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Old 07-26-2018, 07:21 AM   #1
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Roof top deck

Hey all,
Been reading posts for over a year but never commented. The information here is priceless. Thank you to all. I have an 01 international with a Cummins 5.9. Runs great and the conversion has gone pretty well. Slight issue with taking out the rear heater and blowing my radiator, but other than that things have gone well. I’m looking to put on a roof top deck, but I’m concerned with mounting and possible leaks. Has anybody done this? Any help is greatly appreciated

Trying upload some pictures, but I’m not at all computer savvy
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Old 07-26-2018, 08:57 AM   #2
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inquiring minds want to know

The handle "3skirts"... Why three?

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Old 07-26-2018, 09:00 AM   #3
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I was blessed with 3 daughters!!
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Old 07-26-2018, 09:02 AM   #4
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Make sure your insurance company will cover a roof deck before you do it. A lot of them won't!
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Old 07-26-2018, 09:07 AM   #5
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This conversion will be used primarily for deer hunting. We’re a family of bow hunters that want to start traveling and filming some of our hunts. Storage space is a big part of the roof top deck idea.
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Old 07-26-2018, 12:08 PM   #6
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now about that roof deck

In my mind, the best place for mounts are inline with the rivets. Those "beams" or roof "hoops" if you will are the strong points.

here is how I would do it.

learn how to use "riv nuts" watch videos, then buy some and practice mount some... use 3/8" , now when you get to using them, drill with a square faced drill -- black and decker "bullet point" look it up... anyways drill that first part through the sheet metal. then drill with the correct bit the size hole needed for the rivnut.

here is why to do that way....

as the bus travels, the sheets of steel riveted to the roof ribs, move in relation to the ribs. With enough time the rivnuts will loosen because of this. so I believe you will have a longer lasting set up if the riv nuts are only in the ribs.

put locktite 660 on the outer part of the rivnut before installing

use anti seize compound on bolts before installing bolts.

so what you have now is this threaded thing that is riveted to the ribs on the roof of your bus.

I am going to use one row down the middle, one row off the right, one row off to the left.

Now, go look at internet information on something called "unistrut"

three rails of unistrut will use the threaded insert/bolt system to attach to the roof of the bus. The unistrut runs front to back.

I would mark six points on the roof. use grease pencil. three points in the front part of the deck, three points in the rear of the deck. Snap a string line. That will give you a guide to keep all the bolt locations in line with each other in the front to rear direction.

As you assemble, the process will be some thing like this, center punch bolt location, drill hole in roof sheet metal, change to smaller bit, drill hole for insert,put locktite on outside of insert, install insert. do this for all the holes in one front to back row. Force, using your fingers, seam sealer into edges of the sheet metal. leave the seam sealer a little proud, that is, raised. You should now have a threaded hole surrounded by a volcano of seam sealer.

when one row is done, bolt one of the unistrut rails to the roof. The bolts will have anti seize on the threads. Important when the time comes to ever undo this with out spinning a rivnut in a hoop. It really sucks to have one of those inserts spin round when you try to unscrew a bolt.

once you have three unistrut rails on then the next step is to attach decking to the unistrut rails

Go learn about building with unistrut and learn about putting nut inserts ...

I hope this gives you a better idea of what you are looking at after you do some skool work.

william
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Old 07-26-2018, 12:10 PM   #7
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Call it a Roof Rack. Maybe insurance won't go so nuts.
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Old 07-26-2018, 12:36 PM   #8
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Everything on my roof will be using rivets to secure them. Advantage is you can mount stuff on the roof after the inside ceiling is in place. I agree with the proper method of putting them in the rib, but doubt the time span mentioned would cause a noticable issue. I watched a show last night on new composite commercial airliners. I didn't realize that the old riveted metal shell of the plane actually blows up and expands overtime the cabin is pressurized loosing the skins over many million more miles than we would ever cover.
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Old 07-26-2018, 12:49 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by brokedown View Post
Make sure your insurance company will cover a roof deck before you do it. A lot of them won't!
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2kool4skool View Post
Call it a Roof Rack. Maybe insurance won't go so nuts.

Don't risk getting denied or cancelled, talk to your insurance company or agent and see if a roof deck would be covered or not before you do anything.
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Old 07-26-2018, 12:52 PM   #10
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Question

Check out some RAGBRAI albums for inspiration, but understand that RAGBRAI buses are not necessarily built to last.

Quote:
Originally Posted by magnakansas View Post
... drill hole in roof...
I do not like the sound of that.
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Old 07-26-2018, 12:56 PM   #11
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Check out some RAGBRAI albums for inspiration, but understand that RAGBRAI buses are not necessarily built to last.


I do not like the sound of that.
Do you have a solution for roof mounting items that doesn't require holes in the roof?
Some mounted "poles" to the sides of the ribs and built off those. But I think it is esthetically unappealing and if done correctly, drilling holes in the roof is not an issue.
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Old 07-26-2018, 01:45 PM   #12
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Do you have a solution for roof mounting items that doesn't require holes in the roof?
Just what you already mentioned. Aesthetics take a backseat for me.
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