Raising the hood

Raising the hood.

Doing the macho roof lift with your left hand from the standard seated position is not healthy unless you have a shoulder/arm/elbow with muscles like Arnie (oozie 9mm). The angle of the arm means you put a lot of stress on your ligaments and joints in directions they were not optimised to work in. Especially as your not exactly "warmed up" (in an athletic sense) when you pull the roof up.

SOLUTION: grab roof handle with left hand in same way as before. Clasp right hand round left wrist or lower arm and pull roof up with both arms. The right arm is simply working like a brace and preventing any damage to the left arm. I had similar problems (and Im left handed!), this works for me. No problems since. (8/00)

I once really put my shoulder out trying to raise the roof quickly while sat at lights as it started to chuck it down, I was in that much pain I had to put my warning lights on and pull over! Since then I have devised a way of doing it whereby I twist my body to the right and use my right arm to lift it (I'm right handed). I have used two arms before, like you say, and you can feel that doing it that way is better for your bits. (8/00)

I have an Oris windblocker and I can raise the roof quite easily by twisting my body to the left , with my left arm reaching around the windblocker to grab the end of the hood. I think that twisting around eases the strain on the arm and makes the angle much more natural. However, if you're under 6' tall it might be quite difficult. (8/00)

I'm 5 foot 8 inches - or 173cm as I prefer. And I'm left handed which probably gives an advantage (having to constantly deal with a right handed world, etc., etc.). I can't manage the roof with one hand. I twist round, grab the top rail with the right hand and pull up about 20/30cm then put the left hand on the second roof rail back and continue pulling with both hands - reasonably easy. No windblocker to get in the way though. (8/00)

Any method of pulling the roof up in a hurry barr the recommended one of getting out and doing it, is likely to cause harm. I say that because 150 worth of chiropractic help to my shoulder is absolute proof!!!! (8/00)

The only technique I have found to work is: -lean over to your left until your right shoulder is just clear of the seat, -twist slightly to your right, then grab roof 'handle' with RIGHT hand, -push your back/right-shoulder into whatever-is-convenient, then LIFT! When I first did this, it felt like it was going to be quite difficult, but turned out not to be. Best to do it very carefully at first, so that you don't pull on anything in a direction that God did not intend. (I'm about 5'9" and of average-to-stocky build, for those interested in the biometrics.) Obviously, all the usual disclaimers apply - this is just what _I_ found to be the case, so don't sue me! (8/00)

Thats what I do and it works fine for me. I tried putting up quickly with my left arm once and pulled it that badly that I had to pull over and have a good 'ol cry! (I also dropped the roof which can't have done it a great deal of good!) (8/00)

One quick question, how many of the people in this thread have a rear brace bar. I find it almost impossible to lift my roof from a seated position because of the brace bar. It creates a nice little pivot for my forearm. Given that my left shoulder is pretty trashed from an old skiing injury, I would probably have difficulty lifting the roof one-handed anyway, but with the bar there it is nigh-on impossible. (8/00)

My manual shows a person standing outside the car to put the roof down, but not up... (8/00)

Hi, I'm a freelance scientist....*judder* (sorry too many Metz adverts)...I'm actually an ergonomist - so the concept of getting carpal tunnel syndrome from roof lifting is more than curious! Whatever you get from roof lifting I can pretty much guarantee it won't be this!

I find that leaning left, bracing my back against the seat to avoid putting any load on my spine and lining my shoulder up with the roof handle is the most effective way of avoiding the undesirable ranges of motion in your shoulder and elbow. That should limit your chances of injury. It keeps your joints pretty much in line, which gets the most power out of your lift and makes joints less likely to pop out etc.

At 65 kilos and 177cm I'm not built like an Uzi wielding cyborg but I do get the roof up and down one handed without any strains. Its all about a having a good technique I think. If you initiate the lift quickly, the roof hardly takes any effort to get past the tricky halfway bit because it has some momentum. (8/00)

(I'm a right hander, in a right hand drive roadster) and if the hood clasp on the drivers side is left cocked 'half up', i.e. not snapped/locked flat, when the hood is down, I can flip my right arm back and over, and just get my fingers in it. One tug and the hood is up and over! Obviously lowering it is the same in reverse (this leaves the clasp in the desired half open position). the first time I did it, I thought 'OUCH', the second time just 'ouch', and by the third time no problem! You know what they say, no pain, no brain...:o) (12/01)