Broken lifting gear in pop up truck camper (camping, economical, winter)

[ColoGuy]

Just bought a 90's Hall Mark pop up truck camper at a hugely discounted price. The gears made to lift the top are broke on one side. This happened during an extremely heavy snow load according to the previous owner who used it for winter camping. Fixing the gear assembly appears to be a major pain from appearances. The local RV shop charges $130/hour for their labor. That is a no go since scissor jacks will lift almost anything and are economical. About $40/jack for 30" of travel and a 5000 lb rating/jack.

I have a threaded jack that works but it takes a long time. If I am tired after a long day, I do not want to spend 10=15 minutes lifting the top. Then repeating in the morning. I'm thinking of getting some scissor jacks and simply removing the broken gear assembly.

Why remove the gear assembly? Because I can't raise and lower the top without using this gear assembly - which is more of a hindrance than a help at this time. It might strip out at an inopportune time and really screw things up while on a trip.

Why is this top so danged heavy? We had an 8' pop up camper and the top simply lifted up and down by hand. This top is ~12' but seems to weigh three times as much.

Asking here? I now have 24 hours of pop up truck camper experience.

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by ColoGuy

Just bought a 90's Hall Mark pop up...

Do you know where the RV salvage yards are?

[ColoGuy]

Originally Posted by MrRational

Do you know where the RV salvage yards are?

Sounds like a great idea. Had no idea they existed. Might work.

Found one in Colorado with a quick search: Five Star Salvage Center 12202 Brighton Rd. Henderson (Denver) Colorado 1-800-222-6737 Salvage parts for TT, Popups, Class A's C's, Truck campers