (I used white sprite (buggered if I can spell that))...then use a little white lithium spray grease to redo them all.
Then ...always raise with the engine running.
Unzit and roll up the plastic cover....this reduces the effort required to lift the roof.

You should be able to sort it without regassing the struts.

As with all old things sometimes they need a little help mine has never gone all the way up and needs a bit of a push for the last bit to get it in the full up position.

Spray polish, on the chromed pistons of the gas struts, also helps the roof to go up more smoothly.

When you have tried everything,

engine, cleaning, grease, and leaving a gap to help with the air moving in and out. certainly helps with the door or window open.

It worked for me and many many others.

Then p.m. me and I'll send you a link to a regas service which will sort out the strut's if they are the problem plus give a garantee

david.

Once again, thank you for all your great advice. I will try all of the tips and let you know the results.

Cheers guys!

Hi all

Read this thread with interest as I now have the same problem ( since fitting a roof box, but problem persists even after the roof box was removed ). Roof always lifts ok, albeit a bit jerky, but sometimes stops just short of its end position and needs a light push to get it up the final bit.

I would think the gas struts must have an influence on this as the van is 1998 model ( so 13 years wear on them ). Also the problem is only at the top position, by which time the motors should have less work to do, but the gas struts will be at their weakest.

Anyone have experience of re-gassing the struts ( who to go to, how much did it cost, was it a 100% cure ? )

Any advice appreciated.

If you've tried all of the above & want to try regassing, these are the guys everyone seems to use - http://www.sgs-engineering.com/pages/Regassing-Service
Usually lowering it a bit & taking another "run" at it gets it to lock out along with keeping it lubricated & ensure the engine is runnning.

I always used to keep my tent sides rolled up but then one time the net snagged on the corner of the hatch resulting in a huge tear when I next raised it.

I just leave the "eyebrow" unzipped now.