Rollover Safety: Fiberglass hightop vs Poptop

[rt66paul]

Or you can buy a factory built high top van. These have to pass certain standards. Sending the van to a 3rd party for custom work by-passes these standards.

[JRO]

You are smart to consider safety before your purchase. I think Volvo still exists because of people who do. If I had your concerns I would never consider a camper van with or without a f/g top. There is nothing safe about them compared to a vehicle designed to protect its occupants. You are traveling down the road at high speeds in a flimsy metal can filled with heavy objects packed with kinetic energy. My faith in odds foolishly outweighs my concern for personal safety… And I’ve never purchased a Lotto ticket.

[pjtpj]

Originally Posted by N147JK

Yours are good questions. They have me wondering.. who are the folks that design these tops and how they attach to the body? Are they professional engineers who perform the load and structural analysis that is called for, and are able to certify the results? Or are they more like mechanics who just take their best guess at what "seems adequate" without really knowing how safe the structure actually is? Hopefully it's the former and not the latter!

Here is your chance! I have BS in physics, so no big deal, but our team has several aerospace engineers, mechanical engineers including a ME with PE in multiple states. There is some dispute if it is required and if it usefully simulates a roll over, but we designed our popup top to pass the FVMSS roof crush test. Basically, our cutout frame is more than strong enough. The composite top adds strength. In our case, we used computer simulations to pass, then build even stronger.

Seating that passes FVMSS tests is very strong. The test pulls 3000 lbs on shoulder and lap belts for 6000 lbs total. Seats anchored to the floor create a lever system. Here is some info on our testing:
https://wefunder.com/updates/145277-new-modular-seating-and-table-system-delivered

[ShuttlePilot]

Originally Posted by JRO

You are traveling down the road at high speeds in a flimsy metal can filled with heavy objects packed with kinetic energy.

Sounds like a job description I once had.

- Eric

[Tnew]

Going to a dually setup in the rear would make your van a lot safer. Especially a lifted van with a higher center of gravity. Could possibly prevent a rollover.

I'm swapping over to dually for that reason alone.

[OurayMark]

While I haven’t done any research or studies on the topic, my observation has been that as flimsy as factory built and factory crash-tested vans are, the aftermarket wood framed class C and class A campers seem to fare much worse in a crash or rollover. Based solely on intuition and non-statistical observation of wrecked campers, I’d rank class C and A as the least safe, followed by modified roof B’s. I suspect that intact OEM factory metal roofs are the most structurally sound and are the safest. That was one of the reasons I bought a van with a factory metal high roof and asked Sportsmobile to do very minimal cutouts for windows and a roof vent. No propane cutout. No cassette toilet cut out (it is emptied from the inside). And no roof A/C. SMB placed a Danhard a/c under the seat for lower center of gravity and no big roof hole.

[This old va]

Seriouslly....
We have to accept the fact that most any accident or loss if cibtrilol at speed is absolutely going to result in a rollover, just like pickups which almost always crush the cab are, due to design....it's just gonna happen.
I analyze things just as much as the next guy, but a bolt in roof..has to be expected to detach or disintegrate or both upon impact.

All you can do is drive slow and carefully and hope for the best.
Like riding a motorcycle...hope for the best...but realize that if it happens..it's likley to get ugly.

[Steve Hunt]

Originally Posted by Lilnuts2

There is no question that 15-passenger vans are over-involved in single-vehicle rollover crashes compared to other passenger vehicles. From 1991 to 2000, 33 percent of passenger vehicles involved in single-vehicle, fatal accidents experienced a rollover, compared to 52 percent for 15-passenger vans involved in such crashes. A shocking 81 percent of all 15-passenger van occupant fatalities occurred in single-vehicle rollover crashes.

Originally Posted by N147JK

I wonder if lack of seat belts isn't behind this statistic. Typically, is everyone in a 15-passenger van secured by a full set of lap belt and shoulder harness, or is it more akin to riding in the city bus. ie, most occupants are not secured in any way? A rolling van with multiple unsecured passengers is bound to end badly.

No question in my mind that lack of seat belt usage is behind the statistics above way more so than the van itself. For about 10 years I rented 15 passenger vans 4-5 times a year to take engineers from my region to meet our engineers and tour our facilities. With almost 100% certainty no one in the van ever used their seatbelt other than the driver (me) and the front passenger. I think people view 15 passenger vans, limos, RVs etc somehow differently and just don't buckle up. Flying around the interior of a van in a rollover or more to the point being ejected is what gets you killed in a single vehicle non-intersection type incident.

[JRO]

Originally Posted by Steve Hunt

Flying around the interior of a van in a rollover or more to the point being ejected is what gets you killed in a single vehicle non-intersection type incident.

Rolling over is embarrassing, to say the least… But all types of accidents are equally deadly. Vans have a huge turning radius to minimize a flip at reasonable speeds. We are living on the edge baby. We need to take into account the contents besides ourselves strapped into our seats. Bebopping down the highway at a reasonable 70 MPH includes you and all that stuff you think is vital to a successful road trip. Coming in the opposite direction is Joe 12-Pack reaching across his Crown Vic for his cigarettes… In that worse case scenario you and all your stuff will do everything possible to keep going forward at 70 MPH. The threats to your health are coming at you from the front and back. Your personal safety traveling in a camper van is not generous. Your flashlight bouncing off your head at 70 MPH will leave a mark. We are packed up like we are going to liquidate at a swap meet. Happy Camping!

[treadco]

Adding to the conversation without anything official standards wise but a good ol Picture is worth 1000 words photo of my buddy’s SMB after a roll...

In my mostly humble opinion you are in far more danger from all the items carried in the SMB than from the roof collapsing. Again just my opinion backed by the photo but the weak part of the van wasn’t the pop-top but rather the pillars and areas with windows that tended to weaken the sides.

My fear was always more about cabinets/bins popping open on a roll or crash and being bludgeoned by every knife, hatchet, stove, jar of peanut butter and pair of dirty underwear in the van (that last one deadly after a climb) LOL

I tried to put most in the “basement” underfloor storage or big drawers but did get lazy often.

Most any accident other than a rollover I would rather be in the SMB then most autos on the road. Mass matters.