DonCurley wrote: The design and fabrication quality of the HECO crank handle has always been pretty poor IMO. Many folks have broken their crank handles, and I have also gone through three of them since getting my Outfitter Apex 8 in 2007. It's HECO's position that some pop-up TC manufacturer's have too heavy of a roof for the original design limitations of their rack & pinion lift mechanism (especially when one adds an A/C unit, solar panels, storage units, and the like to the overall weight of the roof). I don't know whether that is the case or not, but the crank handles are often not up to the task over multiple uses (which is why I always carry a spare).
Over on the Outfitter Owners Group forum, I previously suggested cutting-off the gear head and securely mounting it in a beefier handle that would additionally have a bearing in the grip portion of the handle. One of the other members got a Harken winch handle for sailboats and did just that. Here is a pic of the before & after results of his effort:
I have also obtained a Harken winch handle and will be doing the same shortly (although my Harken is a fixed length winch handle without the telescoping handle as shown above). I will carefully drill out the business end of the Harken winch handle and will then insert & double pin the cut-off gear head portion from a new HECO crank handle.
Any idea how one could make a cordless-drill attachment? It would be sweet to use an 18V drill on low-speed/high-torque setting and raise it up and down effortlessly.
This is interesting... I commented that I thought the OP's handle was perhaps homemade, but by judging from the replies that this is stock... and maybe mine when I had the old pop-up was in fact a handmade version!
I never thought of modifying one's crank, but that must have been mine... never thought to take a photo of it either as I thought mine was the norm.
It had much smoother mandrel bends, it was longer which allowed a very easy method of cranking rotation and it had a sleeve over the hand portion. There was a roll pin and washer at the bend and a threaded bolt holding another washer at the end of the hand part to hold the sleeve on.
2005 Dodge 3500 SRW, Qcab long bed, NV-6500, diesel, 4WD, Helwig, 9000XL,
Nitto 285/70/17 Terra Grapplers, Honda eu3000Is, custom overload spring perch spacers.
2008 NorthStar Arrow short bed.
JaredWPhillips wrote: Any idea how one could make a cordless-drill attachment? It would be sweet to use an 18V drill on low-speed/high-torque setting and raise it up and down effortlessly.
To each his own, but I personally wouldn't want to go the route of a cordless drill/driver. I may be old fashioned in this regard, but I want to "feel" the manual rack & pinion system working as I raise the roof. I have twice had an issue that I was able to sense (due to the increased resistance in my hands) that allowed me to stop, clear the problem, and then try again without any consequences. With a cordless drill/driver on the low-speed/high-torque setting, you might just power on right by the issue and potentially end up with a stripped or otherwise damaged rack & pinion system that would be expensive & difficult to replace.
Despite my potential concern above, if you want to do this, it would be simple enough. Just cut the gear head off the HECO crank with enough excess and firmly chuck it up in the drill/driver.
Odds are that you'd strip something right at the beginning with a power lift. I know my roof needs a little boost to get it the first inch or so. Once the mechanism has leverage it cranks up effortlessly.
2002 Chevy 3500 DRW 8.1L/Allison
2000 Palomino B1500
...and the reason why I need a DRW to haul a Palomino:
2004 United 7x14 tandem axle enclosed toy trailer
2011 PJ 8x20 7-ton deckover equipment trailer
Ben, next time that happens just back a jeep up to the rear door and hook a chain to that crank handle...just kidding, sorta. Mine has been stuck before too.
2007 F-350 SRW 6.0L CC SB 4X4
2006 Outfitter Apex 8, 220W Solar and 3 AGM's
2008 Jeep Rubicon
mkirsch wrote: Odds are that you'd strip something right at the beginning with a power lift. I know my roof needs a little boost to get it the first inch or so. Once the mechanism has leverage it cranks up effortlessly.
Good point. I'd never thought of it that way, but I guess my shoulder against the top probably was an extra 'help' up. My first one was manual, lift one side then the other. I remember wondering when I bought the Viking, how long those gears would last. But they still worked when I sold it (the truck just kinda gave up).
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