The Craftsman drill isn't strong enough to lift

[Johnna]

Took all advice, lubed the lift system, got a bigger drill (not big enough, 550 Milwaukee 18v, if we spend much more for a drill we may as well spring for the lift system-winch thing). Used the lowest speed and highest torque. ALMOST lifted, well it lifted a half foot (just enough to fake me out) :yikes: ..and then we saw smoke coming out of the drill and the roof just wouldn't move another inch. So we thought it would be a good time to stop the drill :-) We'll bring the pup into the dealer to look at the lift system/gears and whatever else and see if there is something wrong. If not, we'll probably spring for the electric lift. I'll report what we think of that here.

Just want to again let you all how much we appreciate your help and knowledge. We all tried pretty much all we could to get her to rise to the occasion, but she just wasn't having it. Just like a real-life Palomino yearling, full of herself and stubborn as heck.

[whitestar505]

Johnna,
 
What I did is buy a Bosch drill kit for about 200.00 ( ON Sale) dollars at Home Depot. Now I have to tell ya, that this was about five or six years ago. They do run sales on there out going stock if you watch.. This kit came with drill, charger abd two batteries. Worked like a champ. At the time I had a Coleman Utah 2003 with A/C. I still have the drill today and works great. I hate buying battteries for this drill because they are not cheap. The better battery runs about 50-70 dollars. They last about five years.
 
 
 

Thanks for all the help, everyone. I can't say how helpful everyone has been and it's great to have that kind of support as a newbie.
I guess we are going for a higher torque drill. My husband said he did try the torque setting, not the clutch. He called the dealer yesterday and the dealer said we'd never that that roof lifted with a drill...and it's not that I don't believe the dealer but...well, I think it merits another try with a higher torque drill.
Looking at all the replies, and putting the info together, it does take us 34 turns to get the roof up, so the reply saying it would take more torque makes more sense. However, I can't see the torque for the drill I got sent a link to, so we'll swap the Craftsman for one double the torque and $50 more at Sears.
Another option is to have a factory winch installed that would be battery powered (dealer) and that will cost us about $400 including labor. Alot of money I hate to spend but really kind of necessary in my case, but I want to explore all options first. If anyone has any feedback about that, please bring it on! The dealer says if the winch were to fail (or the battery that will run it) it can be cranked down, but it would take a long time. It seems like I saw something online that allowed you to crank their winch down with a drill if you needed to. I'll research more before taking the plunge but definelty would love to hear from all of you on it.
Thank you again!

[Bluedog225]

This is the biggest cordless I know of.  Nice drill.  28 volt lithium ion.

http://cgi.ebay.com/MILWAUKEE-V28-28V-Hammer-Drill-0724-20-w-battery_W0QQitemZ150332941768QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item150332941768&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1546|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50

I have two crank points on my 1970s coleman.  One turns about twice as fast as the other.  Problem is that there is almost no room to put the drill on the crank point that turns the fastest (the one that takes about 70 turns to raise).  It will have the least resistance.  If I can wedge it in there, the drill works on the one crank but not no the other.

I am thinking about replacing one of the gears (big project?) with a tiny sprocket so it will take many turns to raise.  This will lower the strain on the drill.

Tom

[tlhdoc]

I installed an electric wench on HersheyGirl's Palomino.  She purchased it used.  Her dealer said it would not fit, but the dimensions on the trailer it came off of, and her trailer were the same.  She took a chance and purchased it.  It fit fine and she loves the power wench.  You could try contacting so camper salvage yards to see if they have one.  It was not hard to install.  Good luck.

[denbert]

-
About a year ago I purchased the Milwaukee 0721-21 V28 Li-Ion 1/2" Right Angle Drill Kit.  This rascal set me back a few bucks but at the time they were offering a second tool free, so I also got the 1/2" 28 volt hammer drill for nothing.  Hey, ya can'

[haroldPE]

I have a 2004 palomino 6147 with A/C.  It's not a problem with your mechanism - this is a very heavy roof.  I use a 20v Lithium Sears Professional drill, that barely gets it up MOST OF THE WAY.  I believe the drill has 550 in-lbs torque. I have lost the variable speed functionality of the drill using it to raise the roof.  I also use it for the stabs, the Bal leveler and the tongue jack.

If I had to do it over, I might just get this:
http://www.tylertool.com/miel47.html
1,080 in-lbs.

[HersheyGirl]

I installed an electric wench on HersheyGirl's Palomino. She purchased it used. Her dealer said it would not fit, but the dimensions on the trailer it came off of, and her trailer were the same. She took a chance and purchased it. It fit fine and she loves the power wench. You could try contacting so camper salvage yards to see if they have one. It was not hard to install. Good luck.

Sorry I didn't see this post sooner.  I tried and tried to get a drill to lift my roof.  I called the factory and they told me that a drill wouldn't work, and that the electric winch wouldn't fit it either.  I knew the drill didn't work raising the roof, but the Carefree of 'Colorado electric winch works great and fits great too...altho it had to be installed upside down, it still works great.  I got mine used...a member contacted me about his and sold it to me.  I love it and it is probably the best mod I have done to the camper ever.  The Palomino is just a different lift system, it also took 35 turns to lift it up.  The winch is a winner.