Questions & Advise before I begin

[MerlinG]

Hey all, new SMB owner 2006 v10 E350 4x4, electric penthouse. Everything works, lower miles, mechanically sound, and no rust issues. Lights and some other aspects of the interior are dated and need some changes but I figured I would enjoy it as is and make changes as I go. We took it out for a close by one night trip that went well and a TV became my wife's main ask. I started researching and combing through the forum and have found some interesting stuff that I should have known had I done more research on these before buying, but that's my tendency when it comes to new toys / projects.

As I mentioned everything works. Top goes up and down and everything to my untrained eye seemed ok. The only place I could see setting up a tv was from the penthouse roof towards the driver/passenger seats with the ability to fold it up out of the way when not in use. This led me to posts about the penthouse tops, leaks, springs, bolts, etc. Opened up the top and yeah, I could see the canvas being tighter / higher, and oh yeah, the support tubes don't look straight, and oh yeah they aren't, and hey looks like the light up there isn't working because of the bulbs, looks like the wires are cut and that was going to be my source for the TV, etc.

I've found a lot of good info and post about specific items but I'm talking about doing them all in one swoop. I want to straighten and reinforce the tubes, upgrade the bolts, reconnect the power, replace existing light with LED, and basically do whatever makes sense "while I'm there".

Here are my steps/questions as I see if based on the posts I've read...

1. Raise the top
2. Straighten bars
   --Is this best done in place before supporting roof or should I remove and straighten?
3. Support the top
   --How high do I try to get it? One post mentioned that the cross bars along the top should free (not touching top or block support). Is that good enough?
   --I want to remove the headliner in order to create a support point for a TV mount so what comes first, supporting the roof or removing the headliner
   --Sounds like removing the headliner disconnects the canvas is that correct?
4. Release spring tension
   --My chain has two links, is this too short for the come along process
   --I want to straighten and re-inforce all tubes so what is the process things to look for in order to fully remove the tubes. Obviously all the bolts need to be removed but wondering what the best sequence should be
5. Remove headliner for mounting and electrical
   --Canvas will fall down? Add furring strips but is there a trick to getting the canvas back up correctly?
6. Straighten tubes
   --assume out of the van similar process with the high jack can be applied? Then add CroMo inserts
7. Deal with wiring and LEDs
8. Reinstall headliner / LEDs
9. Reinstall support tubes, new bolts, and roof blocks

Any advice / posts / ideas on how to handle the headliner under the penthouse? Mine appears to left over from the original headliner with seat belt hooks, indentenations, etc and the lights that go around it need replacing. Any cool installs that cover this up without the factory pieces would be appreicated or ways in which the factory pieces have been modified to delete the hooks and indentations.

Thanks.

[boywonder]

Hi Merlin: I responded to your PM......please call me....there is lots to unpack above.


You may have already found my build thread, but if not the first few pages will likely have some info you are seeking...


https://www.sportsmobileforum.com/fo...top-10808.html

[MerlinG]

Thanks for the info Scott. Based on our discussion I'm going to proceed as follows...
- Raise roof and support it in four corners
- Attempt in place tube straightening. I don't have a high lift jack so I guess I'll have to find some other straight solid piece I can use the ubolt fix for straightening. I don't have anything on my roof so hopefully this will be sufficient. Getting the tubes out for chromo inserts will require a more reliable bracing system then four 2x4's in the corner.
- Remove spring tension and then replace bolts one side at a time.
- Deal with headliner, canvas and electrical at the end so the tubes will hold the top up

My big concern where the two center blocks that hold the tubes up to the center of the roof. Sounds like these can be removed or at least loosened with the top down without creating any issues.

I'll try to get around to this this week and document as I go.

[Twoxentrix]

Originally Posted by MerlinG

... and hey looks like the light up there isn't working because of the bulbs, looks like the wires are cut and that was going to be my source for the TV, etc.

MerlinG have you checked the fuse for the lights? Here are two threads that may help if you're not receiving power to them:

https://www.sportsmobileforum.com/fo...hts-28468.html

https://www.sportsmobileforum.com/fo...ses-29130.html

If you plan to upgrade the ceiling lights to LED's, you might take a look at this Thread (Provides all the info you'll need):

https://www.sportsmobileforum.com/fo...led-28072.html

[MerlinG]

Thanks Twoxentrix, that may well be the issue. Pic below is where the fuse is and has a blown 10 amp fuse in it. I still want to pull the front piece out to see what else might be going on down there.



Here are some shots of my bars with a 4ft level on them when fully extended. You can see that the rod that connects to the center bolt and the channel is not at 90 degrees and there is about two inches of space in the rear roof block between the bar and front wood block.

Fighting the urge to just start doing stuff so I'm still looking for advice on how to proceed. Can the bars be straightened in place using the high lift jack method? If so do I jack the roof up first or not? I have a floor jack I can get into the van and use a 2x4 setup to get the roof fully extended and then put bracing in place. I assume those center rods should be close to 90 degrees but the motor is at full top level. If the bars are straightened would the center rod adjust accordingly or is there something else I should be looking at? The driver's side only has a two link chain on the spring. I have not uncovered the passenger side but I assume it will also only have two links.

Driver side front bar


Driver side back bar


Passenger front bar


Passenger back bar

[Twoxentrix]

Those Bars do not look bent to me...the weight of the roof will make them bow a little. Is the roof up evenly from all 4 edges in relation to the roof gutter ? In other word does it look like its up evenly all the way around?
While you have all that opened up, I would grease the track bars - depending on the amount of use, I grease mine yearly.

[MerlinG]

Got the ladder out and measured front and rear corners from the gasket on the poptop to the rain gutter and they are all between 24 1/4 to 24 1/2. I'm all good with not having to straighten the bars if it's not needed but in some of the pics of electric tops I've seen the center rod is closer to 90 degrees then mine and there is a two inch gap in the back bar box (not sure what to call it but the padded piece that covers the two bars on the roof). Is the rear bar along the roof supposed to touch or come close to the front side of that box?

[boywonder]

Originally Posted by Twoxentrix

Those Bars do not look bent to me...

Easy test......put 2x4's in the corners and use the motors to let the roof down a little to unload the bars......they will straighten if they aren't bent.

..they look bent to me......if they aren't you need cro-mo sleeves...


...nothing on the roof??

[boywonder]

Originally Posted by MerlinG

Got the ladder out and measured front and rear corners from the gasket on the poptop to the rain gutter and they are all between 24 1/4 to 24 1/2. I'm all good with not having to straighten the bars if it's not needed but in some of the pics of electric tops I've seen the center rod is closer to 90 degrees then mine and there is a two inch gap in the back bar box (not sure what to call it but the padded piece that covers the two bars on the roof). Is the rear bar along the roof supposed to touch or come close to the front side of that box?

I'll go raise my roof and let you know how high it goes.....hang on....

[MerlinG]

I will try the bracing and unloading and see what shakes out but will need to pick up some 2x4s first. Should the center rod be 90 degrees? The canvas is not drum tight but not sure if it needs to be.