The top cranks up but will not stay in place. Is this a crank problem or hydraulic problem? And how do I fix?
We had a similar issue. Unfortunately we couldn't even get ours to go up. First time we used it (purchased used). Turned out the crank was broke. To replace would have been very costly. The alternate solution was to attach a type of spring loaded arm that folded when top was down, and snapped in place when up. Used pins as a safety to keep arms up. It took both my Husband and I to put up. One lifts on one side, part way, hold, while other side is raised up all the way, snapped in place, back to partially raised side, raise completely, snap in place. Insert pins as a safety. We were in our 50's when we had it. After the experience, I felt more safe from it collapsing than the previous 'crank and cable' system. If you can get yours up and down smoothly, I would recommend the locking arms. We were not lucky enough to be able to crank ours up and down any more.
You may have a worn clutch brake pad. Do you still have the owner's manual?
This same question comes up a lot so it must be fairly common. You do not state the name of your camper and not all react the same way. If you google your question you will see some of the answers given for different models. Here is a sampling and you might also need a manual:
