Jack Bombay Pop Top Shock Kit (Pop Top Assist Struts), 1980-92 VW Vanagon (T3) is a TOP upgrade for your Pop Top Vanagon! No more holding the top with your head to pull in the canvas when closing it, and load assistance to get it up even with a lot of weight up there! Some owners of this kit go out and pop their top up, because they really can't believe it has improved things that much! We have sourced this innovative kit from the originator, we feel it's superior in every way to the copycats, with stainless steel exterior hardware, and minimal drilling required! This kit is so well designed that you can't even tell the kit is there except for 2 visible cap nuts that indicate it's presence!
This kit is very easy to install, needing only a drill, a 5/16" (8mm) drill bit, a couple wrenches, and a flat blade screw driver. We installed one of these kits on our own personal Multi-Van in under an hour for a first timer! You only need to drill 2 holes, one on each side of the fiberglass pop top. Compare this to other kits which require up to 8 holes to be drilled in your baby (Half in the Metal roof, and half in the fiberglass), and also require that you buy a special tool for the installation!
What this kit does is to assist the weight of the pop top, and any other items you may have on top of it! This helps raise the top up when you get to your destination, and supports it when lowering it so you can gather in the canvas so it's not caught between the body and pop top seal (where it can mildew, or get chafed and ruined).
We offer the kit with shocks of 3 different strengths, depending upon the load you are going to have up there! Here are our recommendations for the pop top shock strengths. The kits are identical except for the strength's of the shocks included with the kit.
Light Duty is best for applications where you have nothing up there but the pop top itself.
Medium Duty is best for a light load on the pop top. 1-2 surfboards, or a solar panel mounted in the rear of the pop top. Medium Shocks are too stiff if you have nothing else on the pop top.
Heavy Duty is for situations wher eyou will have something heavy on the roof AT ALL TIMES! If you have nothing on the roof, it will be a bear to lower the pop top, and gathering the tent canvas while holding it down will require 2 people!
Dual Duty is a kit that comes with Light Duty Gas Shocks, AND a pair of Heavy Duty Gas Shocks! Once installed you can change shocks from one to the other, and back again, in seconds with only a screwdriver! So the Dual Duty kit is best for folks that may have a light load in their Rocket Box sometimes, but other times they are loaded to the hilt! You have the flexibility to adapt to various load situations quickly and easily by simply swapping shock strength. This kit costs another $35 for the 2 additional shocks you'll get in this kit, 2 Light Duty and 2 Heavy Duty in one kit!
We are confident that you'll be as impressed as we were when you install these Assist Struts onto your VW Vanagon Pop Top, and will consider them one of THE best upgrades you have every done to your ride!