The ratchet portion of my lift system malfunctioned (not clicking at all) at the beginning of one trip for our first popup (Fleetwood Yuma).  For that trip, I just left the handle in and used several bungees to secure the roof up. 

When I got back, I pulled the cover to that part of the lift system and found that the pawl had slipped under the gear so it was now on the wrong side due to the bolt to the pawl being too loose.  I got the pawl back in place, tightened up the bolt and then there was no way for it to slip around the gear again.

I could have easily fixed this at the camp site if it weren't for the fact that I didn't have a drill to drill out the rivets to the cover I needed to access.

AS seaming how people are getting ready to going out camping .....

Make sure your lift system is ready for the season!

Before you open it - (chock your wheels first/level it - you can attach to the TV like me to make sure) Inspect the mechanism - if you see uneven ware in cables - take it to a dealer or be prepared to replace/fix it ASAP.

Clean out dust dirt and/or Grease anything that is a roller pully or screw. (check Your owners manual)

Lift up part ways - inspect again. Lift to just about max - check to see if all is even - adjust as needed.  Crank to full height.  Inspect all cables and lift system for excess ware on any parts.

My trailer is over 30 years old and only had issues with the sheer pins in the acme screw/Wiffletree that broke.

New member here and a bit of a pro with the jayco lift system now, anybody has problems with one contact if you like !

Yes, I could use some help. We can't raise the roof by hand. The cable broke because I failed to undo one of the 4 clamps, and DH kept cranking. Pop. 3 corners down. We can't lift it. We were setting up at a local campground, bunch of stuff packed inside that we can't get to. How did you lift the roof to make repairs?

My Rockwood uses long springs to lift the top, Goshen lift spring system. One of the springs collapsed while the camper was set-up in the driveway. Good thing the safety bars were in place. Was not a difficult repair for the home mechanic.

[quote author=mdbaird76 link=topic=1064.msg17853#msg17853 date=1351424910]
Two years ago while camping up at Pocono, the roof made it about three feet up and the cable snapped. It blew out all the canvas from the air pressure and made one heck of a noise. The cable broke about a feet from the wench, so we raised the roof by hand, placed the level blocks under it, reattached the cable to the wench and had a good weekend of camping. When it was time to leave, we did the same process in reverse to get the roof down the last foot or so. I had all the cables replaced when i returned home. The best thing about the trip was all the other campers came to make sure we were OK, then everyone helped us get the roof back up so we could still camp.

If our roof had collapsed at the Ga Fall Rally, I have no doubt that our fellow PUPers would have come immediately to our rescue. We roll with a great group!
But as it were, the campground we were at only had two other occupants at the time, and both were in very large motorhomes. They took no interest whatsoever in our plight. ::)