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Home/Canvas, lift systems & towing/Stiff crank and a frayed lift cable

crank lift got stiff and i found a frayed lift cable, do i replace all four or just the bad one

SETUPOpened by lift_cable_fixNov 5, 2025in Canvas, lift systems & towing6 posts
lift_cable_fixOP Seasonal Hannibal, MO 58 posts, joined Nov 2025 2010 Flagstaff 228D, 2013 Chevy Silverado 1500
#1

2010 Flagstaff 228D, the classic box with the four-cable PDL lift and the hand crank at the front. this fall the crank got noticeably harder, enough that my wife cannot put it up anymore, and when i got a flashlight on it i found one of the four lift cables has a couple of broken strands showing right where it comes off the pulley at a corner. the other three look fine to the eye.

so the question every repair thread argues about: do i replace just the frayed one, or all four as a set. the frayed one is maybe 20 bucks. doing all four plus the cables that run inside is a saturday and a fair bit more. i can run a winch and a drill, i am not scared of the job, i just do not want to do it twice. what do the people who have actually been in there say.

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mod_marcy_e Moderator Cody, WY 71 posts, joined Nov 2025 2015 Jayco Jay Series 1007, 2012 Ram 1500
#2

all four. i know that is the expensive answer and i know the other three look fine. a broken strand on one cable means every cable on that camper has the same age, the same seasons in the weather, the same number of cycles, and the same grit worked into the strands. the one that frayed is just the one that got there first. you will have the lift down and the roof on sawhorses either way, and doing the other three while you are in there is an hour, not a day.

and the stiff crank is telling you the real story. these lifts get hard to turn when the cables are drying out and binding and the lift arms are starved for grease. a fraying cable and a stiff crank are the same problem showing up two ways.

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jayco_jay_sport Seasonal Marshfield, WI 63 posts, joined Nov 2025 2019 Jayco Jay Sport 12SC, 2015 Honda Pilot
#3

did this exact job on an older Jayco two winters ago. replace all four, and buy the cables as a kit for your model, do not try to source cable and swage your own ends unless you have the tool and have done it before. a lift cable end that lets go with the roof up is how people get hurt.

while you are in there, grease the lift arm pivots and the gearbox, and wipe the cables with a rag and a little dry lube, not a gummy spray grease that catches grit. mine went from a two-hand crank to one finger after i cleaned and greased everything, honestly most of the stiffness was never the cables, it was the pivots.

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aframe_over_canvas Full hookup Duluth, MN 31 posts, joined Nov 2025 2019 Aliner Ranger 12, 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee
#4

A-frame guy so i do not have your cable setup, mine is gas struts and a couple of latches. but i will back the all-four crowd for a different reason: resale and peace of mind. a buyer who sees a fresh set of cables and a service date written on the inside of a cabinet door relaxes. a buyer who sees one shiny new cable next to three gray ones assumes you band-aided a problem.

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lift_cable_fixOP Seasonal Hannibal, MO 58 posts, joined Nov 2025 2010 Flagstaff 228D, 2013 Chevy Silverado 1500
#5

did all four this weekend. roof on two sawhorses and a pair of ratchet straps holding it steady, old cables out, new kit in, and jayco was right that most of my stiffness was dry pivots and a crusty gearbox, not the cables. cleaned and greased all of it.

crank is one-finger light now and my wife can put it up again, which was the whole point. and for the record the frayed cable, when i got it off and uncoiled it, had broken strands in two more spots i could not see from outside. so the three that looked fine, i am glad they are in a box in the garage and not on the camper. wrote the date on the cabinet door like you said.

one source note for searchers: the parts diagrams on the manufacturer site made it easy to order the right kit. Forest River lists the Flagstaff and Rockwood lift parts by model and year, so match your exact unit and you will not get the wrong cable length.

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weekend_camper_pat Full hookup Kingman, AZ 34 posts, joined Nov 2025 2016 Flagstaff MACLTD, 2014 Toyota Tacoma
#6

late to this but one desert-specific thing for anyone reading. out here the sun and the dry air cook these cables faster than you would think, the UV and the lack of any lubrication left in them. mine looked fine at six years and had a strand go at seven. if your camper has lived outside uncovered in a sunny state, do not wait for the fray, just budget the cable kit at the five to seven year mark and sleep better.

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Note tags

  • lift cable
  • PDL lift
  • crank
  • maintenance
  • Flagstaff