T6.1 Ocean (hydraulic roof) - do you lift with a roofbox attached?

myvanrodney · Saturday at 10:14 AM

Hi All,

Loads of threads discussing this, but cant really glean much real life experiences, so...

How many members have a roofbox (or other load) on their Ocean hydraulic roof, and lift/lower it okay with the box still attached (albeit empty)?

Thank you all.

Lambeth Cali · Saturday at 10:32 AM

I had one for two years. I regularly put it up with a Weber travel bbq and stuff in it. Never full. The roof mechanism is very sturdy and over engineered IMO. Didn’t do any harm.

I hated having the box as it’s a pain to get at. Just needed it when we had a double buggy and tons of nappies. Was glad when I took it off.

myvanrodney · Saturday at 10:42 AM

Lambeth Cali said:
I had one for two years. I regularly put it up with a Weber travel bbq and stuff in it. Never full. The roof mechanism is very sturdy and over engineered IMO. Didn’t do any harm.

I hated having the box as it’s a pain to get at. Just needed it when we had a double buggy and tons of nappies. Was glad when I took it off.

Was that on a T5?

Defender90 · Saturday at 11:26 AM

myvanrodney said:
Was that on a T5?

I lift my roof with front runner roof 20kg and probably another 20kg of gear with no problems

myvanrodney · Saturday at 11:30 AM

Defender90 said:
I lift my roof with front runner roof 20kg and probably another 20kg of gear with no problems

whats a front runner roof?

myvanrodney · Saturday at 11:54 AM

myvanrodney said:
whats a front runner roof?

ah a rack... cool.

dspuk · Saturday at 3:14 PM

The manual stats 50KG as the max to load the roof. It also says not to open or close with any load on the roof. Likely them just covering bases. I'd be less worried about a manual roof than the automated one.

myvanrodney · Saturday at 9:26 PM

dspuk said:
The manual stats 50KG as the max to load the roof. It also says not to open or close with any load on the roof. Likely them just covering bases. I'd be less worried about a manual roof than the automated one.

Yeah saw that thanks. Agree, so easy for them to prohibit anything remotely risky for warranty claims. That's why i thought i'd ask to see who's got real world experiences...

Lambeth Cali · Saturday at 10:07 PM

myvanrodney said:
Was that on a T5?

It’s a very strong mechanism. Locks at 90 degrees.

TripleBee · Saturday at 10:13 PM

dspuk said:
The manual stats 50KG as the max to load the roof. It also says not to open or close with any load on the roof. Likely them just covering bases. I'd be less worried about a manual roof than the automated one.

Hmm, I read a post not long ago from someone with a manual roof that had to support the roof because the gas struts were not able to keep the roof up.
A roof box with some leightweight stuff in in will not harm the hydraulic system.

vmaxkiddy · Sunday at 7:31 AM

Lambeth Cali said:
It’s a very strong mechanism. Locks at 90 degrees.

Agree about T5 and T5.1 being a strong mechanism. Not so sure about the T6.1 seems to have a lot of reports of sagging roofs even though it looks to be the same components, something has changed in the newer version of the hydraulics.

Defender90 · Sunday at 8:09 AM

vmaxkiddy said:
Agree about T5 and T5.1 being a strong mechanism. Not so sure about the T6.1 seems to have a lot of reports of sagging roofs even though it looks to be the same components, something has changed in the newer version of the hydraulics.

Probably down to vw cost cutting and putting cheaper manufactured parts onto their vehicles,the pump is probably made outside of Germany and the quality control is none existent and they just accept some will pass internally it’s the way of the world now unfortunately

TripleBee · Sunday at 8:41 AM

Defender90 said:
Probably down to vw cost cutting and putting cheaper manufactured parts onto their vehicles,the pump is probably made outside of Germany and the quality control is none existent and they just accept some will pass internally it’s the way of the world now unfortunately

Indeed. The hydraulic pump is made in the Netherlands.

Defender90 · Sunday at 8:49 AM

TripleBee said:
Indeed. The hydraulic pump is made in the Netherlands.

I would like to get my hands on one of these failed pumps it might be the case the little check valve’s have small particles preventing them fully seating which could be from the hydraulic hoses if they haven’t been flushed correctly.If mine ever becomes a problem it will be stripped down and checked before I replace.

myvanrodney · Sunday at 8:53 AM

Defender90 said:
I would like to get my hands on one of these failed pumps it might be the case the little check valve’s have small particles preventing them fully seating which could be from the hydraulic hoses if they haven’t been flushed correctly.If mine ever becomes a problem it will be stripped down and checked before I replace.

Defender90 said:
I lift my roof with front runner roof 20kg and probably another 20kg of gear with no problems

So is your van a factory ocean 6.1 with electric roof?

Defender90 · Sunday at 8:57 AM

myvanrodney said:
So is your van a factory ocean 6.1 with electric roof?

Yes electric control hydraulic operation
I would also add keep the load towards the rear as much as possible which will reduce the loading on the hydraulics

myvanrodney · Sunday at 9:54 AM

Defender90 said:
Yes electric control hydraulic operation
I would also add keep the load towards the rear as much as possible which will reduce the loading on the hydraulics

sounds good. thanks... yaay we can take our blowup kayaks away with us