Viking roof gas struts

[ROBRIOS]

Hi fellow viking owners

can somone recommend a supplier for the 3 gas struts ?

mine has the center strut but has a large pin to lock it in place once erected.

Cheers guys

[CJH]

SGS in Derby sorted me out. I wrote about my experiences in this thread. The load ratings that I finally settled on are in this post. But my Viking roof doesn't have the central strut, just a pair at the front and a pair at the back. On yours, are there two struts in the middle, like there are at each end? If yes, then I suggest you take my final load ratings, multiply by two and divide by three to get ratings that will work in your case. If the centre position only has one of the two struts, then only do that calculation for the strut that you'll have three of - if you get my drift.

[ROBRIOS]

Cheers
mine has a single strut front and back both have a locking bar that holds the roof up once erected. The centre strut slides in a chanel.
I have had the van 4 years and the struts have never worked. I just lift the roof weight lifter style and lock the center strut with the lock pin then up top to lock the other 2 struts.
when you unlock the struts it drops straight down.
do you have to pull the roof down on yours with the external strap ?
will have a look at the struts and contact the supplier

cheers again

Rob

[CJH]

Yes, those struts take all the weight of the roof and more. To open it I just have to undo the catches and give it a bit of a shove, then the struts do the rest. To close it down again I have a strap connected to the hook in the middle of the roof, and it needs a good strong pull to overcome the struts.

So if you only have the 'upright' struts at the ends, and the 'sliding' strut in the middle, then it sounds like they changed the design later to split the work of that centre sliding strut into two - one at each end. Obviously you'd need double the rating of my sliding struts to get the same lift from one. Mine are rated at 300N, so maybe a 600N single strut will work in your case. Be warned though, a 600N strut is very difficult to compress. I know it would only be the same total load as I have, but it would all be through a single mount, so make sure your mounts are in good order.

Since you have the same number of upright struts as me, I'd say go with 400N for those.

Mine originally had the strap on the outside - threaded between the canvas and the roof above the sliding door I think. The centre hook is closer to the line of the strut tops, so pulling the centre hook against the load of the struts doesn't put the hinges in tension. I moved it because I had a strut jam open on me last year, such that when I pulled the old outside strap it pulled a couple of hinges out of the roof.