I wonder how well SMB North did mounting the rack rails to my roof?
The answer is: Not all that well.
It's 4, count 'em 4 #10-24 machine screws per side all the way through the inside headliner secured with nylocks over 1/4 fender washers and button cover washers. There doesn't appear to be any adhesive between the tracks and the roof. I am not amused.
Bummer Makula1...Feel your pain.
This keeps me up at night. Just finished a trip in WY dropping into Utah. Wyoming winds kept both hands on the steering wheel. Now motivated to go check my rails and solar panels on the PH. Usually give them the tug and shake test before a trip, but will now inspect.
I had a solar panel fold in half on a rack/panel setup I built shortly after I sold my SMB to someone.
The wind deserves respect. I'm not surprised by what CAN'T take the power of the wind, I'm surprised by what can. On the road I see the craziest things that just seem to hold up and then something I 'overbuild' comes to pieces.
I just took the van to Schmidt Signs and Graphics in Salt Lake who does fiberglass and other work for an estimate. Some of the spider cracks around the bolts holding the roof to the frame have them and me concerned.
The damage is more extensive than I thought so I think I am going to go for a complete new gelcoat surface. I'll follow that with a rhino or some other lining.
Since I don't know which rack I am going to use I'm going to wait on any reinforcing until after the basic repairs.
Great input from this community, as usual! Thanks Sportsmobile folks!
-Scott
From the pics you posted, I'd imagine water got down under the tracks and into the fastener holes. This could have caused the wood around the holes in the stiffeners glassed into the roof to rot.You will want to look into that. New gel coat is cosmetic only. It will add no structural integrity to the roof. If you are going to Rhino line the roof, you won't need new gel coat. A proper spray on gel coat job is difficult to get right. It doesn't lay out like automotive paint or Imron. There's lots of wet sanding and buffing involved. There are a few roof rebuild threads on the forum. Search them out, they are most informative. Your post has me looking at my rack rails. I am going to have to pull them off, clean the mating surfaces, and refasten properly in a good bedding compound or tape.
This thread gets into some detail.
You want to do reinforcement before any cosmetic coatings, which means you need to pick out your racks first. By the looks of these tops, they are thin and not very strong so you need to distribute the loads as much as possible.
Personally, I would not put down Less Than 1/8" of matt (top and bottom) around each mount.
The adhesion of any bedding compound or tape is only as good as the surface you apply it to. I would mask the area where the rails bed down so as to adhere to unpainted fiberglass.
For future thought - consider deflectors of some sort around the top and the panels...or install the panels closer to the top (more aerodynamic).
We have an awning installed on each side of the top, which blocks the wind from each side.
We also have action tracks mounted in front of the panels which blocks the wind from the front.
The rear panel is recessed from the edge of the top, so it's more difficult for wind to create uplift.
__________________
Chris
2006 E350 EB 4x4 SMB: 6.0L-5R110-Atlas-D60-D60FF-yada-yada-yada
Vanna
Serenity
2006 Ford E350
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