How Strong is a Van Roof?
Discussion
Hi
It's has come into my head that it would be a cool idea to buy a small van as a camper conversion project for the Summer. Maybe a Transit or a Vivaro. However, my superiority complex means that a camper van without a roof garden and a balcony arrangement just will not suffice.
Basically the general idea is a flat panel that goes on the roof with a ladder up the back doors. The panel is actually two panels, one on top of the other, hinged on one side (like a board game that gets folded over in the box), so that the top panel can be unfolded, then supported by columns (scaffold poles) giving a nice roof garden/veranda area to put some deck chairs and a chimnea where I can reside with my haughty air over the bumbling campers scurrying around 8 feet below.
Maybe a crackpot plan, but I think it would be cool. So how strong are van roofs? How could I reinforce one if needed? And what materials would work for my work of genius?
I've just been watching the TG episode with the campers. alangla said:
Most vans (and especially the minibus versions of said vans) have roof racks available and OEM supplied ladders for getting up to the roof - why not take a look at that option?
Putting the panel on roof bars would probably be the easiest way to go. I just wonder about the roof of the van being able to support the weight of 4 people and a chimnea, especially as roof bars seem to have quite a small contact point from what I've seen.
Chrisw666 said:
IME a lot of cars and vans have max roof rack loads of 100KG or less.
Mmmm this is the problem. I'm not too worried about manufacturers specs. Pretty sure I could stand on the roof of my car and only leave a few dents. But I don't want to start putting holes in the roof when we get a rave going up there etc.2 options come to mind
1.Build a roll cage in or around the van. The cross members from that should give enough strength to hold you and your mates up.
2. Put in side supports and weld a flat panel of metal to the top for extra strength.
Scrapheap challenge has been using van roofs as boats for years so they are pretty strong.
yes its a hovercraft not a boat.
1.Build a roll cage in or around the van. The cross members from that should give enough strength to hold you and your mates up.
2. Put in side supports and weld a flat panel of metal to the top for extra strength.
Scrapheap challenge has been using van roofs as boats for years so they are pretty strong.
yes its a hovercraft not a boat.
ChristophStone said:
alangla said:
Most vans (and especially the minibus versions of said vans) have roof racks available and OEM supplied ladders for getting up to the roof - why not take a look at that option?
Putting the panel on roof bars would probably be the easiest way to go. I just wonder about the roof of the van being able to support the weight of 4 people and a chimnea, especially as roof bars seem to have quite a small contact point from what I've seen.But I've just checked my Merc Vito and there doesn't seem to be any extra bracing or support on the inside of the van where the rack mounting point is. But it looks like it would be reasonably straight forward for some sort of bracing or support put in, possibly a leg down to the floor.
You could also cross brace interanlly across the roof of the van to give extra support to the frame.
If you put a 'hinged' roof that folds out and doubles the size of the roof, use decent supports to the ground to hold it up.
Looking forward to the build diary.
JM said:
How the roof rack or bars attch will be van and rack dependent.
But I've just checked my Merc Vito and there doesn't seem to be any extra bracing or support on the inside of the van where the rack mounting point is. But it looks like it would be reasonably straight forward for some sort of bracing or support put in, possibly a leg down to the floor.
You could also cross brace interanlly across the roof of the van to give extra support to the frame.
If you put a 'hinged' roof that folds out and doubles the size of the roof, use decent supports to the ground to hold it up.
Looking forward to the build diary.
I'm thinking that a set of 4 roofbars that join near the edges of the roof could work - because then I could put in a brace running front to back under the skin of the roof where the bars connect, with supports running down to the floor inside the van front and back. The downside being that it will make arranging the interior of the van considerably more difficult.But I've just checked my Merc Vito and there doesn't seem to be any extra bracing or support on the inside of the van where the rack mounting point is. But it looks like it would be reasonably straight forward for some sort of bracing or support put in, possibly a leg down to the floor.
You could also cross brace interanlly across the roof of the van to give extra support to the frame.
If you put a 'hinged' roof that folds out and doubles the size of the roof, use decent supports to the ground to hold it up.
Looking forward to the build diary.
The other option is to forego the roof bars, just put a slab of soft foam on the roof to balance the load and then attatch the panel direct to that - so that the load is spread across the entire roof rather than just on a few small contact points.
The 'balcony' or supported part of the roof is already designed in my head - I'm thinking 6 scaffold poles arranges in two budles of three. the 'underside' of the balcony part would have two panels each with seats that fit the poles, and on the ground end of the poles I would have two more panels, but instead of being bolted to the panel they will have heavy duty tent pegs to secure them. Should be enough to support a few deck chairs. All guesswork though.
Most of the roof bars mount on to the gutters rather than the roof itself. There's not a massive amount of bracing in most vans roofs, and some vans (mainly high roof versions) have GRP roofs on them. With a ladder on the rear door they normally have a mounting plate on the inside to spread the load as well. Vans are usually fairly light in these areas to improve the payload as you don't really carry much on the roof itself.
Codswallop said:
Seriosuly, save yourself the hassle and just buy something that has already been converted to have a rave terrace/anti-zombie gun platform on the roof;
holy crap! i think i just wet myself with excitement.please can my numbers come up on Friday so I can buy one of those
May I suggest the following reading topic before the OP get's stuck in with 100kg of scrap iron perched atop a transit?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_of_mass
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_of_mass
The Wookie said:
May I suggest the following reading topic before the OP get's stuck in with 100kg of scrap iron perched atop a transit?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_of_mass
I'm thinking some 2 or 3" thick panels in a steel frame/lattice. Quite heavy, but nowhere near enough to worry about that. It will only have people on it when it it parked up!http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_of_mass
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