# I Fixed The Roof On The Loft.



## rdrunr (Oct 23, 2009)

Last winter, the Adirondacks of northern NY state, where we live, had record snow fall. Our 2009 "Loft" was left out in the cold and at times had probably 3' of snow on top of it. My wife kept asking me is we should wade through the deep snow and shovel it off. I thought that might be a good idea but we just never got around to it. By the end if the winter, from the road, it looked like the loft roof had a bit of a sag in it. When we could finally get to the camper in late winter, we did have some roof damage. The center, aluminum support beam had a real kink in it, right above where the TV hangs from the ceiling. We had no leaks but we did have a low hanging ceiling in that area. We used the camper that way all summer and I was thinking about how I could fix this problem but I didn't want the camper to be torn apart for ANY part of our very short summers up here. Our last camping trip is always Columbus Day Weekend so this past Friday I started taking it apart, I straightened the beam and added a stronger one right next to it and some hardwood blocks on the ends to keep everything in place. I personally think that it's better than new! I will try to upload a pic of my handy work. I just hope that the wimpy pop up mechanism can handle the extra weight!


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## outback loft (Sep 22, 2008)

I had a good deal of snow on the roof of mine too. I had no issues but I did have the heat running all winter after the first snow. I set it at about 50 degrees and I think that is what kept me safe from any damage. I had wondered about the snow weight on the loft roof, and I guess you have answered my question on that. I am usually out with the OB once a month in the winter so that keeps the snow on the roof to a minimum. We usually have light snow, but the past 2 years have been bad for snow here. I still had an 8' tall mound of snow at the top of my driveway the end of March.


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## rdrunr (Oct 23, 2009)

outback loft said:


> I had a good deal of snow on the roof of mine too. I had no issues but I did have the heat running all winter after the first snow. I set it at about 50 degrees and I think that is what kept me safe from any damage. I had wondered about the snow weight on the loft roof, and I guess you have answered my question on that. I am usually out with the OB once a month in the winter so that keeps the snow on the roof to a minimum. We usually have light snow, but the past 2 years have been bad for snow here. I still had an 8' tall mound of snow at the top of my driveway the end of March.


Hey there Outback Loft!
I was wondering...do you think the added weight of that 112" of steel will be a problem on our wimpy, loft raising system? You could easily add some blocks under that center "beam" to keep it from sagging under the weight of snow. Maybe you have beefed up your pop up system?


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## outback loft (Sep 22, 2008)

rdrunr said:


> I had a good deal of snow on the roof of mine too. I had no issues but I did have the heat running all winter after the first snow. I set it at about 50 degrees and I think that is what kept me safe from any damage. I had wondered about the snow weight on the loft roof, and I guess you have answered my question on that. I am usually out with the OB once a month in the winter so that keeps the snow on the roof to a minimum. We usually have light snow, but the past 2 years have been bad for snow here. I still had an 8' tall mound of snow at the top of my driveway the end of March.


Hey there Outback Loft!
I was wondering...do you think the added weight of that 112" of steel will be a problem on our wimpy, loft raising system? You could easily add some blocks under that center "beam" to keep it from sagging under the weight of snow. Maybe you have beefed up your pop up system?
[/quote]

I am not sure on that one. I know when I have a full charge the hoisting system seems plenty powerful. But when I am anything below 12 volts, the hoist sounds rather weak. I do however need to lube the corner posts and that should help. I did not do anything to my hoist system other than fix one of the pulleys that broke when the cable jammed under it.


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## rdrunr (Oct 23, 2009)

outback loft said:


> I had a good deal of snow on the roof of mine too. I had no issues but I did have the heat running all winter after the first snow. I set it at about 50 degrees and I think that is what kept me safe from any damage. I had wondered about the snow weight on the loft roof, and I guess you have answered my question on that. I am usually out with the OB once a month in the winter so that keeps the snow on the roof to a minimum. We usually have light snow, but the past 2 years have been bad for snow here. I still had an 8' tall mound of snow at the top of my driveway the end of March.


Hey there Outback Loft!
I was wondering...do you think the added weight of that 112" of steel will be a problem on our wimpy, loft raising system? You could easily add some blocks under that center "beam" to keep it from sagging under the weight of snow. Maybe you have beefed up your pop up system?
[/quote]

I am not sure on that one. I know when I have a full charge the hoisting system seems plenty powerful. But when I am anything below 12 volts, the hoist sounds rather weak. I do however need to lube the corner posts and that should help. I did not do anything to my hoist system other than fix one of the pulleys that broke when the cable jammed under it.
[/quote]
I've never lubed mine, what do you use?


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## rdrunr (Oct 23, 2009)

outback loft said:


> I had a good deal of snow on the roof of mine too. I had no issues but I did have the heat running all winter after the first snow. I set it at about 50 degrees and I think that is what kept me safe from any damage. I had wondered about the snow weight on the loft roof, and I guess you have answered my question on that. I am usually out with the OB once a month in the winter so that keeps the snow on the roof to a minimum. We usually have light snow, but the past 2 years have been bad for snow here. I still had an 8' tall mound of snow at the top of my driveway the end of March.


Hey there Outback Loft!
I was wondering...do you think the added weight of that 112" of steel will be a problem on our wimpy, loft raising system? You could easily add some blocks under that center "beam" to keep it from sagging under the weight of snow. Maybe you have beefed up your pop up system?
[/quote]

I am not sure on that one. I know when I have a full charge the hoisting system seems plenty powerful. But when I am anything below 12 volts, the hoist sounds rather weak. I do however need to lube the corner posts and that should help. I did not do anything to my hoist system other than fix one of the pulleys that broke when the cable jammed under it.
[/quote]
When I say the whole system seems whimpy, what I guess I'm referring to would be the telescopic post that raise the roof. In mine, they seem to lean alot and just don't seem all that stable. They seem like they could easily bend if the whole thing leaned too much or in a high wind. We used to have a couple of different pop ups and the supports just seemed alot stronger!


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## Starbuc71 (Jan 5, 2009)

rdrunr said:


> I had a good deal of snow on the roof of mine too. I had no issues but I did have the heat running all winter after the first snow. I set it at about 50 degrees and I think that is what kept me safe from any damage. I had wondered about the snow weight on the loft roof, and I guess you have answered my question on that. I am usually out with the OB once a month in the winter so that keeps the snow on the roof to a minimum. We usually have light snow, but the past 2 years have been bad for snow here. I still had an 8' tall mound of snow at the top of my driveway the end of March.


Hey there Outback Loft!
I was wondering...do you think the added weight of that 112" of steel will be a problem on our wimpy, loft raising system? You could easily add some blocks under that center "beam" to keep it from sagging under the weight of snow. Maybe you have beefed up your pop up system?
[/quote]

I am not sure on that one. I know when I have a full charge the hoisting system seems plenty powerful. But when I am anything below 12 volts, the hoist sounds rather weak. I do however need to lube the corner posts and that should help. I did not do anything to my hoist system other than fix one of the pulleys that broke when the cable jammed under it.
[/quote]
When I say the whole system seems whimpy, what I guess I'm referring to would be the telescopic post that raise the roof. In mine, they seem to lean alot and just don't seem all that stable. They seem like they could easily bend if the whole thing leaned too much or in a high wind. We used to have a couple of different pop ups and the supports just seemed alot stronger!
[/quote]

The support system for the loft was huge reason I wanted to get rid of the unit. I always thought it would be a nightmare if one of those bent or broke along with the cables. As I have always stated, if keystone put somemore R&D into that unit, it would probably still be manufactured today


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## UpNorthExpress (Apr 16, 2021)

Hello Outbackers with lofts!

My name is Pete, I'm new to the forum and new to RV/ hauling campers in general. I do have a fair bit of backcountry and remote travel experience as a photographer and expedition guide for National Geographic. Just as COVID hit, we purchased a 1985 Chevy Rockwood RV 27 ft long, to use to safely get our newborn son to see his grandparents across the country. The RV is in incredible shape. One owner before us, they kept it in a barn in the bad midwestern months so its never seen snow or salt from the roads.

recently I was looking at other RV's and discovered the Outback with the loft on top. Its brilliant and reminds me of camping on top of my Land Rovers in Africa, but with a higher line of sight and probably more comfortable! That wild idea got me thinking.... I'd like to create a pop top area on our RV, similar to the Outback Loft.

I have fabrication skills and the space available to jump into this crazy project but wanted to gather more ideas and info to see if its even realistic. Searching the internet there are only so many photos or videos of the loft area that I've seen. Could any of you perhaps send photos or videos of your space, and answer what you like about it? How the actuators or motors work, are they cables? or hydraulic posts?

In our-case we have a rear double bunk room a closet with heavy cabinets, and then a fairly big bathroom that I could gut and create a sort of reinforced 8020 aluminum "cage" to distribute and support the weight up top, through the frame, walls and a beam across the roof.

Crazy idea? Just buy an Outback? Any photos, wisdom, or ideas would be helpful!

Thanks for your time and happy camping!

Best

Peter

www.peterrichardsphotography.com


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