Hi Dave,
? ?First, I would like to say that I had been taking pictures at three annual Chalet Camping group rallies of how the Chalet Factory was installing side wall gas spring lift assistance on new and older (a retrofit) Chalet trailers.? The first time I saw this the Chalet.Inc factory owner (a mechanical engineer) was at the same time reviewing one at the rally (show and tell event) and someone also touring this Chalet trailer commented that the 60-pound x 20" springs on the street side wall were installed upside down (see photo below).? The workers at the (now-closed) factory apparently didn't know up from down.? At the third annual rally I took pictures of an entry wall 100-pound x 20" gas spring that was retrofit installed on an older Chalet to aid the elderly lady in raising the curbside wall.? I did not like the way they were installing these because the acquired torque was not optimum and the forces were WAY to high (and considered dangerous).
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Shortly after taking pictures of the retrofit (right after leaving the rally) I reached the coast and once again a side wall blew inward with great force when raising the roof and side walls at a grocery store in a blustery wind area.? I had experienced the other wall blowing in shortly after leaving that annual rally a year earlier at a grocery store and that blow-in caused serious issues.? I later added an aluminum channel to the rear side of both walls to fix the first blow in and beef up the entry wall at the same time.
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So, the second blow in (wire wind kits securely holding the roof panels together) did minimal damage and fortunately in both cases I was NOT under the collapsing walls.? ?Someone else reported on a forum that she/he was not so lucky and had damage to the shoulder.
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I then decided that I would add a gas spring to the entry wall to primarily act as a safety measure should wall collapse ever occur again.? It would dampen the rate of collapse.? I consulted with David Hall of Australia who had experience and training with gas springs, and he recommended not adding more than 50% lift assistance to the side walls so they stay down when traveling.? I had an excess 26" x 30 lb. gas spring from my initial gas spring installation.? I removed it after doing an engineering comparative analysis of your gas spring roof panel system and realizing it was FAR superior to my initial installation.
The net result with far better gas spring placement than observed on Chalet trailers was that I achieved 45% lift assistance with a significantly lower force gas spring.? With time someone posted the consequences of the Chalet method -- the side wall ultimately experienced serious adverse consequences.? Also some posts showed various other issues with their installation method.
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I should create an album on another forum for such things showing all the pictures I have captured.? The big problem with the Chalet installation is that they put a tremendous force on the side walls when they are in the lowered position thereby causing serious structural problems on some Chalet AFTs.
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I used bolts and carefully place the spring to get the best possible lever arm effect.? I liked the idea of gas spring side wall lift assistance (if safely installed) but not the way that the factory was making the install.
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I will add some pictures with better clarity of your interests.? I can't find the pictures of hinges ripped off, etc. for the Chalet trailers at present.
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Brian Hovander