Box Tent maintenance?

[Oncorclarki]

Hi gang, new member here. Joined the forum because I recently bought a used Box Tent (here in British Columbia) to be parked along cutthroat streams in the Rockies.
The Box Tents were built here in BC until 2000 so this unit is well used. The manufacturer is long defunct and I'm not able to find any manuals for the unit.

My question is about maintenance, particularly of the crank mechanism. I have nightmares of the crank failing while the lid is partially or fully lifted and I'm out in the bush....

Apart from keeping the crank well lubed, I wonder if members have any experience with maintenance of these units, particularly the crank mechanism.

Thanks!

The unit is identical to the one in this thread: https://forum.expeditionportal.com/threads/the-original-box-tent-sold.243801/

And here it is on my truck

 

[STREGA]

Hi gang, new member here. Joined the forum because I recently bought a used Box Tent (here in British Columbia) to be parked along cutthroat streams in the Rockies.
The Box Tents were built here in BC until 2000 so this unit is well used. The manufacturer is long defunct and I'm not able to find any manuals for the unit.

My question is about maintenance, particularly of the crank mechanism. I have nightmares of the crank failing while the lid is partially or fully lifted and I'm out in the bush....

Apart from keeping the crank well lubed, I wonder if members have any experience with maintenance of these units, particularly the crank mechanism.

Thanks!

The unit is identical to the one in this thread: https://forum.expeditionportal.com/threads/the-original-box-tent-sold.243801/

And here it is on my truck
View attachment 873211

I had a Box Tent about 20 years ago. Bought it from the US rep it was his demo unit and he never camped in it just pop it up and down to show it to RV dealers. Can’t remember now what I paid for it but it came with extra set of canvas. Ended up mounting it on a 4x8 utility trailer and eventually sold it to my brother, I think his son has it now. They were pretty well built and not a lot of maintenance really needed. The crank system is the same most tent trailers of the era they were built used so finding parts for it shouldn’t be a problem. I made the mistake of not leaving a little bit of tension on the cable when it was in the stowed position and the cable came off a pulley. The good news was that access to the cables and pulley’s was easy to reach and fix, just leave some tension on the cable just like you would a winch and it all good. Nothing fancy about them but super simple and fun, happy fishing 🎣