Pop roof in bad weather

L

laurao

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Location
Peak District
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Looking to buy
Silly question alert but I’ve seen people say about putting the roof down in bad weather... why is this? The bellows could get damaged/dislodged (I hope not), water could come in (I hope not), van blows over (I hope not!)...

We’re a family so won’t have the option of putting the roof down (don’t have the van yet). And we’re getting a van to allow us a more comfortable experience (than canvas camping) out of season when the weather isn’t great. So if I have to put the roof down all the time it’s not going to be very useful!!

Oh. And similarly with the awning.. I can see maybe putting it in if it’s extremely windy so it doesn’t wrap around the van. But hoping it can be out in reasonable rain so we can shelter under it to get in the van?
 
Hello Laurao,

There is bad weather and yes there is --- bad weather.

We had a few nights with quite strong winds and many nights with lots of rain. So far we had no problems leaving the roof up. Last year I can remember a night in Mayo I thought the wind is so strong we might need to bring the roof down, but decided to leave it up. It seems that the canvas is quite resilient and keeps the rain out.

Have I said that, if there is really bad weather then we will decide to lower the roof. Can I say how strong the wind has to be - no. It is a judgement call.

The awning is quite good to protect against rain. We equally used the awning for shade as for shelter against rain. In opposite to the roof I am a wee bit more concerned with the awing and wind. I got special holders from the forum shop to secure the awning against wind. But if it is really strong wind I prefer to put the awning in.

We / I had some nights in the camper which was windy, rainy and cold and, within reason, I felt quite well in the camper (certainly better than in a tent). Have I said all that, we are only two. So in the worst case we can put down the roof and sleep downstairs, switch on the heating and enjoy the special feeling and place in the California.

Happy California.
Eberhard
 
laurao said:
Silly question alert but I’ve seen people say about putting the roof down in bad weather... why is this? The bellows could get damaged/dislodged (I hope not), water could come in (I hope not), van blows over (I hope not!)...

We’re a family so won’t have the option of putting the roof down (don’t have the van yet). And we’re getting a van to allow us a more comfortable experience (than canvas camping) out of season when the weather isn’t great. So if I have to put the roof down all the time it’s not going to be very useful!!
Click to expand...
laurao said:
Oh. And similarly with the awning.. I can see maybe putting it in if it’s extremely windy so it doesn’t wrap around the van. But hoping it can be out in reasonable rain so we can shelter under it to get in the van?
Click to expand...
1. The awning can be used in significant weather provided it is well pegged down, at the legs, a tie-down kit is used and the awning then wound in to tension against the tie-down. If rain is expected then the legs should be set to different heights so the awning material is at an angle to prevent water pooling. Also the lower leg should be on the side the wind/rain is coming from.
As regards the roof. The rear of the vehicle should be facing into the wind.
40mph or higher winds could be problematic.
 
If in doubt about the weather then wind the awning in.

We've only had to put the roof down one time and that was when
a tornado passed through at 2 in the morning.
At a hot air balloon fest in France :)
 
In 8y and traveling thru 13 countries think i recall only a few times lowering the roof becose of the weater and it probally was not needed but i took no risk .

The awning is a other thing , that needs to be strapped correct or you'r end up in problems when it gets windy . Winding the awning in is always better imo. There have been some post here of people having thiere awning blown over .
A wind out awning is in fact a sun protector no more no less ....
 
What I have learned since getting my van just over a year ago, and from reading this forum, is that over time you collect a range of accessories from which you can choose and you pick your kit according to need.
When it is really dreadful weather, I take my air beam awning with drive away kit. it can attach to the van’s wind out awning with it wound in or would out, so keep it tight to the van and the tent bit is really well anchored to the ground .. it’s pretty heavy so sits very sturdily to the ground.
If the wind is really strong, I wouldn’t trust the van‘s wind out Awning all the way out, even with vigilent pegging .. and yes, you need a tie down kit (see Club shop). There are some horror stories on the forum from this year’s unusually windy weather and I don’t fancy dealing with that.
Re the pop top, find as sheltered a spot as you can and put the low bit into the wind as already suggested so that the wind can pass over the top. I have not had any issues with mine so far.
The first few times you go out, you’ll naturally be a bit nervous but you do soon get used to all the little tips you learn here on the forum and it will all come into good use along the way.
it’s all great fun and excellent for family adventures.
 
Thanks everyone! Some great tips, many thanks.

But still what is the risk with wind?! The van blowing over or the roof getting wrecked or is it just that it’s a bit scary and impossible to sleep? We’ve done some pretty dodgy weather in a tent, but there’s nothing really that can go that wrong in a tent... you get a little soggy...
 
The risk is that an unlucky wind can whip the wound out awning over the van, ripping the casing out of the brackets that hold it to the van itself.
A new awning is expensive and the damage to the van where the brackets go would also be an issue..
There was a thread on the forum a few weeks ago from someone who had this happen and accompanying photos. Unfortunately, I don’t think the thread mentioned wind.. it was titled something like bad luck, or disaster .. or such like .. so it might be hard to find now.
If there is a chance of wind gaining speed, most people wind their awnings in at night or if they leave the van for a period of time ... and always make sure you tie it down really well .. peg the feet, use a tie down kit. Sometimes, I retract it to a metre or so and then peg it down so that I get the rain protection a bit but reduce the risk of the wind catching.
 
If you try sleeping up top when the wind really gets up then I bet you'll end up downstairs again way before there is any risk of actual damage to the pop-top structure. In strong gusting winds the buffeting and noise can be pretty incompatible with sleeping. It's okay if you're looking for a JMW Turner "lash me to the mast"-type experience of course, but I'm personally not seeking that on a camping trip.

That said, we've only ever decided to sleep downstairs due to weather on two occasions that I remember. The only problem then if you change horses during the night is lowering the roof in fierce winds without a high risk of trapping the canvas in the scissors mechanism.
 
HB19 said:
The risk is that an unlucky wind can whip the wound out awning over the van, ripping the casing out of the brackets that hold it to the van itself.
A new awning is expensive and the damage to the van where the brackets go would also be an issue..
There was a thread on the forum a few weeks ago from someone who had this happen and accompanying photos. Unfortunately, I don’t think the thread mentioned wind.. it was titled something like bad luck, or disaster .. or such like .. so it might be hard to find now.
If there is a chance of wind gaining speed, most people wind their awnings in at night or if they leave the van for a period of time ... and always make sure you tie it down really well .. peg the feet, use a tie down kit. Sometimes, I retract it to a metre or so and then peg it down so that I get the rain protection a bit but reduce the risk of the wind catching.
Click to expand...
Thank you sorry I understood the awning point. Just the roof point I was still trying to understand as we won’t be able to put it down
 
Velma's Dad said:
If you try sleeping up top when the wind really gets up then I bet you'll end up downstairs again way before there is any risk of actual damage to the pop-top structure. In strong gusting winds the buffeting and noise can be pretty incompatible with sleeping. It's okay if you're looking for a JMW Turner "lash me to the mast"-type experience of course, but I'm personally not seeking that on a camping trip.

That said, we've only ever decided to sleep downstairs due to weather on two occasions that I remember. The only problem then if you change horses during the night is lowering the roof in fierce winds without a high risk of trapping the canvas in the scissors mechanism.
Click to expand...
Thank you! Good to know and good point about putting the roof down. We are a family so will struggle to all sleep downstairs but we will see how we get on and maybe come up with a plan if needed (maybe an emergency tent would be better)
 
@laurao , don't think in the existance of this forum someone ever mention that his roof damaged due a storm , it can take a lot , park it tail in the wind .
You say you camped in a tent in heavy weather and coped , yes but in a tent you have no choice than stay put .
In a Cali the safe option would be lowering the roof , even in the middle of the night .
You would not sleep anyway so , lowering the roof and spent some time with the four(?) of you downstaires until the storm settlles is the best option.
Don't worry to much in advance , the Cali is a great piece of kit , you'l survive ;)

And imo , using a roof cover can help as it covers the whole roof and the wind has less grip under the roof edges .
 
Last edited:
As @hotel california says when the wind is getting to a point where you are thinking it’s is too strong and stopping you sleep, get the roof down. Like a sail on a boat far better to reduce sail In a controlled manner before it becomes a problem.
The danger of leaving it too long is that getting the canvas to fold without getting it caught in the scissor mechanism becomes a real problem as the wind gets stronger and gustier. Lots have ”scissored” their canvas in little or no wind!
 
@hotel california super thank you, really helpful. I’m not worrying, we just really want to educate ourselves in advance as much as possible as (like most people I imagine) we’ve never spent money like this so don’t want to do anything stupid and get it damaged! Would that be an external roof cover? That’s another thing we’re reading up on, external cover or isotop.

@ArunAlec thank you yes I’ve seen about the scissoring. These are exactly the sort of risks we’re trying to find out about in advance so we can take care of our van as well as possible!
 
laurao said:
@hotel california super thank you, really helpful. I’m not worrying, we just really want to educate ourselves in advance as much as possible as (like most people I imagine) we’ve never spent money like this so don’t want to do anything stupid and get it damaged! Would that be an external roof cover? That’s another thing we’re reading up on, external cover or isotop.

@ArunAlec thank you yes I’ve seen about the scissoring. These are exactly the sort of risks we’re trying to find out about in advance so we can take care of our van as well as possible!
Click to expand...
We have an Isotop, it’s more expensive but in our opinion the better choice. Once fitted you leave it on, it’s great at insulating & darkening the roof space.
Some use an external cover but you have to put on & take off each time. If it’s wet when moving on you have to travel with it wet in the van. Lots of discussion on the merits of both in previous threads.
 
laurao said:
Thanks everyone! Some great tips, many thanks.

But still what is the risk with wind?! The van blowing over or the roof getting wrecked or is it just that it’s a bit scary and impossible to sleep? We’ve done some pretty dodgy weather in a tent, but there’s nothing really that can go that wrong in a tent... you get a little soggy...
Click to expand...
In our 6 years of ownership and hundreds of nights in the van in the UK and Europe we have had only one occasion when we were concerned about the wind blowing the van about and stressing the bellows, were were parked at the edge of the high car park in the Cairngorm mountains. All we did was move the van away, with the roof still up, from the edge to park between to large motorhomes and went back to bed. If you can park with the rear of the van into the wind, had we been that night we probably would not have had to move.
 
25MPH coast wind, lots of slapping and van rocking but top OK in my experience. Someone on here was suggesting upto 60MPH OK with no adverse effects.
 
We have found that if it’s raining sideways you do tend to get water penetration just the same as you would in the old canvas type tents. its NEVER been really serious just have to keep the duvet away from the sides. We have waterproofed the canvas a couple of times over the past 5 years and that makes a great improvement..Only ever put the roof down once when the lightning was a bit to close for comfort..
 
laurao said:
Silly question alert but I’ve seen people say about putting the roof down in bad weather... why is this? The bellows could get damaged/dislodged (I hope not), water could come in (I hope not), van blows over (I hope not!)...

We’re a family so won’t have the option of putting the roof down (don’t have the van yet). And we’re getting a van to allow us a more comfortable experience (than canvas camping) out of season when the weather isn’t great. So if I have to put the roof down all the time it’s not going to be very useful!!

Oh. And similarly with the awning.. I can see maybe putting it in if it’s extremely windy so it doesn’t wrap around the van. But hoping it can be out in reasonable rain so we can shelter under it to get in the van?
Click to expand...

There are lots of previous threads on this, the Forum search feature is a good way of finding them. You can then make your mind up which ideas to follow.
https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/pop-top-wind-loading.31442/#post-365294 from 2019 We had a Meet in Dorset over a very windy weekend last Autumn. The first obvious advice is to put the rear of the van into the wind so it blows over the roof, rather than sideways on or facing into it. Another thread here from 2017
vwcaliforniaclub.com

Pop top in high winds

We are due to spend a week in Scotland soon and I wondered whether I need to be concerned about sleeping up top in strong winds. Is the van likely to get damaged? Should we sleep downstairs? What counts as too strong? I would try to point the back into the wind to make us more streamlined but...
vwcaliforniaclub.com vwcaliforniaclub.com
As long as you are aware you may have to lower the roof in a hurry in the small hours, you can risk it. There is more chance of the canvas blowing through the lifting mechanism in high winds and being cut as you lower it. Very important to have a window open on the downwind side and to pull the canvas in as you lower it. Best to have a person with a torch outside keeping an eye on the canvas as it folds.
How will you know when it has to be lowered? I've felt ours shaking in the wind and felt I had to lower it immediately. As you can read on the links I've posted I am lead by the weather Apps. to some extent. When the wind speed is in a black circle it is usually pretty accurate. Try to find a sheltered camp site. Then a sheltered pitch if the forecast is windy. The best view over the sea probably is also the most exposed to the wind and lovely on a clear day, not so good on a windy night.
You will soon learn what works best for you and love your California as we all do.
Simon
 
Thank you @SimonB ! Useful stuff. I hadn’t found those links thank you. We are getting a lot of the info we need through other posts as I guess it’s the same questions most people have. I just noticed I kept reading about putting the roof down but no one saying why but lots of useful info here helping there.
 
laurao said:
Thank you @SimonB ! Useful stuff. I hadn’t found those links thank you. We are getting a lot of the info we need through other posts as I guess it’s the same questions most people have. I just noticed I kept reading about putting the roof down but no one saying why but lots of useful info here helping there.
Click to expand...

The search facility on the Forum has much improved in the last few months, the other way of searching is via Google using site:vwcaliforniaclub.com xx xx where xx xx is what you are looking for. The trick is to learn what people generally call things. Pop top roof and so on but there is a superb wealth of knowledge on here .

It can also be useful to meet other member locally and just ask them. Most of us are happy to chat about our Calis and we have had some good small local meets in car parks and the Cali is an ideal vehicle for supplying coffee and tea to keep people warm.

With the roof and when you should think about putting it down. The Beach roof has lighter supports at the front so I would think it might need to be taken down sooner, the Ocean roof has some substantial bits of metal holding it up, but if they bend it could be expensive getting it back in line so you are able close the roof.
The meet in Dorset last Autumn was the strongest continuous wind I've camped in. From Friday lunchtime till we left on Sunday morning, it was one of the named storms. We had our awning up for a lot of the time and the roof. It took 6 of us to hold the awning as we pegged it out and took it down again and lots of tie-down kits.
My advice would be, when it feels right to lower the roof do it. You will know by the noise and the weather.
Simon
 
laurao said:
@hotel california super thank you, really helpful. I’m not worrying, we just really want to educate ourselves in advance as much as possible as (like most people I imagine) we’ve never spent money like this so don’t want to do anything stupid and get it damaged! Would that be an external roof cover? That’s another thing we’re reading up on, external cover or isotop.

@ArunAlec thank you yes I’ve seen about the scissoring. These are exactly the sort of risks we’re trying to find out about in advance so we can take care of our van as well as possible!
Click to expand...
We have the internal isotop liner as you can keep it in place all the time. An external one would need removing and storing if you are taking the roof down due to wind and could be wet from rain too.

My boy sleeps in the pop top, we went to lakes just after New year and it was windy on one site particularly.

We just down stairs wondering if roof up would be fine, the van was rocking a bit and some others had their pop tops down.

Other than the rocking and strange noises we weren't used to there was no draft or rain ingress and my boy didn't seem to notice! Lol

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk
 
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