Starting cut on roof raise

[adic27]

Question for those who raised their roofs. Did you have your lifting mechanisms in place before you mad any cuts? I wanted to make cuts on areas like the front and back like around the windows and whatnot, the challenging parts. Would anybody suggest against this?

Thanks

[ewo1]

Originally Posted by adic27

Question for those who raised their roofs. Did you have your lifting mechanisms in place before you mad any cuts? I wanted to make cuts on areas like the front and back like around the windows and whatnot, the challenging parts. Would anybody suggest against this?

Thanks

Depending on the size of your bus, mine is a 40', I cut all the ribs but left three intact on each side.
Then I placed my lifting structure. You should have this all planned out before you cut.

I raised the roof by myself, no help. Yes it can be done but you need to plan it out really good.
Once I had the spacers made, I placed my lifting structure then cut the last ribs...and up in the air she went!

I used a technique which I call a hat channel slider.
See this thread for more info.

Basically I welded the tops of the square tubing, fabricated a cover for the bottom half so the tubing cannot "pop" out of place.

as you lift the roof, the square tubing slides in place, keeping the roof stable.

I didn't worry too much about level ground as I made "spacers" that fit in the window space. I used 8 spacers. I was able to lift, place the spacer in place and then lower rood to sit on the spacer.

This method insured that the top half of the roof would sit evenly on the bottom half (body) when lowered. this method ensured I had 18" at every window, no matter if the bus was no sitting on flat ground.

There are alot of posts on this subject matter, I would read some of the bus builds here and I'm sure you will get lots of inspiration on how to proceed.

[adic27]

Thanks. I have looked at tons of threads and approaches on roof raising. Just wanted to get started on the more challenging parts like around the door and driver window. Should have mentioned I have a 38ft dog nose and will be attempting to raise the entire roof with no slant like most do it. I will definitely take a look at your post. Appreciate it

[rossvtaylor]

Here's the video I made on planning out the cuts...for a roof raise like you plan, without the angled transition. It might help you think through your cut plan. I hope it helps!

https://youtu.be/xbVyIsc0nZ4

[bridg73988]

I cut the ribs I was welding the lifting brackets to first, then welded lifting mechanisms in place, then cut the roof behind driver's seat and ribs. There was no turning back at that point!