Do it Yourself: Re: [DIY] Lift Assist Hinges

30 October 2015

Re: [DIY] Lift Assist Hinges

The roof is 75lbs. It's depth (front to back) is about 40". The weight of the roof is uniform throughout.

The problem with the assist hinges that I've encountered are that they are designed (in terms of installing/mounting them) for a specific amount of space (generally a 3/4" back wall are what they are designed for....mine is 2-1/4") between the assist hinge and the regular hinge. Therefore if you want to install the hinges so that the lid/roof is at a 90 degree angle, then those requirements are needed. Lining things up so that the assist hinge actually meets the underside of the roof, if I installed the hinge the roof angle would have been at maybe 45-60 degrees. I did not end up installing it but was actually curious if it would have still opened and closed properly despite the assist hinge being installed NOT according to their specs.

The roof opens from the front. The initial thought was to find a device that would make it a very light operation to open and close. As time went on and I hadn't found anything even close to the strength I needed, I've settled to try to find something that will simply make things easier for them. I had wondered if a value of, let's say 200, would have any impact on a roof that requires 1500. And yes, there is actually bar in place to hold the roof up.

I think as someone (my apologies as I don't remember if it was you or another) mentioned, perhaps the gas springs/struts would be a better option versus the spring hinges. I'm going to assume that I wouldn't run into such strict installation placement guidelines and as was mentioned maybe it would require less strength since they generally get mounted more towards the center versus the hinges where they are mounted near the back.

...the problem is I have yet to find something readily available (and not hundreds of dollars) with any strength over 200 (or 300 when using a left, center and right hinge). I'm not really looking to build a device. Just hoping that there was something obvious that I had overlooked. I've tried the automotive store as well home stores and even searched online for RV type devices.

On Wed, Oct 28, 2015 at 6:40 AM, Bob Davis bob@wrobertdavis.com [DoIt_Yourself] <DoIt_Yourself@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

One other question - how will you open this, assuming you do it manually, where will the force be applied and how? Are you depending on the assist hinges to hold it open, or just to provide an assist to get to particular point before inserting a manual brace to hold it in place? This will make a huge difference in the torque needed for the hinges.

On Oct 28, 2015, at 6:27 AM, Bob Davis bob@wrobertdavis.com [DoIt_Yourself] <DoIt_Yourself@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

You said you need a value ranging from 1000 to 2000. I assume that is inch pounds. If you use two assist hinges placed 4.5 inches from the center of rotation, I derive that your mini roof weighs between 100 and 200 pounds. Is that correct? Is your mini-roof uniform thickness?