dandy folding camper gas struts

We had a situation at the meet where a member who recently had struts fitted to her bed has had one strut fail in some way and when folded it broke one of the three bed hinges away from its fixing,now i am not knowledgeable enough to comment on the reason apart from the obvious, the strut failed or the hinge was not secure enough to take the strain if it was the latter this in my opinion should have been checked when the strut was fitted,i also had strut problems on my 6 the side wall one which is in the wardrobe had seized and would not compress fully,i now have a kink in the side wall where the door section joins the metal framed pvc section,hopefully when i replace the rivets that have popped out i can pull it back.

Guess the moral is keep your eyes on the struts and the places they will create pressure and dont rely on the fitter to asses the implications

mike

I've seen a few Dandy's now that have had gas strut problems, the first being a newer Destiny I'm not sure that it is worth putting them on our Dandy as it's not one of the larger Dandy's and there are two people to erect it or one and a bit of help from me . Out of all of the Dandy's I have seen over the past couple of years only 2 hadn't had any problems so that's less than a quater Gas struts last for years on cars so I wonder why .......

I'm the one who's strut seized and broke the hinge and I must say the only reason i got the struts fitted is i'm on my own and didn't want to warp or twist the beds when putting my dandy up.


Riva have been great and are sending another strut no questions asked but I agree with Helen that if i had someone helping me I wouldn't have them fitted.

it's right that struts fitted to cars last years with no probs (my car is 12 years old and the boot is used almost daily with no probs, so you have to wonder what it is about the dandy struts that causes the problems

also check your hinges every time you put the dandy up or down as the rod works its way out sneakily lol

I'm pleased your getting it sorted Eilis .First was a friends Destiny and since then I have seen quite a few with one strut missing then the problem with yours at Trentfield and then Mike had a problem too. You also see them on ebay saying one strut is missing or damaged I don't mind if a strut goes without causing any further damage but they can cause other problems and that's the reason that I am wary about them now. We had considered having them put on ours but I am now reluctant.

Had someone look at my strut today and they think its ok i have some stainless steel rivets and a lazy tongue riveter so will repair the hinge/wall and check to see if the problem was started by the strut exerting normal pressure and snapping the rivets over a period of time so allowing the wall to be pushed out.

The struts that I fitted snapped the rivets on one side, now fitted s/s rivets should solve problem, did riva replace the rivets when fitting the struts? looks like they did not, the price they charge they should have.

John wrote:The struts that I fitted snapped the rivets on one side, now fitted s/s rivets should solve problem, did riva replace the rivets when fitting the struts? looks like they did not, the price they charge they should have.

Dont know about mine but did wonder if failing rivets with Eilis could have caused the strut to bend but as you say riva should have taken that into account.

mike wrote:

John wrote:The struts that I fitted snapped the rivets on one side, now fitted s/s rivets should solve problem, did riva replace the rivets when fitting the struts? looks like they did not, the price they charge they should have.

Dont know about mine but did wonder if failing rivets with Eilis could have caused the strut to bend but as you say riva should have taken that into account.

my strut wasn't bent mike it was seized but i don't think they changed the rivets and i agree that given the price they should

done some more investigating regarding my gas struts of my 6 and now think as it is the same on both sides as the struts are run through the storage box and it seems that something got jammed and stopped the strut closing and bent the thing[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]so now we have boxed in so the new struts will have free movement and not get trapped

mike wrote:i also had strut problems on my 6 the side wall one which is in the wardrobe had seized and would not compress fully

Lucie and I had exactly this issue earlier this year. Also, years ago, my parents bent a strut packing the Dandy away as a tin in the kitchen unit got in the way. Slowly but surly the struts are being taken off of our Dandy and not being replaced as they cause more problems than they solve IMHO.

Ben

Caz1960 wrote: done some more investigating regarding my gas struts of my 6 and now think as it is the same on both sides as the struts are run through the storage box and it seems that something got jammed and stopped the strut closing and bent the thing[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]so now we have boxed in so the new struts will have free movement and not get trapped

We don't have struts on Phoenix, but now we have the 6 we know what you have all been talking about. Boxing them in sound like a good idea.

Hi all.
I was thinking of having gas struts fitted to Desmond the Designer, but think after reading about the probs, will just help O/H put it up manually.

Having the new gas struts (Rover 25) fitted now have 4 what a difference allot easier on the arms and abc5575 they are good and not any probs really as long as they are maintained and have free movement ... there is another thread on putting gas struts on the beds.. as most us are not body builders it makes the wear and tear on the shoulders and elbows less

Thanks Caz. I do have probs with elbows, and O/H has probs with his neck, he would be able to fit them I think. I think that If we had a 6 now, we wouldn't give it a second thought, will see.
Seems like once you start spending money, you need more and more and more.

Caz1960 wrote:Having the new gas struts (Rover 25) fitted now have 4 what a difference allot easier on the arms and abc5575 they are good and not any probs really as long as they are maintained and have free movement ... there is another thread on putting gas struts on the beds.. as most us are not body builders it makes the wear and tear on the shoulders and elbows less

You didn't believe me it was a single hand erection did you

We decided against struts in the end, it doesn't take a minute to chuck the beds over and minimal effort from me because I simply help the other half who puts the muscle work into the lifting. He has had plenty of practice recently (birthday meet)and has built his muscles up so is now fit to do the lifting with very little help

mike wrote:

Caz1960 wrote:Having the new gas struts (Rover 25) fitted now have 4 what a difference allot easier on the arms and abc5575 they are good and not any probs really as long as they are maintained and have free movement ... there is another thread on putting gas struts on the beds.. as most us are not body builders it makes the wear and tear on the shoulders and elbows less

You didn't believe me it was a single hand erection did you

now I do

Having replaced 2 wall struts , the reason they had failed is they had been bent - only a little, but that was enough to damage the seals.

Care is needed to check that swing of wall struts is clear before packing and that nothing can move in transit - probably coause of the very bent ones pictured.

Bed struts are on the outside and thus vulnerable to knocks as they will hit first if you misjudge a gate post, whereas car tailgate struts are concealed when closed.

How do you know if the struts need replacing

Having been hit on the head by a falling bed base while doing a single handed fold yesterday I think that my bed end ones, (or at least the door side one) is/are u/s. While I have no problem lifting the bed, it's still a bit heavy to stop with your head I don't know what kind of struts are fitted, probably Rover 25 as they seem to be most popular, but I know that they were fitted by Rich in Stoke so maybe it will be best to contact him.

I thought that it would be nice to have gas struts, but now think that we would only have them if we get another 6.

Jake i just think that you are 'accident prone',lol. Hows ya foot now?

jake001 wrote:How do you know if the struts need replacing

Having been hit on the head by a falling bed base while doing a single handed fold yesterday I think that my bed end ones, (or at least the door side one) is/are u/s. While I have no problem lifting the bed, it's still a bit heavy to stop with your head I don't know what kind of struts are fitted, probably Rover 25 as they seem to be most popular, but I know that they were fitted by Rich in Stoke so maybe it will be best to contact him.

Jake

You don't need to know the details just Google "Gas Struts" or "Gas Springs" and the myriad of companies that you see will all know the sizes. ACE controls supplied them originally but charge a fortune. SGS, The Barnes Group, Struts Direct will all know what you want. They keep car idiot lists to stop prospective customers measuring and getting things wrong.

The only other factor other than price is that some gas struts are more tolerant of being stored at at low angles than others. If you measure or determine the angle that the strut will lie above horizontal. It may be that high that it's not a factor with any of the struts. As I said some are more tolerant than others. What is not a good idea is to fit them the way up Riva did with the strut to the top and receiver lowest. Ask any of the companies struts must be fitted receiver uppermost so that the small volume of oil contained can lubricate the seals.

If you're finding it difficult to fall asleep you can visit the long thread on gas struts. Most of the things you never wanted to know can be found there.

Kevin,
yes I have read the gas struts thread and know that you have done considerable research on the subject (as usual) I have had a quick check on the web and sgs look a good bet, they are only about twice the price of second-hand ones from breakers and come with a warranty.
Mine are fitted "body down" at the moment, I think, but I may change that when I replace them.
It started raining just as I finished putting the cover on and hasn't stopped yet but when it does I'll go out and investigate part numbers and lengths (last forecast I saw I might have to wait some time)

Foot OK, head sore

I have now ordered some replacement struts, checked the part no and they are rover 25, so all I need after they arrive is a reasonably calm day so that my willing assistant can hold the bed vertical as I replace them. Sandra has a frozen shoulder at the moment but I've told her that she will only need one arm to hold it

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They seem to be a reasonable price and they are only in Chester so I can go and beat them over the head with them if they're no good

Struts arrived by next post, they are Lesjofors (with a .. over the first o) a well known name in the "spring world" I believe. 2 minutes to pop off the old ones, while holding the bed in the vertical position , pop on the new ones 1/2 an inch(12.7 mm) too long.
Can I compress the strut by the required amount while holding on to the bed NO
Help arrived and with two hands struts were compressed by the requisite 1/2 inch and clicked in


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Note that this time the strut is fitted body up as recommended by the manufacturers. Only one was U/S but they were not the same manufacturer and had different body lengths although the overall length was the same Both are now replaced by matching units. It closes much more smoothly now and hopefully will not hit me on the head anymore

It looks so easy, I am very tempted to give it a go