James Baroud lifting arm adjustment

[Ovrlnd Rd]

Is there any way to adjust the stiffness in the lifting arms on a JB Evo? My last one (which my wife drove into a low parking garage) could be closed with one hand. I bought a used replacement which is an older model and I can't close it by myself at all. I even stood on the bedrail of my pickup and tried to push it down and still need another person on the other side doing the same. And it has the same issue on both ends. It does pop up amazingly fast but I'm more concerned about being able to solo camp without using a ratchet strap to get the tent closed.

 

[Ace Brown]

Maybe disconnect one side and see if it works without getting too hinky. Possibly use the other lift just as a prop when opened.


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[Ovrlnd Rd]

So I tried disconnecting one of the gas shocks and all that did was droop the corner where I took it off. Since it was loose I took measurements and have ordered a replacement shock from McMaster-Carr in a lower strength to see if that helps. The ones that are on it now are marked 450N (meaning 450 Newtons) which is equivalent to about 102 pounds of force. Since that's ridiculously difficult to collapse I'm going with a 70lb test shock. If that seems to expand and hold the top sufficiently I'll order 3 more and just change them all out.

 

[concretejungle]

I have one of the original models and it is extremely difficult to close. I believe I asked OK4wd (who I purchased it from) about swapping out the struts and I "think" they said they aren't interchangeable. I sure wish they were!

Several times if it's wet or icy, I've sliced my finger on the latch trying to close it.

 

[Ovrlnd Rd]

So I was able to swap out the lifting struts. The original JB struts are approximately 100lb struts. I switched them for 70lb replacements from McMaster-Carr and they work great. Much easier to collapse. They don’t come down quite as straight as the originals so I have manhandle it a little to line up completely but that’s much easier than needing several friends to close it. I also split the seams on the arm covers to to make it easier to work with and I’ll have them fixed with Velcro.

 

[concretejungle]

sweet, I'm going to look at that! Do you have a part number for the strut?

 

[Ovrlnd Rd]

Click this and it should take you right to the correct page and strut 9416K12 should be the part number.

Gas Spring
22.36" Extended Length, 70 lbs. Force

 

[harryx46]

Thank you for this info. I acquired a JB tent (2016 model) that is extremely hard to close. I'll check out these struts instead. Thanks again!!

 

[Grendel Kahn]

When we bought ours last year we were debating between the Evasion XXL and the Grand Raid XXL. The dealer told us one of his biggest issues with the Grand Raid was the struts and how hard it was to close. They put beefier struts to compensate for when there is a load in the rack. Since we probably wouldn't be using the rack we went with the Evasion. So there is softer struts available

 

[Ovrlnd Rd]

So now that I have the tent to the point where it's easier to close I've decided to sell it. After several nights of climbing down to use the bathroom in pitch darkness I think we've decided to look for a different sleeping arrangement. If you're looking for a used JB check out the Classifieds.

TX - Used James Baroud Evasion Evo | Expedition Portal