Wow! That is a sweet design. Much more than I was willing to attempt. Ya, the hump is that initial force required to get the springs working. You know how when you put it up manually you have to give it that good push at first and then after that it goes up all by itself. And when you bring it down you probably have also experienced how you have to pull down hard at the beginning and at the end it just drops into place.
I think that you may still have the problem I had even with the struts. If the struts are also horizontal, no angle, then they will not be adding any upward force. And if you do put them on an angle that means they are always exerting upward force, even when the roof is closed, meaning the latching/locking mechanism has to be able to hold it. While the broomstick approach works, I would still add another actuator since my whole purpose is to have to top go up by itself. One more actuator, in your closet that pokes through the top when activated, would give that initial push. Have it on the same switch as the two lift actuators (remote control in my case) and then have a switch for just that actuator (on the closet wall) that you can use to lower it. That actuator would not be connected to the roof and would not have to go up very much, not sure how much, just enough to get past the hump. Once the roof is raised you can use the switch for it on the closet wall to lower it back out of the way since it is not required to lower the roof.
I am also curious about how you intend to latch/lock the roof down. The biggest reason I want an automatic roof is because I don't wan't to have to get into the Chinook and undo all those straps (or do them up again for that matter). My Chinook was gutted when I got it so I'm not sure if having seats gives a better position to do this, but for me with the 4 foot ceiling height it is a pain in the buttocks so I wanted to have the roof and latching mechanism work without having to go inside. I'm curious if you are just going to rely on the actuators to keep the roof down or continue to use the straps or if you have something else in mind. For me, I'm not sure how I will do it, but the actuators will definitely hold down the middle of the roof and I'll probably add latches on the front and back and for that I was thinking of using generic power door locks.
. I love driving around and just living and functioning out of it. This build so far is definitely my favorite. And makes the most sense with design of the space so far.
