I suspect that they could use some of you assistance with this.? Maybe you could make the drawings you talk about and send them to them.? I don't think they are a large enough business to have licensed professional engineers, etc. on their staff.? That is why we can share our individual discoveries with them for implementation.
In 2016 I dived into adding gas spring roof panel lift assistance.? David Hall, a licensed professional mechanical engineer in Australia had recently designed a very effective installation methodology.? He could have patented his design but instead published it on the Aussie A'van Club website.? I was able to contact him and he sent me his design.? Another engineer, Dave Michaels designed a gas spring system based on this very different and innovative design.?
Because there were now three methods for gas spring installation, I devised a method for comparing these three methods for functionality and safety (I am a licensed professional civil engineer).? It turned out the Dave's method (enhanced version of the new Australian design) was the ultimate and safest solution to the problem.? I then removed my initial gas spring system and replaced it with the Australian method.??
Now here is the part that relates to you.? Dave shared his method to Columbia Northwest and they began using this method in 2019 on some of their new releases.? Had Dave NOT chosen to take a gamble and use his trailer for the experimental implementation, I would presume that today there would not be a single trailer in the Americas with Dave's inward-slanted method.
One fellow who has a repair business once wrote to me in 2016 and said he was all through installing gas springs using the original Aliner method due to the very serious damage it was causing to the structural members of many Aliner trailers.? He said he was waiting for someone to come up with a better design he could use before he would install any more gas spring roof panel lift assistance systems.? Dave has since introduced that needed new design.? However, I don't believe that the fellow doing Aliner repairs has recognized the new system (he has some kind of issue preventing him from recognizing a fabulous technological leap forward).? He instead appears to have reverted to again installing gas springs using his personally-modified version of the original Aliner installation method (different length springs, slightly different placement, etc.).? This method still places serious bending stresses on the structural roof members and roof hinges when the roof panels are on the closed position.? Dave's method eliminates this serious and dangerous issue.
Maybe you too can help the factory with the next version of their manual.? It is always better to help others improve than to criticize their limitations.
You can find Dave's original article on this on the AOC website in the DIY section.? My article on how I followed Dave's and the original designer's lead is in the group files.
Brian Hovander