The Poptop Conundrum

[Swiss78]

Hi All, so i am totally new to the forum. I have gleam huge amounts of info from many of the posts already but now my VWT6 has arrived i thought i would get involved.

I have done quite a lot of research on pop tops but find out how they differ is quite tricky (they all look the same). I have a choice of 3 that i have narrowed down to and these are all made in the UK, and are available to a self converter like me. They are all a similar price so just wondering if anyone can offer any feedback or helpful info on my shortlist.

1: Poptops.co.uk - Slimline roof - 3 week lead time
2: Denby Camper vans - 1 week lead time
3: Skyline Roofs - 6 week lead time

Anyone had any good/bad experiences with these?

Thanks

Swiss

 

[DaveyB]

My advice is don’t fit it yourself, or is that it what you meant by “self converter”?
Fitting a pop top is an art, and there are so many so called professional conversion companies out there who f3ck it up, and they fit them day in and day out. So if they can’t get it right someone doing it themselves is going to be up against it.
Best advice go and see A LOT of converters, get a feel for them, and then come back to the forum and ask what experiences (good and bad) that people have had.
Thankfully my pop top is now sorted, but having had a dreadful experience along the way, it’s is not worth getting it wrong.

 

[RobRum]

My advice is don’t fit it yourself, or is that it what you meant by “self converter”?
Fitting a pop top is an art, and there are so many so called professional conversion companies out there who f3ck it up, and they fit them day in and day out. So if they can’t get it right someone doing it themselves is going to be up against it.
Best advice go and see A LOT of converters, get a feel for them, and then come back to the forum and ask what experiences (good and bad) that people have had.
Thankfully my pop top is now sorted, but having had a dreadful experience along the way, it’s is not worth getting it wrong.

In a similar boat... which roof did you go for in the end?

 

[DaveyB]

In a similar boat... which roof did you go for in the end?

I have a Hilo, but if I had my time again I have to say I’d never have a hole cut in my roof. Talk to lots of people, read lots of reports, do not rush into any decision.

 

[JonriceT6]

I have a Hilo, but if I had my time again I have to say I’d never have a hole cut in my roof. Talk to lots of people, read lots of reports, do not rush into any decision.

This is good to know, would you stick to an awning for the extra beds then?
move got a T6.1 with 400miles on the clock. Would love a pop top, but unsure whether to cut the hole in my roof. No going back after that.

 

[Mike Dean]

I’m going to install a Poptops.co.uk - Slimline roof next week. The new design build quality is fantastic and the minimal height gain at 30mm was important for me. As others have said do your research, the roof is only going to be as good as the fitter!

 

[DaveyB]

No going back after that.

And that’s the conundrum right there.
To be honest if I was able to wind the clock back I’d spend the £45k+ that the van and pop top etc have set me back on a motor home. My kids are now too big to share the pop top and it just breaks out into ww3 when we have to. It’s simply not big enough for our needs.
A decent awning does make all the difference though, and I have been seriously impressed with our Kyham dub-hub with keeping annex.

 

[JonriceT6]

And that’s the conundrum right there.
To be honest if I was able to wind the clock back I’d spend the £45k+ that the van and pop top etc have set me back on a motor home. My kids are now too big to share the pop top and it just breaks out into ww3 when we have to. It’s simply not big enough for our needs.
A decent awning does make all the difference though, and I have been seriously impressed with our Kyham dub-hub with keeping annex.

I’ve got about a 4 year window before my eldest won’t want to come and certainly not share with her sister !!

 

[GeekGrimmy]

Our new van has the Skyline roof on it - spent a while looking at a lot of the offerings that had fitters local to me for any warranty work.

Was pretty happy with Skylines respones when i spoke to them directly and the relationship our fitter had with them. The roof itself is Solid and time will tell but the features in skyline ticked all the boxes for us.

 

[N1ck]

Love my pop top not sure I really need one though, should make the van more saleable when you are looking to change if you ever do, I live near to skyline in WSM so it’s really a no brainer, love the roof, installation was superb, love the fact it has a centre reinforcement that the solar panel sits on and the cable comes through, just looked at fitting a solar panel to my mates and he has two ribs like the picture above and it’s a pain to get a good seal for the rear mounted cables, it’s handy to be able to leave the mattress in the roof, I cannot comment on other models as I didn’t really shop around but my friend had a skyline roof by a dealer and they completely messed it up, he had to strip it down to stop the squeak’s, so it’s very important to get someone who knows what they are doing

 

[Swiss78]

I’m going to install a Poptops.co.uk - Slimline roof next week. The new design build quality is fantastic and the minimal height gain at 30mm was important for me. As others have said do your research, the roof is only going to be as good as the fitter!

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Hi Mike,

Thats really interesting, what made you go for the Poptop.co.uk roof. It looks great. Have you fitted a pop top before. I haven't but am pretty handy, i mean how hard can it be right!!!!! Does the fixing frame all bolt together or is it in 4 individual pieces?

 

[Mike Dean]

Hi Mike,

Thats really interesting, what made you go for the Poptop.co.uk roof. It looks great. Have you fitted a pop top before. I haven't but am pretty handy, i mean how hard can it be right!!!!! Does the fixing frame all bolt together or is it in 4 individual pieces?

There is a forward and rear brace, look at their website. A converter is doing it now, but I could do it easy, i've reskinned many an aircraft

 

[Swiss78]

I’m going to install a Poptops.co.uk - Slimline roof next week. The new design build quality is fantastic and the minimal height gain at 30mm was important for me. As others have said do your research, the roof is only going to be as good as the fitter!

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Hey Mike, Did you get the poptop fitted? How did it go? Any problems or happy with the Poptop.co.uk roof?

 

[Niknak]

Oh have poptoproofs.co.Uk now got crash test approval ? I only thought there was a few companies that had that, I understand how important that is to people

 

[Manni_Van_Fred]

Our new van has the Skyline roof on it - spent a while looking at a lot of the offerings that had fitters local to me for any warranty work.

Was pretty happy with Skylines respones when i spoke to them directly and the relationship our fitter had with them. The roof itself is Solid and time will tell but the features in skyline ticked all the boxes for us.

Hi I'm looking at a poptop for my 170K mile 16 plate T6 LWB and the Skyline appears to be very well made, also looking at the Austops, what made you plum for the Skyline, where are you based and did a company install it. I'm still in two minds whether to spend a huge chunk of cash on a high miler. Many thanks, Manni

 

[GeekGrimmy]

The

Hi I'm looking at a poptop for my 170K mile 16 plate T6 LWB and the Skyline appears to be very well made, also looking at the Austops, what made you plum for the Skyline, where are you based and did a company install it. I'm still in two minds whether to spend a huge chunk of cash on a high miler. Many thanks, Manni

The main draw was the bifold bed that gives you more headroom at the back - I kept smacking my head on the roof in the vans we rented so was a real bugbear of mine. Their wee diagram in their price list explains it well:





The cover panel aswell was another main draw as i found them really ugly, I wasn't a fan of the tried and true straps but other roof makers solutions were very new to the market last year so I didn't really want to be a first gen tester. The cover actually streamlines the inside of the van nicely:



I also spoke to them directly when I was first thinking of converting the van myself and getting someone to do the windows and roof, they were quick to reply inviting me down to their main workshop to do the work but also gave me options for local installers they worked with.

In the end, we chose to have someone convert it for is so it kind of limited roof choices in the local area but Skyline was one of them so I was pretty happy.

The only other roof I really thought about was Jerba's own - i don't think it looks as good as Skylines feature wise but does have the removable canvas if you were ever to rip it. But! Jerba couldn't even book in a roof fitting until the end of 2021 so they were out.