We picked up our new (to us) 2016 Troll 540 yesterday from Highbridge Caravans in Somerset (an official Eriba dealer now) and had the front clips break and the roof pop up at 60mph on the M4. The stress also fractured one of the rear clips, although the back stayed down. After pulling into an emergency pull-off on the hard shoulder, and using some bungee cords to hold the roof down, I drove carefully on to the next services and managed to buy a big trucker tie down strap with which I encircled the caravan and drove home safely to Suffolk.

I had, foolishly, believed the person who set us up, connected us up and showed us round the caravan that they had stowed the roof correctly. However, at the side of the M4 I discovered that the tightening screws hadn't been done up, allowing the roof to lift at motorway speed and break the clips. Neither of our three previous Eribas had had this extra security feature on the roof hold-down clips, so I hadn't been aware that I needed to check this carefully. Luckily the roof mechanism wasn't damaged (nor the fabric), so lesson now learned (the expensive way - £61 for each front clip and £35 for the rear one). Negotiations as to who will pay now underway.

I will carry the strap I bought as a safety measure from now on - others might like to consider doing the same...

They have just called me back and are sending me new clips by priority post. They were very apologetic and said they will ensure that their handover staff are trained to ensure the clips are fully tightened on departure! As a main dealer, I said I should hope they would!! He did try to claim that the clips may have been over-tightened and strained, but I said that was hogwash - both Claire and I had immediately noticed that the black tightening nuts were at the bottom of the threads (i.e. not tightened up) and he agreed that sounded like the reason. I said this was since the roof redesign and that any un-tightened spring "lift" allowed air under that front "beak" area and created strain on the clips. Aged clips may not help - that would be something for Hymer to investigate.

Interesting that they (and Kool Classics, who I also phoned) have replacements in stock...

Looking at a belt n braces fix for this, i am considering drilling through the floor and inserting eyebolts and utilising a good sturdy strap between the eye bolts and the pull down handles in the roof.
I will of course have to site the eyebolts where no one could possibly trip on them and also find out what's below the floor where i intend to drill.

I'm not sure the pull down handles are that sturdy... I am now carrying the big, blue tie down strap with me in my emergency pack. It's easy to put on and didn't vibrate or cause any chafing on the 150 tow home...

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This happened to us on our last trip out 3 weeks ago. On arrival at the campsite we found that the front left roof retaining hook had shattered. We used rope to secure the roof for the drive home and decided to replace all 4 hooks as the Puck is 17 years old. Parts obtained from the Eriba dealer in Tebay.

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The problem with reading this thread is it has now instilled the fear that this will happen to me on our next trip - but I dont want to spend £60+ each for something that probably won't happen! So, after much thought, I have come up with a solution (for me at least) in the form of some quick home made brackets that can sit in my caravan tools / accessories box, and come out in time of emergency - with a temporary fix that is easier than straps or ropes etc. I simply bought some 3cm wide aluminium strip from B&Q, cut it and bent the ends and drilled some holes so that I now have metal brackest (2 needed per roof latch) that fit the existing screw spacing and can be screwed in using the existing screws and will hold the roof down until such time as a proper latch replacement can be bought.

It seems to me, from reading this flurry of reports of similar issues that the loose screw-downs are allowing the roof move up and down, by an estimated 5-6 mm or so. This will create a shock load on the catches, so it’s not surprising that they break, especially at motorway speeds.
There will be a ‘sucking’ effect on the roof as the air passes over the curved front, much like an aircraft wing. With such a big area, that’s a lot of force if it’s not held down tight.

When screwed down, the new-style clips allow no movement up and down, because the.black knurled nut being tightened removes all the spring action. Very effective - if you do them up!!

surely you need to allow some movement because the roof and lid will flex. No flex means nothing to absorb the energy and the clip will have to give way. It has a spring for a reason.

The spring is to allow you to clip the roof down, not to allow the roof to flex. The problem is that earlier roofs didn't suffer from much "lift" whilst driving, as the lip was near the clips and there wasn't much of a void for wind to get into. The post-2010 roofs have that big beak at the front that is very prone to lift when air gets under it and into the void inside.

We have just got back from a 600 mile round trip to Devon and the tightened black nuts stopped any breakage - when they are screwed up as instructed there is no lift in the roof.