Repairing a broken cable on a 1997 Rockwood Freedom pop-up

The cable for the lift system on our 1997 Rockwood Freedom pop-up camper snapped over the weekend. This is an in-depth look at how to repair it. These campers have a Goshen lift system. Subscribe for more pop-up content!

[@jams0722]

Thank you for such a great detailed video! I was able to get it 90% done myself on my 2004 Starcraft. I just needed another set of hands to hold the pliers to wrap that end around the winch and tighten it around that bracket. Well done. My only cost was the $100 cable I ordered so I didn't have to do anything but uninstall the old one and put the new one in.

[@ryandegner8440]

You have done an extremely good job for this tutorial, I have refused to learn how the system operates until now, and I am glad I found your video!

[@ericalguire3969]

This is a great video. You saved out vacation. Our cable snapped at almost the exact same spot on Saturday - we were booked yo leave Monday. I got it fixed following your superb instructions and we were on our way. Your camera work is really good and you explained everything you did without a bunch of jabbering. Thanks

[@theartifactory3637]

So glad the video helped!

[@shawnslack9165]

We had a rusted and worn cable I planned to get to... then it broke at the front as yours did. Made a hasty repair to get through the trip. Today 2022.6.17 I watched your video... and repaired my trailer following your directions in 4 hours. No shop costs. Cable and clamps and she's cherry! Thank You !

[@kenkobylka8172]

My neice has a pop-up and recently broke the cable. Camping season is done for her, so I've got some time to do the repair. Thanks for the tutorial, we'll done!

[@kimstube7244]

Thank you so much for making this incredibly informative video. My kids and I were popping down our 2008 Rockwood 2270 Freedom this morning after camping. One of my daughters took out the safety braces as we started packing up and I thought nothing of it. We were still going in and out of the camper getting everything packed. I got everything ready then my daughter went in to remove the inside bunk end tent support poles. We pushed in the beds, pushed in the canvas, then my other daughter asked if she could pop it down. She went 2 turns and the entire roof collapsed in a millisecond. The cable snapped. By the grace of God, none of us were in it. It could easily have instantly killed one or more of us or injured us permanently. We have an air conditioner on the roof. The back collapsed all the way and the front was partially up and askew. We were able to use our car jack and some short 2 by 4s as levers to level it enough so it closed to drive home. I will never go in it again without full 2x4s on diagonal ends. I’m going to look into seeing if I can find full size safety braces as well. I am very grateful that our lives did not change forever today. It helps to know exactly how this system works so I know what to ask the repair person or so I know that I can possibly do it myself. And so I can hopefully get to a point where I feel okay setting foot inside it again or letting my kids in it. Thank you so much!

[@theartifactory3637]

That had to have been such a scary experience! I’m so glad no one was hurt!

[@kimstube7244]

@@theartifactory3637 Thank you so much for this video. We had a trip planned for the July 4th weekend and the repair place was not going to be able to fix it by then. So I was able to follow your video and repair it myself. I got the stainless steel wire rope and ferrules from Lowes. Took the measurements from my original cord. It all worked well. Thankfully, there was no other damage from the roof collapsing and we were able to take our Rockwood on our trip. We were very careful about using the safety braces at all times. I can’t thank you enough. I wouldn’t have known how to do this or known that it wasn’t too hard to do myself if it weren’t for how detailed your video was. I truly appreciate the time you took to make it.

[@kimstube7244]

@OldFartLife Our Rockwood actually has emergency support braces that will hold up the roof in case the cable breaks. What happened in our case was that my daughter took them off while we were still packing everything up inside the popup. Now we are extremely careful to make sure this is the very last thing we do before we pop it down. Yes, if you don’t have these support braces (they are long metal u-shaped braces that you put on the extending roof support posts), definitely use 2 by 4s. You may also want to secure them to the posts with Velcro strips so they don’t accidentally pop out if the roof crashes down. Thankfully, this doesn’t seem to happen often or I think we would hear of more tragedies, but it is definitely vital for popup owners to be aware of.

[@PaulSmith-lw7ph]

No one else has video like this I just went underneath and started pulling on the cable and now I can see you're having to do the whole drop down okay so I know I'm not the only one.

[@danbarron8072]

This video was uploaded just in time! This is the exact same set up as my 2016 Rockwood Freedom. Thanks!

[@theartifactory3637]

Glad it’s helpful! Good luck with yours!

[@user-rb9nh4qq7m]

Great video, saved me a lot of grief and had my camper fixed in 3 hours including the time to run to store for cable and ferrules. Awesome job

[@adamcossy]

Great video. Thank you for the effort of making it. Nice truck with the nails to help compress

[@seadiver9167]

Great informative video, a great help in understanding how this system works and functions.

[@theartifactory3637]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!

[@timhikes8624]

Thank you! Great video, my cable hasn't broke, but does make a popping sound when lifting. I have a 1999 Rockwood. Appreciate you making the video. I'm subscribed..

[@theartifactory3637]

Thanks for subscribing!

[@MyGunzBurst]

Great job guys.

[@optyman]

Comment as requested...I use red grease as a lubricant. If you notice there are zerk fittings on the channel and white lithium grease in a tube format is not so common. Certain grease is not compatible with each other.

[@K3Flyguy]

Nice video! I have long thought the lifting system of these little popups is quite ingenious but, in my opinion, it is undersized by half of what it should be. This is very common problem with these campers.

[@tylerw.9100]

A chisel really works well for crimping the aircraft cable "crimps". Hit it in the centre line!

[@km-fk5lm]

I learned a lot, great job.

[@kendallsmith1458]

I always wondered how these work. And hope I never have to fix one!

[@WarrenKimpel]

nice video, THANKS

[@MatthewMoenning]

Dude you're a legend

[@thouton3301]

This is a very good video I appreciate it thank you

[@mandiepw]

What’s the measurement between the crimps?

[@patrickcronin6829]

I found it easier to drop the whole assembly. I’ve had to do this twice. Once because the cable broke. The second because the little piece of steel worked its way around the bolted end of the spring.

[@theartifactory3637]

Yeah. I think these systems are a little under-built for the amount of stress they have to withstand. Glad you figured yours out!

[@user-wm8ym6tk5o]

Great video! After reading through comments I was wondering if ferrules could be doubled up to help them from slipping. I haven't taken mine apart yet so I didn't know if there would been any clearance or travel issues caused by the second ferrule.

[@user-nd3um7fy8c]

Help I bought a 98 rockwood premier 1904 model - looks awesome but it’s so hard to crank it up - I sprayed white lithium grease just on the crank area for now - I was also going to grease the two Zerk fittings underneath - can you tell me if there is anything else I can do - would so appreciate the help

[@ummjuju138]

That's was cool. Thanks

[@theartifactory3637]

Glad you liked it!

[@terrindaniels8902]

I was wondering where u got the clamps for the cable. If u had to order it do u have the part number?

[@theartifactory3637]

We just used regular ol’ Hillman aluminum cable Ferrules from Lowe’s.

[@terekmaddox]

Hello! Good video where so I buy that cable from and those parts that goes on the wire? Thanks !

[@theartifactory3637]

Both the cable and the ferrules are available at most hardware stores.

[@Dill-Pickle]

I'm having an issue where the back of the camper is raising but not the front, after replacing the cable. Any ideas?

[@theartifactory3637]

The pulley at the back of the camper that the cable loops through determines how evenly the roof raises. There should be a piece of threaded rod that runs from the pulley through the camper frame and is held in place with a nut and a lock nut. Adjusting those nuts should change the height of the side of the camper that’s raising unevenly.

[@theartifactory3637]

There’s also a possibility that the ferrules behind the stops on the cable are too far apart, or aren’t crimped hard enough and are slipping.

[@Dill-Pickle]

@@theartifactory3637 Yes, I Believe I crimped the ferrule in the wrong spot. Thank you for the help!

[@paulconner3205]

Do u happen to know the distance of the stops from each other on the cable. Our campers stops moved on the cable and need to know where to crimp it to be the right distance again. Right now the rear will raise but not the front

[@theartifactory3637]

That information is at 14:20 in the video. It's 67 3/4" between ferrules for this camper.

[@victorjose2634]

Where can i find the cable? And the aluminum tube the one go the spring in?

[@theartifactory3637]

The cable came from the hardware store. The tubes seem to be galvanized steel conduit, though mine have factory brackets at either end. www.popupparts.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4_9&products_id=39&zenid=9093ddb3e0294825ffb62153ff19dc13 these seem similar, but I’d double check for your camper.

[@jmpintx]

Where did you buy the cable

[@theartifactory3637]

You can get it at pretty much any hardware store. I got the cable I used at Lowe’s.

[@MrAldapeedgar]

Where do you buy the cable and what Cain type of cable is because it’s to many different, thas the best explanation you did and am going to do it

[@theartifactory3637]

At 7:21 I measure the cable at 3/16. I got the cable at Lowe’s, but I imagine you can get it at any hardware store. I used the stainless steel braided cable because it’s stronger.

[@anthonymcinturff9555]

Great video, if you wouldn't have skipped the second stop thing, what am I supposed to do with it? Do they both go in the top track??????? Help

[@anthonymcinturff9555]

Please

[@theartifactory3637]

The second stop goes into the bottom tube to meet up with the bottom set of springs. At 17:19 where I’m feeding the open end of the cable into the bottom tube toward the winch, the second stop should follow that in to meet up with the bottom set of springs that push toward the front of the camper. When you’re feeding the cable through, there should be a space above the bracket holding the springs together inside the tube that allows the cable to feed easily through until the bottom stop meets up with the springs, then you’ll wind the open end of the cable into the winch. Hope that clears things up.

[@anthonymcinturff9555]

Thank you, that's what I ended up doing, this video saved my @$$, thanks again

[@theartifactory3637]

I’m really glad it was helpful for you!

[@insurrectionist1287]

Can you tell me the distance from the back crimp to the front crimp?

[@theartifactory3637]

The distance between the ferrules is 67 3/4”. You can reference 14:15 in the video for that info.

[@amariner5]

Was the top able to be moved without the cable? @ me with the answer, please and thank you

[@theartifactory3637]

@amariner5 I don’t recommend it. It’s extremely heavy and probably pretty dangerous to do it that way. Not to mention there’s no easy way to get it to lift evenly which makes breaking components likely.

[@williammorris6912]

Did you put grease in master tube?

[@theartifactory3637]

I didn’t. There was some in there already, but there also didn’t seem to be much meaningful metal-on-metal contact in there.

[@williammorris6912]

@@theartifactory3637 I would think about putting grease in the main tube. There grease gun fitting on tube to pump some in.

[@victorjose2634]

Can you let me know where do you buy your parts?

[@theartifactory3637]

I was able to get everything I needed for this repair at Lowe’s. I’m sure any other hardware store would have everything you’d need.

[@victorjose2634]

@@theartifactory3637 help

[@codynevels182]

I can’t figure out where to feed the second crimp. Getting pretty frustrated

[@theartifactory3637]

I go over that at 16:11. The top stop gets fed up through the pulley and into the top tube. Next the springs go in ensuring that the cable sits in top of the bracket that holds the two springs together. The bottom part of the cable that loops under the pulley threads into the bottom tube and through the small space between the two parallel springs inside the tube. It should thread all the way through the tube until the next stop comes up against the springs inside. It should come out the end of the tube at the front of the camper where you will wind it up on the spool for the crank. Hope that helps! Good luck with your repair!

[@williammorris6912]

Why did you not just buy new cable from Goshen?

[@theartifactory3637]

The premade cable from Goshen costs $50. Doing it this way cost $10. I also wanted to show an alternative to buying the cable for the diy-ers out there.

[@estebansalas739]

You should advertise on doing this job here in Albuquerque no one wants to do it I’ve been looking all over please let me know if you’re interested

[@happycamper5193]

I have a 2004 Rockwood and I am going to try and repair mine it's exact set up but mine is electric.

[@theartifactory3637]

Let me know how it goes!

[@happycamper5193]

@@theartifactory3637 my plan is to jack it up. Take it apart. Get the cable measurements and take it to a local hardware store and make the cable. Grab some lube for springs and try in reinstall. How long did it take you to do this job?

[@happycamper5193]

@@theartifactory3637 so the main thing is getting to correct measurements between the two stops correct? The rest of the spool up can be adjusted if needed if to long. On mine being electric you kinda have to set it cause it has a ground that hits a stop when all the way poped up.

[@theartifactory3637]

Yes. I’d say the most important thing is the correct measurement between the stops. On mine, there’s a pulley at the back that has a few inches of adjustment, but not much. It took about four hours with two people.

[@happycamper5193]

@@theartifactory3637 thanks

[@brianj9262]

Hey brother you on the mood to repair a 14 foot 1992 palimino? Lol

[@JerryJ26]

Doesn't look like those cables haven'This

[@scottw.8614]

Hate to be a naysayer, but the metal sleeves have to be crimped onto the cable using a special crimping tool. A bench vise is not going to provide the proper holding power. I speak from experience. :-)

[@theartifactory3637]

So far so good at this end, but you’re probably right. Using the correct tool for the job is best practice.

[@scottw.8614]

@@theartifactory3637 Well... we used the right tool, and one of the sleeves still slipped! I followed instructions for crimping to the word, but somehow one of my crimps failed. We ended up buying a factory-made cable from Goshen Stamping. Your video is a great guide on how to actually replace the cable.

[@theartifactory3637]

I’m sorry to hear you had that problem! It seems like those things need an awful lot of pressure to properly crimp. I’m glad the video was at least helpful with part of the process!

[@daver5624]

When I feed my cable through to the front I can’t get it to reach to the winch? What am I doing wrong? It’s like the springs need to be compressed