Anyone looked into the Low life stealth pop top roofs? Looks to be similar to Hilo and also do a carbon option.
Price wise looks a little cheaper too!
Price wise looks a little cheaper too!
LowLife Stealth pop top
Had a look last week very impressed booked in 2 to be fitted
Ah cool when you getting it fitted? I ideally want to see a finished camper with one in to see how it looks
The only thing that put me off this roof was that the hinges are on the inside of the canvas, you have to unzip the canvas from around the hinges before you can lower the roof. I love the idea of the carbon option though 
Now I didn’t know that, suppose there is always going to be a bit of a compromise to get a low roof and if that’s the only one over having a low profile and no loss in internal headroom then it’s worth itThe only thing that put me off this roof was that the hinges are on the inside of the canvas, you have to unzip the canvas from around the hinges before you can lower the roof. I love the idea of the carbon option though
Have you compared it to the Hilo @Keaney?
I reviewed them both at Busfest as there were opposite each other. Thought the locking mech was less intrusive on the lowlife, but that the Hilo was better in all other area’s. For me, I really did not like that the hinges are on the inside of the fabric; the only roof i’ve seen where that is the case.
Yeah i drove to Busfest from the Newcastle to specifically compare them and came away thinking the Hilo was better. However i cant sacrifice head room as i want a Uberbus Flux so back to thinking Low Life but would like to see some more examples really.
Hilo wise they mentioned the new aluminium frame too is coming soon
Hilo wise they mentioned the new aluminium frame too is coming soon
They look good apart from the fabric (polyester) which looks quite cheap, flappy and flimsy on the photos. Polyester (subject to coatings) is also not as well insulated or breathable as, say, cotton/canvas, and can result in a lot of condensation forming - makes the difference between waking up warm/dry and cold/soaked in your own sweat.
First being fitted week commencing 4th Dec other week after
@Petegee56 . My vans back with Low Life this week. The experience I've had hasn't been plain sailing but perhaps I've been unlucky and been that odd customer that it goes wrong for in, a field of many successes. However, things look to be heading in right direction with getting things sorted. I'd add at this stage, I think I'll be pleased with the product, once the works finished. The design has some strong points but I'll hold off from any review or pictures until I've the end result on Friday. When I'll be making my forth 570 mile round trip to Congleton.
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Also agree with you, still early days on this product I hear the hilos had issues at the start.
I think low life will be great in a few years once the product has developed more but that’s coming from me who owns a Hilo
I drove up to Congleton to look at one with a view to buying one, the locking system at the front was excellent and probably the best for me, but as has been said I didnt like the rear locking mechanism, didn’t like the material and also when they were closing the roof on my demo day I found tha it was very very easy to trap the fabric at the rear of the pop up roof, which put me off.
But I do think that when it has been developed a bit more and the fabric side of things up graded it will be a lot better, but it does look very good.
Very nice people though, and there is now a company fitting them for Congleton H.Q. down in Fareham, Hampshire.
But I do think that when it has been developed a bit more and the fabric side of things up graded it will be a lot better, but it does look very good.
Very nice people though, and there is now a company fitting them for Congleton H.Q. down in Fareham, Hampshire.
There doesn't seem to be too much written about the Stealth roof this far. The fit out on my Shuttles now finished. As mentioned earlier, there was some problems but these have now been addressed. Given that the roof is now being fitted by a number of different installers, I'll just give my views on the roof itself.
My van's used as my daily driver as well under going a conversion into a camper. It has to fit in a multistorey car park that I use from time to time. As I didn't want to lower the ride height, just adding the Stealths 25mm to the vehicles height ment it could still fit. Being relatively light weight too, aids fuel economy, especially with stop/start city centre commuting. I believe 80kg is the added weight, once the existing roof skin is removed from the equation. As a bonus, I also think the black carbon fibre suits the reflex silver. It would also go well with white or orange. Of course it could be sprayed to match any other colour.
The polyester fabric used for the roof is quite light weight. It's not as heavy duty or thick as the material I've seen on the Skyline roof. I'd liked to have seen double stitching on the zips and storm flaps on the zipped panels adjacent to the hinges, as has been added to the panoramic zips. The hinge flaps take just a few seconds to zip or unzip. Undoing these flaps ensure that the tent material doesn't get caught in the scissor hinges. Unusually, the hinges are inboard of the fabric here. This means they're protected from the elements but not out on show, as some with polished hinges may prefer. On my tent, I asked for the high level horizontal mesh vent to be deleted. Although the material in general will have very low thermal properties, the vent just seemed to be a heat out, wind in design flaw in my eyes. Plus the west coast Scottish midgie would just laugh at it. But asking for it not to be included wasn't a problem.
The bed board is hinged and divided into 3 sections. So it allows for very good head room and elevates up against the underside of the roof itself. The access hatch is an eliptical shaped plug. Perhaps not as sophisticated as a sliding hatch but it's simple and effective. Its not quite Spitfire wings, but personally, I think it's an aesthetically pleasing shape to look at. It's also a sensibly sized hatch. Theres less restricton on the usable floor space above than some other designs I've seen. With the roof lowered I've actually gained about an inch of head room from the standard Shuttle head lining, as the vents have been repositioned to the sides.
Traversing Edinburgh's cobble stones, fails to generate any rattles or squeaks from the roof at all.
I have a rear tailgate spoiler on my van. When the roof is in its elevated position and the tailgate is open, the spoiler comes into contact with the roof. Although it prevents the tailgate from opening fully, at 5ft 11in, I can still walk under the tailgate without banging my head. It's only the last 4 to 5 inches of tailgate travel that is impeded if a spoiler is indeed fitted.
The locking mechanism holding the roof down is the clever part. Two threaded knobs are used to lock down the rear hinges. However the front is secured by two southco type locks. These are located under the sun visors and sit pretty much flush with the headlining. A key is used to rotate the locks by 90 degrees. This motion also draws the roof down onto it's seals. Again, simple, but it works well and there's no additional metalwork in front of your head.
Just on the safety note. I understand VW issue guidance to coach builders who wish to modify the T6, with respect to what material can be safely removed from the roof structure. VW themselves sell T6's modified with mid and high level roofs along with the SCA, found on the California. From what I understand the removal of the skin and transverse cross members is within the guidance, as long as the side longnitude rails are left untouched. From what I've been told, the cassette on the Stealth, doesn't interfere with the side rails. So although an M1 pull test hasn't been done with this roof installed, given that the structural integrity of the original roof is compliant with VW's guidance, I'd be somewhat surprised if it didn't pass. It should be stressed that this type of test is just that though. A pull test to test the seat belt anchorage points. It's not a measure of crash worthiness of the roof itself.
So thats pretty much it for now. Will see how things go when it's put into service as intended.
My van's used as my daily driver as well under going a conversion into a camper. It has to fit in a multistorey car park that I use from time to time. As I didn't want to lower the ride height, just adding the Stealths 25mm to the vehicles height ment it could still fit. Being relatively light weight too, aids fuel economy, especially with stop/start city centre commuting. I believe 80kg is the added weight, once the existing roof skin is removed from the equation. As a bonus, I also think the black carbon fibre suits the reflex silver. It would also go well with white or orange. Of course it could be sprayed to match any other colour.
The polyester fabric used for the roof is quite light weight. It's not as heavy duty or thick as the material I've seen on the Skyline roof. I'd liked to have seen double stitching on the zips and storm flaps on the zipped panels adjacent to the hinges, as has been added to the panoramic zips. The hinge flaps take just a few seconds to zip or unzip. Undoing these flaps ensure that the tent material doesn't get caught in the scissor hinges. Unusually, the hinges are inboard of the fabric here. This means they're protected from the elements but not out on show, as some with polished hinges may prefer. On my tent, I asked for the high level horizontal mesh vent to be deleted. Although the material in general will have very low thermal properties, the vent just seemed to be a heat out, wind in design flaw in my eyes. Plus the west coast Scottish midgie would just laugh at it. But asking for it not to be included wasn't a problem.
The bed board is hinged and divided into 3 sections. So it allows for very good head room and elevates up against the underside of the roof itself. The access hatch is an eliptical shaped plug. Perhaps not as sophisticated as a sliding hatch but it's simple and effective. Its not quite Spitfire wings, but personally, I think it's an aesthetically pleasing shape to look at. It's also a sensibly sized hatch. Theres less restricton on the usable floor space above than some other designs I've seen. With the roof lowered I've actually gained about an inch of head room from the standard Shuttle head lining, as the vents have been repositioned to the sides.
Traversing Edinburgh's cobble stones, fails to generate any rattles or squeaks from the roof at all.
I have a rear tailgate spoiler on my van. When the roof is in its elevated position and the tailgate is open, the spoiler comes into contact with the roof. Although it prevents the tailgate from opening fully, at 5ft 11in, I can still walk under the tailgate without banging my head. It's only the last 4 to 5 inches of tailgate travel that is impeded if a spoiler is indeed fitted.
The locking mechanism holding the roof down is the clever part. Two threaded knobs are used to lock down the rear hinges. However the front is secured by two southco type locks. These are located under the sun visors and sit pretty much flush with the headlining. A key is used to rotate the locks by 90 degrees. This motion also draws the roof down onto it's seals. Again, simple, but it works well and there's no additional metalwork in front of your head.
Just on the safety note. I understand VW issue guidance to coach builders who wish to modify the T6, with respect to what material can be safely removed from the roof structure. VW themselves sell T6's modified with mid and high level roofs along with the SCA, found on the California. From what I understand the removal of the skin and transverse cross members is within the guidance, as long as the side longnitude rails are left untouched. From what I've been told, the cassette on the Stealth, doesn't interfere with the side rails. So although an M1 pull test hasn't been done with this roof installed, given that the structural integrity of the original roof is compliant with VW's guidance, I'd be somewhat surprised if it didn't pass. It should be stressed that this type of test is just that though. A pull test to test the seat belt anchorage points. It's not a measure of crash worthiness of the roof itself.
So thats pretty much it for now. Will see how things go when it's put into service as intended.
Good report, and hope that all goes well with it for you.
I think @Dieseldonkey has a LWB.
Have you seen HiLo are now doing a cheaper roof? Just putting that out there in case you haven’t and cost + stealth is what you’re after..
Have you seen HiLo are now doing a cheaper roof? Just putting that out there in case you haven’t and cost + stealth is what you’re after..
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