Maggiolina RTT won't open, Help!!!

[kdkrae]

Hello everyone,

I recently acquired a very neglected maggiolina from a friend. The only problem is that it wont open.

For starters the crank is long gone and one of tabs where the crank would fit in is broken. Most importantly, I believe the whole mechanism might be rusted together, though i'm not totally sure how the actual mechanism works.

Any ideas would really be appreciated.

 

[Corey]

G'day, I have the same tent.
Not any help I can offer, but you came to the right place.
The two owners of AutohomeUS are members here, and another guy who posts here gets about 200 nights a year in his Maggiolina.

I am sure they can help.

 

[daniel ruops]

car top tent-solution to not opening

An easy solution to your problem would be to buy the cartop tent that I am selling!!!!!!!!!!! It is listed in the"vehicles for sale" section. You will be pleased to know that 2 hand cranks are included.

 

[Martyn]

It's a scissor mechanism that opens the tent.

Talk to MikeS from Autohome, he will set you on a path to recovery

Call him 1-888-852-2359

 

[kdkrae]

Thanks for your responses. I wish I could just buy another one, but that's not really in the budget right now. I've only got to use it a couple of times when my friend had it on his truck but it worked really well and I'm excited to see if I can get it to work again.

Later

 

[mcunningham25]

Why RTT?

G'day, I have the same tent.
Not any help I can offer, but you came to the right place.
The two owners of AutohomeUS are members here, and another guy who posts here gets about 200 nights a year in his Maggiolina.

I am sure they can help.

If the sissor mech. is rusted try the old trick of putting break fluid on it over night. Break fluid is one of the best pen. oils I have ever found. I have looked and looked at all the options and found that the guys at autohome and adventure trailers really have it together. I really like the techni top too though. I have a cabela's tent cot and use it both up and down. I like the fact that it does not take up too much space in the rack and weight is great. I can leave it behind at camp and go explore. It has been a great unit, so what are the advantages of an RTT? I like the idea but cant justify the cost. Im glad I found a thread that I can talk with some guys that are experianced with this. Thank you so much in advance for any of the input!

 

[Corey]

If the sissor mech. is rusted try the old trick of putting break fluid on it over night. Break fluid is one of the best pen. oils I have ever found. I have looked and looked at all the options and found that the guys at autohome and adventure trailers really have it together. I really like the techni top too though. I have a cabela's tent cot and use it both up and down. I like the fact that it does not take up too much space in the rack and weight is great. I can leave it behind at camp and go explore. It has been a great unit, so what are the advantages of an RTT? I like the idea but cant justify the cost. Im glad I found a thread that I can talk with some guys that are experianced with this. Thank you so much in advance for any of the input!

There are numerous threads in the camping section of the advantage to a roof top tent.
Some tents are designed better than others too, especially for cold/wet/windy weather camping.

 

[kdkrae]

Good call on the brake fluid MC, thanks.
I feel the advantage of a RTT is the storage I still retain in the bed of the pu. I don't like sleeping on a platform in the back, it feels more like a coffin than the RTT to me. On the other hand it does make your rig more top heavy, but I'm not a gnarly offroader yet. Soon.

Thanks again for your guys input. I'll pour some brake fluid in there later and I have some drastic ideas on how to maybe get it open, i'll let ya know.

 

[Lemsteraak]

We were doing some work for AM General and they wanted to put the Maggiolina's fiberglass through a flammability test and asked us to cut up an old tent so they could test it. Couldn't do it, there are no Maggiolinas that have ever been junked to my knowledge. We even brought one back that was shortened by about six inches. Had one drop about ten feet of a storage building and took about $400 to repair. Pretty simple piece of kit.

Sounds like the end of the jack screw that opens the tent is damaged. If you get a crank, you should be able to repair the end so that you can fit the crank and get it to open without too much trouble. If worse comes to worse, I know Mike @ AutoHome has a replacement jack screw. I was storing it for him for years, no one ever broke a lift mechanism.

Rich

 

[mcunningham25]

Break Fluid Trick

Dont use too much. A little bit goes along way. You dont want to ruin your tent walls. Good luck though. If that does not work then post some pics and maybe be more help. Try also to get it open enough to get inside and give a small amount of help while cranking on it.

 

[HMR]

For starters the crank is long gone and one of tabs where the crank would fit in is broken.

You can fashion a makeshift crank in 5 minutes with a socket and a piece of aluminum. Here's a field repair I did after losing my crank handle on a trip (aluminum cut to fit inside socket):

If the slotted part of the jackscrew (where the handle inserts) is completely broken, I have NO idea how you'll get the top to lift.

 

[kdkrae]

Good thinking HMR on to the missing crank problem. Unfortunately the slotted portion of the jackscrew is broken (one tab is busted off) I can and did pound a smaller sized socket onto it today though and also poured a little brake fluid into the mechanism. Right now it's not set up onto a vehicle and I cannot just lift on the lid and get it to raise anymore than 1 inch.
Tomorrow I'm going to put on my truck and have a friend over to help me a bit.
I'm thinking right now to use a couple of bottle jacks with some 2x4's to "assist" while another tries to crank with the socket setup. We'll see what happens and I'll take some pics and post em up tomorrow night.

Thanks again everybody for all your responses, it's really motivating and welcoming. Y'all have a great forum here and I look forward to participating.

Cheers

Kent

 

[Lemsteraak]

Kent,

Sounds like you have things well in hand. Inside there is a chain that runs front to back so both screw jacks turn. On the early Maggiolinas the chain mechanism was on the passenger side and covered with a protective box. Sometimes junk gets lodged into this and will not allow the chain to run free. Frenchie had this problem and just forced the crank which broke the system free. I think he broke the chain, he was able to repair easily but then he is very resourceful. The later tents have the chain mechanism swapped to the drivers side and is much better protected.

One modification you may want to make if yours is an earlier tent with the chain on the passenger side is to take out the chain protector. Really early ones were made of wood, later ones were metal. I would substitute a length of plastic raingutter and it goes all the way around and protects the mechanism a little better.

A friend would remind me when I was working on a project like this to "be kind to the next owner".

Rich

 

[kdkrae]

Hey everyone,

Didn't take any pics today, but the socket forced onto the remaining tab with a wrench and someone pushing up on the back on the lid was the ticket.

There was a screwdriver and a couple of other things in the protective box in each the chain side and back with rear sissor mech. Also the front window flap was unzipped and maybe caught up in the front sissor.

This magg. was my friends stored out in his field with no sort of cover and when open no sign of mold or rot on the canvass, the jack screw and sissor mechs. both showed no sign of rust and infact still looked to be somewhat lubed. Pretty happy with this deal, I ended up getting it for free cause he thought it was junked. That's also a testament to quality of construction in my mind, it sat out there for a number of years.

So thanks again

Kent

 

[Corey]

You can not beat free

I can swear to the sealing properties of these.
My tent sits outside 24/7 on my rig and we had a very harsh winter last year with snow/ice, and the rain that is famous for WA. state.

When I opened it up in the spring to fluff the down comforter and wash the flannel sheets, all was dry, no smell, and no dust inside.